A season that was supposed to be defined by parity instead ended with the two most iconic brands in women’s basketball meeting in the national title game and UConn adding a historic record 12th title. Those programs once again top the field in this way-too-early look at 2025-26. As is tradition in these power rankings,…
The top three in my annual ranking of the best coaches in college football was easy. After that, things got more complicated. How much does recency bias factor in? For me, not as much as it does for Stewart Mandel, whose Top 25 can be found here. I’ve always given coaches more credit for what…
Five years ago, this was a fairly simple exercise: Rank Alabama either No. 1 or 2, then drop Ohio State, Clemson or Georgia immediately before or after. Look like a genius 365 days later. But these days, it takes the GDP of a small country to keep a roster intact in college football. Ohio State…
Baylor plays LSU on Tuesday night in the Texas Bowl, Dave Aranda’s team looking for its seventh straight win to finish the season in a matchup that sets the table for the Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal. The Bears bumping right up against a College Football Playoff game is fitting because one might argue Baylor could be…
One of the most anticipated showdowns of the season is on the docket this week, as UConn and USC face off in a rematch of the 2024 Elite Eight in Hartford, Conn. Both teams boast top-10 offenses and defenses, per Her Hoop Stats, which generally indicates a national title contender. During the preseason, this game…
Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams. The first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff was an absolute success. Regardless of how the bracket plays out, it has already accomplished exactly what it was supposed to do. More regular-season games had more stakes. New faces made…
Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams. It turns out the first 12-team College Football Playoff field may be mostly locked in before championship weekend. After weeks of twists, turns and hypotheticals, figuring out the 12 teams has become mostly pretty easy by the end. But seeding…
America’s breadbasket straddles the Missouri River, with Iowa on the eastern slope and Kansas burying a knee in its back from the southwest. The river’s thick, muddy waters and countless tributaries irrigate the world’s most fertile farmland. In Iowa, that means corn, hogs and even turkeys. In Kansas, that’s winter wheat, sorghum and cattle. Agriculture…
Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams. Winning games is hard. That’s a press conference cliché you’ll hear from every coach, but it’s true, especially for coaches dealing with college athletes. How else can you explain what happened on Saturday? For two weeks, SEC fans beat the…
And now, 20 Final Thoughts from college football’s Week 12, where no one won bigger than Indiana’s Curt Cignetti. He got a $64 million contract on his week off. 1. Preseason No. 1 Georgia faced the prospect of missing the College Football Playoff entirely if it suffered its third loss of the season on Saturday…