The 2025 college football season kicks off amid a wide-open playoff landscape and a looming question about expanding beyond 12 teams. With Week Zero approaching, the piece foregrounds big format debates, including a potential 16-team plan and a stalemate among conferences on how bids would be allocated, which could leave the current 12-team setup in place for another cycle. The narrative then pivots to marquee QB chatter: Arch Manning’s future at Texas dominates draft talk and Heisman chatter even as he steps into full-time duties, while the 2026 quarterback race features Cade Klubnik, Garrett Nussmeier, and Drew Allar as top contenders. It also surveys coaching and program intrigue: Bill Belichick’s move to North Carolina marks a rare college transition, with familiar assistants surrounding him as UNC pursues its first conference title since 1980. The Deion Sanders era at Colorado returns in a new normal—Sanders detail includes his cancer cure and the likelihood of sideline adjustments, including a possible portable toilet on Colorado’s sideline as the team rebuilds offensively around eight starters, Shedeur Sanders among them, and Heisman winner Travis Hunter in the mix. The Big Ten vs SEC rivalry remains unresolved off the field, with both conferences projecting multiple playoff entrants again and Clemson/Notre Dame hovering as outliers. The American depth question lingers too, as the league’s performance in 2024 left it fighting to keep playoff relevance, with Army’s 11-1 mark and a signature non-conference win needed to break through. In sum, the season looks primed for dramatic byes, star-making performances, and a playoff landscape that may endure as-is or finally pivot to a larger field.
