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There’s no question that Ohio State is one of college football’s top programs. That fact remains every single season. But each year, the playing field is reset across the college football landscape. Amid another wild college football offseason, new contenders rise and old dogs fall.
ESPN has released its updated Football Power Index (FPI) data ahead of the 2025 campaign, and unsurprisingly, Ohio State comes away as one of the nation’s most feared programs. However, new and familiar obstacles stand before the Buckeyes as they look to defend their 2024 national championship.
According to the data and simulations, Ohio State has two prime contenders from the SEC with the best odds of disrupting a chance at back-to-back titles: Texas and Georgia.
The Longhorns have a 22.1% chance of winning it all and an 83.9% chance of reaching the playoffs, both of which top the country. The Buckeyes and Longhorns meet on August 30, and while a close loss won’t derail either program, it will help clear up the top of the college football mountain. That game ranks as the second-best matchup on the 2025 slate, only behind Texas and Georgia later in November.
The Alabama Crimson Tide joins the Buckeyes, Longhorns, and Bulldogs as the top teams on both sides of the ball, though Ohio State is at the bottom of that four-team list. All four programs will have new quarterbacks in 2025, and how those newcomers fare will play a much larger role in how these teams stack up at the end of the season.
Still, the tighter competition across the board in the SEC favors Ohio State to keep a cleaner record than those three. The Buckeyes are projected to win 10.4 games, tops in the nation.
Back in the Big Ten, Ohio State’s biggest contenders remain with Penn State and Oregon close behind. The Nittany Lions enjoy a luxury only one other team in the FPI top 10 has: a returning starter at quarterback, giving James Franklin’s squad a unique advantage. The Michigan Wolverines climbed into the top 20 of the FPI rankings to round out the top preseason contenders from the conference.
ESPN’s data predicts a tight race in the Big Ten with just 2.9 teams projected to reach the College Football Playoff. Unfortunately, the conference has just a 25.8% chance of winning the national title compared to the SEC’s 61.4% odds.
Overall, there’s little to indicate that the Buckeyes aren’t firmly in control of the Big Ten and their own chances of getting back to the promised land. That’s usually the case in Columbus, and like they say, consistency is key.
More must-reads:
- 15 schools that can throw a wrench in the College Football Playoff
- Zero RB Strategy Explained: Top Fantasy Football Targets for 2025
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Lincoln Riley calls out NCAA amid lawsuit filed by USC player
USC football head coach Lincoln Riley did not hide his frustrations with the NCAA amid its ongoing legal battle with one of his players. In January, the Trojans landed offensive lineman DJ Wingfield in the transfer portal to shore up the team’s depth at left guard. Wingfield just needed the NCAA to grant a waiver request that would give him another year of eligibility. Neither the school nor the player expected any issues. However, the NCAA denied Wingfield’s request in March as well as a subsequent appeal. With the college football season just around the corner, Wingfield sued the NCAA seeking injunctive relief so that he could take the field. Riley weighed in on the issue Friday after holding team practice. “It isn’t right,” the USC head coach said, via the L.A. Times’ Ryan Kartje. “I haven’t seen anything like it in all my years of coaching.” Riley also called on the NCAA to “just do the right thing” and let Wingfield play out his final season. If the NCAA’s ruling holds, Wingfield would be stripped of the $210,000 in NIL money promised by USC, a payday that he described as “once in a lifetime.” Wingfield and USC both believed the waiver would be approved, given the recent legal victory of college quarterback Diego Pavia. The Vanderbilt QB went through a similar situation and later won a preliminary injunction from a U.S. District Court to gain an extra year of eligibility. The 24-year-old lineman played his first two seasons at El Camino College, a JUCO program based in L.A. County, California. He later transferred to New Mexico State in 2022 and tore his ACL in the very first game of the season, immediately ending his campaign. Wingfield played nine games for New Mexico in 2023 before landing a starting job at Purdue last season.
Green Bay Packers: NFL Insider Reveals 1 Huge Improvement Jordan Love Has Made During Offseason
The Green Bay Packers have some lofty goals for the 2025 NFL season, the primary one being winning the Super Bowl. And while this should be the goal of every NFL team, it is especially true for the team that calls its home Titletown. Indeed, it has been 15 years since the Packers last won a Super Bowl, a draught that fans, players, and coaches are all too well aware of. Additionally, the team has laid a foundation, over the last two seasons, with Jordan Love as the starting quarterback with young playmakers around him that, hopefully, will help Green Bay take the next step back into serious contention. And, as is the case in the modern NFL, it all begins and ends with the quarterback position, and Love is raising eyebrows with one intangible that he has been working on improving for the last two years. ESPN Insider Impressed with How Jordan Love Is Leading the Green Bay Packers One of the things that head coach Matt LaFleur wanted Love to work on more, once he became the starter back in 2023, was becoming a more vocal leader. Love is not loud or boisterous by nature, so it was something that he had to make a conscious effort on which to work. And, at least to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Love has made some great strides in that department: “This is Jordan Love’s team. That was the case by default when he took over as the starter in 2023. But Love is much more comfortable as a leader in Year 3 as a starter. LaFleur has urged his quarterback to be vocal and he’s answering that challenge. ‘Night and day,’ coach Matt LaFleur told me. ‘Even from last year, and I thought he took a big jump last year. Way more presence. As the kids say, he’s got aura.’ “Love is not the most outspoken player by nature, but he’s worked on it and believes it’s going well. Late in 2023, the list of quarterbacks playing better than him was short. But last season, the Week 1 knee injury cost him momentum and mobility. He is back to moving well, and he’s got the best supporting cast in his three years as a starter.” Love has always had the respect of his teammates, and no one needs to look further than how the entire roster rallied around him when Green Bay traded Aaron Rodgers to make way for the 2020 first round pick to take over the offense. Now, Love is entering his third year as the starting quarterback, and his sixth NFL season overall. He knows the offense, he knows the players around him. He is leading, and the Packers will go as far as he can take them. Of course, it will be a team effort, but the quarterback is the most looked to player on the field, on the sidelines, and in the locker room. Love is setting the tone, and he wants to win a Super Bowl this year, saying that it is the team’s primary focus, even before winning the NFC North. Hopefully, his vision becomes reality.
Three potential landing spots for disgruntled Bills RB James Cook
Superstar pass-rusher Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys aren't the only ones involved in a contract dispute. Buffalo Bills star running back James Cook is seeking a pay raise as he heads into the final year of his rookie contract. When asked Sunday why he wasn't practicing, Cook responded: "Business." ESPN insider Adam Schefter noted on Monday the hold-in by Cook, the 2022 second-round pick (63rd overall) who is unhappy with his contract situation. For now, Cook's future with the Bills is in question, so let's look at three teams that should be lighting up general manager Brandon Beane's phone in an attempt to pry him from Buffalo. Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles must continue to add weapons around second-year QB Caleb Williams. Per NFL.com, Chicago ranked 25th in the league in rushing yards (102 per game) and 29th in yards per carry (four) last season, which is not good enough to support a young QB. RB D'Andre Swift (253 carries, 959 yards rushing, 3.8 yards per carry) is a solid option but was inefficient last season in the workhorse role. Cook, who rushed for 1,009 yards last season (4.9 per carry), is an efficient runner who could balance this offense. Chicago has the draft capital and salary-cap space (roughly $13M, per Over The Cap) to get a deal done, particularly if it were to send Swift back the other way. Arizona Cardinals Their offense could reach new heights with a dynamic running back like Cook. James Conner, who rushed for a career-high 1,094 yards last season, has been a solid lead runner in Arizona over the past four years, but the 30-year-old could use help. Conner is a power back. Speedster Cook would bring a different style and create an explosive one-two punch with QB Kyler Murray. Per Over The Cap, Arizona has roughly $35M in cap space and all its own draft picks to get a deal done. It's a move it must consider to compete in the loaded NFC West. Minnesota Vikings What better way is there to aid rookie QB J.J. McCarthy than by trading for a high-end running back? Minnesota has perhaps the best receiving groups in the NFL, so improving the run game could make this offense unstoppable. Running back Aaron Jones will turn 31 on Dec. 2, so Cook — who will turn 26 on Sept. 25 — would be an upgrade. Free-agent RB Dalvin Cook, who has a similar running style to James, his brother, rushed for 1,173 yards with the Vikings in 2022. The Vikings have draft picks to make a solid offer, and while their cap space will get tight in 2026, they can find ways to wiggle their way around it. Perhaps Buffalo would be interested in Jones being a part of the deal to help its backfield in the short term.
NASCAR road course ace to pilot No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevy in Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen
One of the best road course racers in NASCAR has been tapped to drive the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet at Watkins Glen on Aug. 9. On Monday, it was reported that Michael McDowell, the 2023 Indianapolis road course winner and 2021 Daytona 500 champion will pilot the No. 11 Kaulig Chevy in the wake of Josh Williams' dismissal from the organization. McDowell, a 40-year-old driver from Phoenix, Ariz., has finished top-10 in two of the last three Cup Series races at Watkins Glen. While he is a veteran of 94 Xfinity Series starts, he hasn't raced in the series since 2016, when he earned his lone Xfinity Series win at Road America. Over a NASCAR career that spans nearly two decades, McDowell has also made 524 Cup Series starts, four Craftsman Truck Series starts and 28 ARCA Menards Series starts. McDowell will hop behind the wheel of the No. 11 one week after his Spire Motorsports teammate, Carson Hocevar, drove the car in the Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway. No further replacement drivers for the No. 11 have been announced. Practice and qualifying for the Mission 200 at the Glen will take place on the morning of Aug. 9, with the green flag flying shortly after 3 p.m. ET. Coverage of the race will be provided by the CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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