Three Bold Predictions For This College Football Season
Nothing like putting your neck on the line before the games even begin.
Merry Christmas Eve, college football fans!
That's right, around this time tomorrow, we will have actual, live college football on our TV screens (and phone screens too, if you're into that sort of thing, I won't judge).
In honor of this momentous occasion, I thought I'd whet your appetite for pigskin with three bold predictions ahead of the 2025 college football season.
1. An "Off-The-Radar" Player Will Win The Heisman
Let's be honest, the odds-on Heisman favorite to start the season rarely ends up hoisting the Heisman trophy.
To give you a refresher course, last August the preseason Heisman favorites were Dillon Gabriel and Carson Beck.
Cue the "Price Is Right" loser horn.
Sure, Travis Hunter had the best odds of a non-quarterback to start the season last year, but he was still a household name as a two-way dynamo at Colorado (he was on the cover of EA Sports' College Football '25, for crying out loud).
Ashton Jeanty, however, wasn't on anyone's radar outside the great state of Idaho, and he came within a nosehair of winning that bronze trophy in December.
Someone of a similar profile to Jeanty will not only be invited to NYC, but win the whole thing this year.
A few names to watch would be Kansas State QB Avery Johnson, Ole Miss QB Austin Simmons, and Arizona State WR Jordan Tyson.
2. Texas Tech Makes A Cinderella Run To The College Football Playoff Semifinals
They say money can't buy happiness, but the fine folks out in Lubbock, TX, are about to find out if a ton of money can buy you a College Football Playoff appearance.
It's no secret that I am fairly high on Texas Tech, and for good reason.
The Red Raiders spent a ton of money in the transfer portal, particularly in the trenches, to help beef up their roster.
It's still a line of scrimmage league, at the end of the day, and Texas Tech is making sure they're equipped to make a run at a wide-open Big 12 in 2025.
Regardless of seeding, the Red Raiders will not only have to win their conference, but they will also have to win at least one playoff game to make this bold prediction come true.
If anyone can be this year's Cinderella Story in college football, it's Joey Maguire and his merry band of billionaire oil barons.
Three cheers for the little guy!
3. LSU Misses The CFP, Fires Brian Kelly
I saved what is, potentially, my most scalding-hot take for last, and it is a doozy.
As our very own Trey Wallace wrote about earlier, LSU and Brian Kelly have pumped a ton of money into this roster to make a run at a College Football Playoff berth in 2025.
It's been three years since Kelly arrived on the Bayou with his family, and although he was hired to keep the gravy train rolling in Baton Rogue, the Tigers don't have a single playoff appearance to show for it.
With the expectations at an all-time high, LSU missing the CFP would spell doom for Kelly's tenure in the state of Louisiana.
The Tigers will face a brutal first half of the season, having to travel to Clemson and Ole Miss, while hosting Florida and South Carolina in Death Valley.
Should they stumble out of the gate and drop two or three of those games, the team of transfers could fracture and the season might slip out of Kelly's grasp.
Think 2024 FSU.
Kelly isn't the most well-loved personality, so his leash could be a lot shorter than past coaches like Ed Orgeron and Les Miles.
When you're winning, no one cares how much of a jerk you are, but if Kelly fails to produce a season worthy of the nearly $20 million dollars this roster is reportedly commanding, his days at LSU will be numbered.