It's never too early to start thinking about the next season in college football. And in 2025, the fun begins immediately. The first month of the regular season is stuffed with phenomenal matchups between big-name programs.
These are the 12 best ones.
Florida State might be better in 2025. But, in Week 1, Florida State will be viewed as the ghastly Seminoles team of last season rather than whatever this new version of the team is. And Kalen DeBoer cannot afford anything other than a beatdown of FSU in his first game of the new year. Alabama will have a new quarterback, with several green passers battling for the job this offseason. Alabama will have a remade coaching staff. After a 6-point loss to Michigan ended DeBoer's debut season with a dud, Alabama has to be perfect to open 2025. It just does. DeBoer will be skewered if the Tide skate by FSU on the road. And while I'm not a fan of the post-Jordan Travis quarterback decisions Mike Norvell has made, I do love the defensive coordinator hire of Tony White and I'm encouraged by some of the pieces FSU added to its defense. The Seminoles should be better. To what degree remains to be seen.
Early odds: Alabama -9.5 (via DraftKings)
Brent Venables hired the wrong offensive coordinator, got poor quarterback play to open the season, and watched his two-deep get shredded by injuries. It's not hard to diagnose why the Sooners limped to a second losing season in 3 years under Venables. If he is going to get a fifth year in Norman, Venables needs to have nailed this offseason's coordinator/quarterback move. I believe he has. I love John Mateer, the ex-Washington State passer who is a devastating runner. If Mateer is who I think he is, Oklahoma can beat Michigan at home early in its season. If Mateer is who I think he is, Oklahoma can be a thorn in the side of a number of SEC teams next fall. But that's a big "if." Mountain West competition and SEC competition are quite different. And we'll learn nothing substantial from the Sooners' Week 1 game against Illinois State.
From 2013-23, Florida lost 9 of 11 to LSU. The Gators have but 1 win in Baton Rouge since Tim Tebow left, and they'd lost 5 straight to the Tigers prior to last fall. But the 27-16 win over LSU in Gainesville set the table for a brilliant run to close out the 2024 season. DJ Lagway threw for 226 yards and the Gator defense feasted on LSU's offensive line. This is a measuring stick game for Billy Napier on the road against a team that fancies itself a contender. LSU will present one of the more dangerous quarterbacks Florida will see all year.
Napier and the Gators couldn't find a rhythm early on last year. But Florida sure found a groove late, winning its final 4 games. Miami stood in the way to begin the year, blasting Florida 41-17 in The Swamp and putting Napier on life support. If you had told Florida fans after that game that not only would Napier still be the coach in 2025 but they would be content with the decision to keep him, you would have been admitted. But here we are. And 2025 affords Napier, DJ Lagway, and the rest of the squad a nice little ramp-up. The Gators host Long Island University and South Florida to open the season. If they win the LSU game, the Gators will be favored against the Hurricanes. I'm not totally sold on Miami in 2025. The Hurricanes have to replace all of their key skill players while also hoping that Carson Beck can seamlessly recover from surgery to his throwing arm and replace a Heisman Trophy finalist. That's asking a lot.
Depending on what happens over the first few weeks of its season, LSU might be in a spot where it can't afford another loss. Not with games still remaining against South Carolina and Alabama. But I might be more interested in what Ole Miss looks like here. The Rebels will look significantly different in 2025 and this matchup will mark a second revenge spot through the first 5 weeks of the season. Ole Miss blew a late lead and lost in overtime to LSU last year. If not for that, the Rebels would have been in the College Football Playoff. After closing the season by thumping Duke in the Gator Bowl, Lane Kiffin said more was still to come for his program. If Austin Simmons can keep things rolling, Ole Miss should stay in the thick of the SEC's contending class.
The big boys on the defensive line are gone for Texas A&M, and that's a problem. At least, it might be early in the season. A&M has to find replacements for Nic Scourton, Shemar Stewart, and Shemar Turner on the defensive line. Those 3 guys were a huge reason why A&M finished the season in the top 25 in defensive success rate. But, more than anything, success in Year 2 for Mike Elko is going to come down to whether or not Marcel Reed can beat teams with his arm. He couldn't in 2024, when A&M closed the season with 4 losses in its final 5 games. The Aggies hammered the portal for reinforcements at receiver, supplying Reed with, among others, former ACC rookie of the year Kevin Concepcion. With Reed and Le'Veon Moss, we know A&M will have a punishing ground game. Early in the year, Notre Dame is going to make Reed show his development as a passer.
What was just the second regular-season meeting between these 2 teams in 9 years did not disappoint. Alabama stunned the nation by jumping out to a 30-7 halftime lead on the Bulldogs. Jalen Milroe ran roughshod over the Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide were being sharpied into the CFP. Then Georgia came storming back in the second half and briefly took a lead in the closing minutes of the game.
Key positions will feature new faces on both sides of the football in 2025. But my, oh my does DeBoer have a massive chance in this spot to stabilize the ground around him. If Alabama fares well, DeBoer's critics will have to chill. Should Alabama stumble, DeBoer is going to find himself in boiling water. In the 12-team Playoff era, early-season games probably aren't going to have much desperation. In this particular spot, DeBoer might be pressing for a signature victory.
Carson Beck off an injury and a bit of a sour breakup with Georgia. Notre Dame off a disappointing end to a title run. Hard Rock Stadium will be the site of an absolute treat in Week 1. I have a ton of questions about these 2 teams. Can Beck replace everything that Cam Ward meant to this Hurricanes' group? Can Mario Cristobal start to wash away some of the unsavory narratives about him as a coach? Can Notre Dame improve its pass game under a new quarterback? Can Jeremiyah Love make good on his enormous potential?
Notre Dame's schedule is remarkably front-loaded in 2025, with games against Texas A&M and Arkansas coming up right after the Irish return from South Beach. Marcus Freeman will need to have his quarterback spot settled and ready to roll the second toe meets leather on the new year.
Early odds: Notre Dame -2.5 (via DraftKings)
As a freshman with UCLA in 2023, Dante Moore struggled heavily on the road. In losses to Utah and Oregon State, Moore completed less than 50% of his passes with 2 touchdowns and 4 picks. He threw a pick-6 in the opening moments of a 7-point loss to the Utes, and threw a pick-6 in the closing moments of a 6-point game at the half against the Beavers. He transferred to Oregon once the season came to a close, telling reporters he was looking to be developed.
In Eugene, Moore got a redshirt year to sit and learn from Dillon Gabriel. Moore attempted 8 total passes. He is expected to win the starting job in 2025 for an Oregon team that expects to remain in contention for a national title. Can he be what Oregon needs? The Ducks added playmakers in the transfer portal to supplement a roster that has been supercharged by Dan Lanning and Phil Knight. The Ducks' first 4 games are against Montana State, Oklahoma State, Northwestern, and Oregon State. They'll be 4-0 heading to Happy Valley, yet we won't know much about them. This will be the only game Oregon plays against another Big Ten contender all year; the Ducks need a strong showing. And they need to figure out a way to slow down a Penn State run game that shredded them in the 2024 conference title game. If Oregon isn't any better stopping the run in 2025, it's time to start asking questions of Tosh Lupoi.
LSU is 0-3 in season-openers under Brian Kelly and LSU is 4-8 against ranked opponents under Brian Kelly. When the Tigers lost 3 straight games to fall out of the CFP picture and the SEC title race last season, the heat was turned on for Kelly. When Notre Dame won its way into the national championship game, the heat was turned up. The Tigers have built a roster that signals a "title or bust" mentality in 2025. If that campaign opens with a loss and Kelly moves to 0-4 in season-openers, it's going to sticky in Baton Rouge.
On the other side, Clemson is hoping for a return to contender status in 2025. Dabo Swinney's squad upgraded at defensive coordinator, dabbled in the transfer portal, and brought back almost everyone on offense. Quarterback Cade Klubnik, who will be opening his third season as a starter, made strides in 2024 and looks like one of the best returning quarterbacks in the country. The stars are lining up for Clemson to win another ACC title and challenge for a first-round bye in the CFP. But, like LSU, Clemson has had a troublesome time getting going in recent years. The Tigers are 1-3 in openers over the last 4 seasons. Is this Clemson team actually different?
Early odds: Clemson -2.5 (via DraftKings)
This won't be the most important game on Tennessee's schedule -- the Vols travel to Alabama in October -- but it'll be the most informative. Tennessee's first 3 games of the 2024 season were fool's gold. The Vols hammered 3 awful teams by a combined 191 points to 13. Because NC State was a brand name, a 51-10 win looked amazing. Then Tennessee went on the road and managed only 25 points against Oklahoma and, 2 weeks later, scored just 14 in a road loss to Arkansas. Tennessee lost by 14 to Georgia in November and got embarrassed by Ohio State in the Playoff in December.
Josh Heupel handled Nico Iamaleava with kid gloves throughout the regular season and that just can't happen again. Iamaleava has the potential to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country. He has an arm that can hit any spot on the field. How has his touch grown in the offseason? How has Heupel's trust in him grown? The Vols open 2025 with Syracuse and East Tennessee State before jumping into the thick of things with Georgia. We'll learn very quickly what the ceiling is in Knoxville.
Our introduction to the Arch Manning Experience comes in the house of the defending national champions. How did we get so lucky?
In the opening week of the 2025 season, we may very well get the best game of the entire regular season. Not only will this be Manning's official debut as a full-time starter, it'll introduce college football to a number of new players. Ohio State is replacing both of its coordinators from its title team, with Brian Hartline replacing Chip Kelly on offense and Matt Patricia replacing Jim Knowles on defense. Ohio State will also have a new quarterback and tons of new faces across the defense.
Texas has one of my favorite running backs in the country in CJ Baxter. Ohio State has the best wideout in the country in Jeremiah Smith. Texas has Anthony Hill Jr. as a wrecking ball on defense. Ohio State has Caleb Downs as a wrecking ball on defense. These teams ranked No. 3 (Ohio State) and No. 4 in the 2024 Talent Composite and both signed top-5 recruiting classes this cycle. NFL talent will be all over the field.
But let's be real here. This is about Manning. Everyone is anxiously waiting to see if he's as good as he teased in 2024. Texas is depending on him. Consider this: Ewers led Texas to an 11-1 record as a starter against power conference opponents on the road. And he went 5-1 on the road against ranked opponents, throwing for 1,617 yards with a 14:6 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Ewers had his flaws, but he was a consistent gamer in true road environments for the Longhorns.
That's a skill. Not everyone has it. This matchup will be an incredibly important data point for evaluating Manning.