The 2024 college football season is over. The 2025 college football season begins today.
In all reality, the vast majority of the sport has been making plans for 2025 for weeks now. But Ohio State and Notre Dame concluding the inaugural 12-team Playoff on MLK Day has shortened the sport's offseason by a week, which means only 215 days sit between the 2024 title game and Week 0 of 2025.
As college football's winter descends upon us, let the light of these 16 games guide you through the dark. (Rankings via the ESPN way-too-early top 25.)
16. No. 4 Notre Dame at Arkansas (Sept. 27): In a series first announced in 2017 and impacted because of covid, the Fighting Irish and Razorbacks face off for the first time ever.
15. No. 15 SMU at TCU (Sept. 20): It's Chapter 4 of Sonny Dykes vs. His Old School, and the final scheduled chapter of a rivalry that's seen a postgame scuffle started by a Michigan-style flag planting, Dykes get ejected for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and then big-brothered SMU by ending the series.
14. Wisconsin at No. 12 Alabama (Sept. 13): Wisconsin will look to get back to its ground-and-pound roots under in 2025 under new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, and we'll all get a look at how that's going as the Badgers make their first visit to Bryant-Denny.
13. No. 10 South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech at Atlanta (Aug. 31): It's Shame Beamer vs. The Program That Frank Beamer built. South Carolina appears to be in its strongest place since the Steve Spurrier era of the early 2010s, which should translate to a Gamecock victory here. If not, look out, because the 2025 SEC schedule is not forgiving.
12. Georgia Tech at Colorado (Aug. 30): In the 35th anniversary of the Yellow Jackets' and Buffaloes' split national championship, it's the beginning of a new era for Colorado football in one way or the other. Either it's Game 1 of Coach Prime 2.0 as Deion Sanders coaches without Shedeur Sanders for the first time ever, or it's Game 1 of Coach TBD if Deion actually does take the Cowboys job.
11. No. 19 Tennessee vs. Syracuse at Atlanta (Aug. 30): They should call this one the Big Orange Bowl. Syracuse was one of the surprises of 2024, winning 10 games in head coach Fran Brown's debut. How does he begin Year 2 against a Tennessee program that returns defensive coordinator Tim Banks and quarterback Nico Iamaleava and looks to build off a Playoff appearance from 2024?
10. Iowa at No. 11 Iowa State (Sept. 6): Five of the last seven CyHawk games were one-score affairs, including Iowa State' 20-19 walk-off last season. This should be -- hold your laughter -- a legit QB duel between Iowa State's Rocco Becht (3,500 yards and 25 TDs for the Big 12 finalists and Pop-Tarts Bowl champions in 2024) and South Dakota State transfer Mark Gronowski for the Hawkeyes. While Iowa State has won two straight over Iowa in Iowa City, the Cyclones haven't beaten the Hawkeyes in front of their own fans since 2011.
9. Pitt at West Virginia (Sept. 13): Technically, this will be Rich Rod's third game in his second tenure at West Virginia. But in reality, the Robert Morris and Ohio games are soft launches before the true debut, as WVU and its new/old head coach look to hit the reset button after the crushing end to his first tenure back in 2007.
8. No. 18 Florida at No. 23 Miami (Sept. 20): Billy Napier did enough in 2024 to keep his job, which means the Gators will be expected to contend in 2025. There's no better opportunity to prove just how far Florida's come than visiting the team that ran you off your own field to open last season; UF's last win at Miami came in 1985. It's also a big year for Mario Cristobal -- as you'll see at further down, he's got two massive home games within the season's first three weeks. Win them both and the city of Miami will be fully bought in; lose them both and the fan base will tune the Hurricanes out.
7. No. 22 Texas A&M at No. 4 Notre Dame (Sept. 13): Poor quarterback play by Conner Weigman cost Texas A&M a shot at a win over Notre Dame, which would've been even more impressive than we thought at the time, in Mike Elko's first game. There will be no such excuse this time around with Marcel Reed entrenched as the starter. It's Notre Dame's first home game since their run to the 2024 title game, but there should be plenty of maroon in the stands as the Aggies make just their second trip to South Bend.
6. TCU at North Carolina (Aug. 30): TCU has become college football's official welcome committee of highly-anticipated coaching debuts. The Horned Frogs hosted Deion Sanders's first game at Colorado, a stunning 45-42 Buffaloes upset over the reigning national runners-up, and now they get the first crack at Bill Belichick's Tar Heels. (Update: This game has been moved to Labor Day, Sept. 1.)
5. No. 12 Alabama at Florida State (Aug. 30): What a better way for Mike Norvell to pull Florida State out of its season-long tailspin than by beating Alabama in front of the Doak Campbell faithful to start 2025. Right? Alabama, meanwhile, will need a victory or Kalen DeBoer will begin Year 2 in immediate crisis.
4. No. 8 LSU at No. 7 Clemson (Aug. 30): And so we begin a home-and-home where the loser has to cede the Death Valley moniker to the other, forever. Or, at least that's how it should be. Clemson and LSU should both have real expectations as one of the few top-15 teams to return its starting quarterback in seniors Cade Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeier, while Brian Kelly desperately looks to avoid falling to 0-4 in season-openers at LSU.
3. No. 21 Michigan at Oklahoma (Sept. 6): It's a win-or-else season for Brent Venables, while Michigan looks to translate the good vibes that ended 2024 into a return to prominence in 2025. Both teams will be relying on new quarterbacks -- Oklahoma with Wazzu transfer John Mateer, and Michigan with super-recruit true freshman Bryce Underwood. This will be the first regular-season meeting between the Wolverines and Sooners, and first overall since the 1976 Orange Bowl.
2. No. 4 Notre Dame at No. 23 Miami (Aug. 30): Notre Dame returns to the site of its semifinal victory over Penn State breaking in a new quarterback in CJ Carr, while Miami debuts a new team with a brand-new defensive staff and Georgia transfer Carson Beck at quarterback. (Also, Notre Dame is off on Sept. 6 while Miami hosts Bethune-Cookman. I bring that up to say this: Bet the farm on this game being pushed back to the standalone Sunday night game.) (Update: This game has been moved to Sunday, Aug. 31.)
1. No. 2 Texas at No. 1 Ohio State (Aug. 30): The storylines here are almost overwhelming. It's Arch Manning making his debut as an entrenched starting quarterback vs. the defending national champions in what looks (early, early) like a 1 vs. 2 game. The Buckeyes and Longhorns have played four times previously. In three of the four, the winner went on to play for the national championship, and to win it twice. In retrospect, the 2024 national title was decided when Jack Sawyer strip sacked Quinn Ewers. It feels fitting to begin the race to the 2025 title with their replacements jockeying for position.