RADIO
Colorado Buffaloes
What Deion Sanders has accomplished in a short time at Colorado is special. The Buffaloes went 1-11 in 2022, and Sanders had the program somewhat close to reaching the College Football Playoff in 2024 after a 9-3 regular season. However, Colorado will now be without quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who finished eighth in the Heisman voting. And more importantly, they lose No. 1 WR and CB Travis Hunter, who took home the Heisman.
The Buffs are bringing in impressive Liberty transfer QB Kaidon Salter, but it’s hard to imagine the program improving on a 9-3 record after losing its best offensive and defensive player. Road trips to Utah and West Virginia are daunting, too.
Oregon Ducks
Dan Lanning appears to be the rising star among FBS head coaches, and the Ducks have won 35 of his first 41 games on the sideline through three seasons. However, Oregon has relied on veteran quarterback play from Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel over the last three seasons. Those two signal-callers are first and second for the most games started by a college quarterback.
Now, Dante Moore is slated to take over the Oregon offense. The former UCLA Bruin is a talented player who showed some flashes as a freshman under Chip Kelly, but he won’t operate as cleanly and efficiently as Nix or Gabriel. Oregon will still compete for the Big Ten title but don’t expect their first loss to come in the College Football Playoff. A 13-0 start is unlikely.
Ohio State Buckeyes
The Buckeyes just won the 2024-25 College Football National Championship Game, so anything short of that is technically regressing. Ohio State will be without quarterback Will Howard, running back TreVeyon Henderson, wide receiver Emeka Egubka, tight end Gee Scott Jr, and potentially running back Quinshon Judkins next season. In the trenches, the Buckeyes lose most of its offensive and defense line.
Make no mistake about it — Ohio State will retool and have one of the top roisters in college football. However, the 2024 team was a veteran-led group, and there could be growing pains with several new starters in key spots. Matchups against Texas and Penn State are ones to watch, and they will face Michigan on the road in 2025.
Miami Hurricanes
The Hurricanes seemed to be College Football Playoff-bound all year long in 2024, but a late-season collapse against Syracuse left them out of the 12-team field. Cam Ward was arguably the best quarterback in the nation, and Miami’s stats on offense can back that up. However, Ward is headed to the NFL — along with running back Damien Martinez and the school’s all-time leading receiver Xavier Restrepo.
Sure, Georgia transfer Carson Beck heading to South Beach brings reason for optimism, but based on what we saw in Athens lately, he does not present an upgrade over Ward. Head coach Mario Cristobal might have missed this playoff window.
Arizona State Sun Devils
After the media picked Arizona State to finish last in the Big 12, the Sun Devils proved the doubters wrong, won the conference crown, and took Texas to overtime in the quarterfinals of the CFP. Kenny Dillingham had one of the most impressive coaching performances of the last decade in 2024, but there is one significant reason to worry about the Sun Devils in 2025.
Running back Cam Skattebo carried Arizona State’s offense behind over 2,316 scrimmage yards and 24 total touchdowns, and he’s on to the NFL. The Sun Devils will be tasked with reinventing its offense next season, and questioning whether they have the overall roster talent to do so is fair.
Indiana Hoosiers
Indiana is another team that had a magical run in 2024. Head coach Curt Cignetti might be one of the best in the business, but the Hoosiers are losing nearly 50 players from the 2024 squad, including sixth-year senior Kurtis Rourke. We should not expect Indiana to fall back down the basement of the Big Ten, but an 11-1 regular season and a playoff appearance in 2025 is far-fetched.
The Hoosiers face road games against Penn State, Oregon, and Iowa, so its overall schedule will be much more difficult in Year 2 of the Cignetti era. If Cignetti puts up another masterful season, he should probably be viewed as a clear-cut top-five coach in America.
Missouri Tigers
Missouri has become one of the better SEC programs in recent seasons under head coach Eli Drinkwitz. Back-to-back double-digit win seasons are hard to come by, especially for a program facing a talent deficit against most of the SEC. The Tigers are productive in this year’s transfer portal, but the losses of quarterback Brady Cook, running back Nate Noel, and wideouts Theo Wease and Luther Burden III, among other key offensive pieces will be felt in 2025.
Penn State transfer QB Beau Pribula is the front-runner to start for Drinkwitz in 2025, and the Tigers might continue to have offensive success. However, the main core of the impressive run over the last two seasons is gone, so regression is fair to expect.
Syracuse Orange
Under first-year head coach Fran Brown, the Orange won 10 games, the most since 2018. It was a heck of a start for the former Georgia assistant, but losing the nation’s leading passer, Kyle McCord is not a great sign for next season. Ultimately, Sycause is an incredibly difficult program to recruit to, so it’s difficult to replicate that kind of success without a big-time quarterback and elite offense.
When you navigate their 2025 schedule, you can quickly find out why regression is due. The season starts with a neutral site game against Tennessee and includes road trips to Clemson, Miami, SMU, Georgia Tech, and Notre Dame. They’ll also face Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tarheels. Good luck in Year 2 Coach Brown.
