#Athlon Sports

Georgia's national championship victory over TCU is less than a week old, but the news and offseason never stops in college football - and that's especially true in the SEC. The Bulldogs will be heavily favored to win the SEC next season, which means 13 other teams have already started to aim for coach Kirby Smart's program and how to topple the…

It's never too early to think about next year as one college football season ends and the next one becomes the conversation. So, who is No. 1? The very early top-25 rankings are now starting to roll in 235 days before Alabama opens the 2023 season against Middle Tennessee State. There's a consensus with Georgia at No. 1 in the three-peat bid, but…

Two coaches -- P.J. Fleck and Dino Babers -- that know each other well. Two teams with quandaries at different positions -- quarterback and running back. That's the gist of Thursday's Pinstripe Bowl between the Minnesota Gophers and Syracuse Orange. Fleck, who has coached the Gophers to three straight bowl wins, knows Babers from their time in the…

Everyone loves college football bowl mania. It's the best! Ever since I was a kid, I've made my yearly picks for each and every college football bowl game. I would agonize sitting at my old computer over which of the two teams that I didn't watch a single game of would win the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Heck, I'd even print out all of my scores to…

Travers Family Head Football Coach announced Tuesday that has agreed to become the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at California. Spavital returns to the role he held at Cal for one season in 2016 when the Golden Bears' offense and quarterback Davis Webb set several school records while ranking fourth in the nation in passing offense and…

The bowl picture amongst middling SEC teams is far from clear entering the final week of the regular season, Kentucky included. Sitting at 6-5, the Wildcats will welcome the Louisville Cardinals to Kroger Field for the Governor's Cup this Saturday, a game that will likely have major implications on where UK lands for its postseason matchup in late…

Colorado made the biggest splash of the 2022-23 college football coaching carousel by hiring Deion Sanders from Jackson State as its next head coach. Coach Prime went 27-5 with the Tigers from 2020-22 and succeeded at raising the profile (and talent) of Jackson State. But going from the FCS to the Pac-12 is a significant jump for any coach. Also,…

Conference championship weekend featured enough chaos for Alabama to enter the College Football Playoff discussion despite watching the league titles games from Tuscaloosa, Ala. No. 4 USC lost to No. 11 Utah, 47-24, on Friday, knocking the Trojans out of playoff contention, while No. 3 TCU lost to No. 10 Kansas State, 31-28, in overtime on Sunday.…

To say Texas A&M threw a wrench into LSU's postseason plans with Saturday's 38-23 victory over the Tigers would be a gross understatement. Throwing a whole tool set into the Tigers' plans is more like it. The loss sent LSU tumbling out of College Football Playoff contention, from No. 5 in last week's rankings to No. 14 Tuesday. That also reduced…

The Florida Gators (6-6, 3-5 SEC) earned bowl eligibility in Week 11 following their victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks, ensuring postseason practices and an additional game for Billy Napier's first season in charge. Bowl game selections will be made following conference championships this weekend. All Gators has gathered nine bowl…

The third edition of the College Football Playoff officially begins on Saturday in Atlanta, Ga., as Alabama takes on Washington in the Peach Bowl. The Crimson Tide are the defending national champs and have earned a trip to the CFB Playoff for the third consecutive year, while the Huskies are making their first appearance in the four-team…

College football's offseason is slowly winding down, but the appearance of conference title odds and win totals is a sign that the actual season isn't too far away. In early May, BetOnline.Ag did exactly that, releasing its odds to win each of the Power 5 conferences. There are plenty of places to find betting value from the odds, including…

The final week of the regular season is here. Before we know it, bowl season will be upon us. For the first time since 2019 and just the second time in the last five seasons, the Florida State football team will be playing in a bowl. And there's a chance that it could be an even more prestigious bowl than many of us thought. The chaos that was Week…

Over the next two weeks, a complicated web of scenarios to fill the two spots in the Pac-12 championship game will be sorted out. For now, though, five league teams - Utah, Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington - all have one or two conference losses and could play in the game on Dec. 2. Not only is it difficult to determine the game's participants…

Liberty's three-point loss at UConn didn't hurt the Flames' odds of going to a bowl game for the fourth straight season. It did significantly hamper potentially being in a marquee post-Christmas bowl. All 15 national outlets that project the bowl games have the Flames in a bowl game, with 10 of those projecting Liberty to play in a pre-Christmas…

LOGAN - The end of the year is nigh, although the Aggies are desperate to extend it by one game. With a win on Saturday, Utah State could turn what is looking like a 12-game season into a 13-game one. USU IS mathematically out of the race for any Mountain West division title or even a share of it. So all of the focus now turns to reaching a bowl…

Welcome to Week 10 of the college football "upset watch" here at Athlon Sports! Last week - for the first time all season - all five of our upset picks did not come to fruition. It happens, but the percentages remain in our favor. The bottom line is this: If your team makes this weekly list, you're probably uncomfortable leading up to and during…

Welcome to Week 7 of the college football "Upset Watch" here at Athlon Sports! Our streak is alive and well in 2022. We've had at least one team from each of the first five weeks of "upset watch" go down to underdogs. Last week, it was Kentucky losing at home to South Carolina. Which team will it be this week? Let's take a look at the five teams on…

It's been a while since Kentucky Wildcats fans woke up after watching their football team win a game. In fact, it's now been 16 days since Kentucky's last victory. The Wildcats began their season 4-0 with wins over Miami (OH), No. 12 Florida, Youngstown State and Northern Illinois. However, they've suffered back to back losses at No. 14 Ole…

Welcome to Week 6 of the college football "Upset Watch" here at Athlon Sports! If your team is on this list, you have every reason to be nervous. We've had at least one team from each of the first five weeks of "upset watch" go down to underdogs. Last week, it was Minnesota losing at home to Purdue. Who will it be this week? Let's take a look at…

The number of teams capable of reaching the College Football Playoff is far greater than many realize - which is genuinely great news for college football. Non-traditional powers Washington, Michigan State, Oregon, Michigan, and Cincinnati have made the playoff in the past. Basically, any one-loss or undefeated Power Five conference champion has a…

Welcome to Week 5 of the college football "Upset Watch" here at Athlon Sports! We're on to something, as we've had at least one team from each of the first four weeks of "upset watch" go down to underdogs. Last week, it was Appalachian State going down to FBS newcomer James Madison. Who will it be this week? Let's take a look at the five teams on…

Once upon a time, Ricky Craven predicted a change in NASCAR. He surmised that a day would come when drivers in NASCAR's national divisions would look back and remember when they used to crash into bare concrete walls on a weekly basis. Craven's prediction has long since come to pass; most of today's drivers in those series can't even look back and…

The second game of the College Football Playoff is arguably the most anticipated matchup of the bowl season, as Ohio State takes on Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday night. The winner of this matchup will take on Alabama or Washington in Tampa, Fla. on Jan. 9 to decide the 2016 national championship. Clemson is just 60 minutes away from…

We're only 10 days from the kickoff of Purdue football in 2022, and expectations are the highest they have been in quite some time. After a 9-4 year last year it is not so much "if" Purdue will make a bowl game, but "which bowl". There are so many bowls these days that just making it to six wins in a major conference pretty much guarantees…

Some of the appeal from this matchup faded due to last week's results, but Miami's trip to Texas A&M on Saturday night still ranks as one of the must-see games for college football's Week 3 slate. The Aggies are reeling after a stunning 17-14 upset loss to Appalachian State. The'Canes hope to add to the disappointing start in College Station, while…

Welcome to Week 3 of the college football "Upset Watch" here at Athlon Sports! We've had at least one team from each of the first two weeks of "upset watch" go down to underdogs. Last week, it was Nebraska losing to Georgia Southern. Who will it be this week? Let's take a look at the five teams on "upset watch" for Week 3. Can the Monarchs make it…

Week 1 of the college football season continues with eight games on Friday, and the only game with a ranked team will take place in East landing, where Michigan State hosts Western Michigan. Last season, Western Michigan upset Pitt, the eventual Atlantic Coast Conference champion. However, WMU could only manage to win half of its Mid-American…