Category: College Football

Clemson football fans will have no shortage of star power to rely on when they boot up EA Sports College Football 26 this summer. Several Tigers landed among the highest-rated players in the game, giving virtual rosters plenty of firepower on both sides of the ball.

Leading the group is quarterback Cade Klubnik, who has been named the top-rated signal-caller in the game with a 92 overall. That puts him ahead of LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and Penn State’s Drew Allar, showing the level of belief the developers have in Klubnik’s potential to lead Clemson’s offense this fall.

On the defensive side, T.J. Parker and Peter Woods are among the most dominant players in the entire game. Both defensive linemen were slotted at the very top of their positions, with Parker earning an impressive 95 overall rating and Woods just behind at 94. Their high marks make them not only key pieces in real life but also must-have defenders in the virtual world for anyone looking to build an elite defensive front.

Cornerback Avieon Terrell also received national recognition, checking in as the No. 4 corner in the game with a 92 overall. His rating reflects his breakout potential and how important he’s expected to be for Clemson’s secondary this season.

Altogether, Clemson’s group of highly rated players should make the Tigers one of the more fun teams to use in the game’s long-awaited return. With top-end talent on offense and defense, fans will get a chance to see just how far they can take Clemson in pursuit of digital trophies — a fitting mirror to the real championship aspirations swirling around Dabo Swinney’s team heading into the 2025 season.

Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.

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The Big Ten and SEC’s current expanded 16-team College Football Playoff proposal for the 2026 season and beyond revolves around access and the belief strength of schedule and regular-season results ultimately trump all other data points for entry.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti Pettiti told Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt in an interview this week that getting closer to a professional sports model from a postseason standpoint is an obvious goal for his conference, which starts with stressing the importance of conference finish and record in the regular season.

“I want more teams to feel like they’re chasing that opportunity to compete for a national championship,” Pettiti said Monday. “Teams can get hot late in the season. The fact they lose a game early shouldn’t disqualify them. To play more meaningful conference games as late as possible.”

Why the Big Ten, SEC alliance turned sour — and what it means for future College Football Playoff format

Brandon Marcello

The Big Ten has won consecutive national championships following Michigan’s title in 2023 and Ohio State’s last fall.

“It’s a really interesting job, when you’re playing conference games, you’re kind of stone-faced, you’re on the sideline and you can’t indicate any emotion,” Pettiti said. “When you get into these nonconference games, you’re living and dying like the people on campus are. The more we…

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Michigan football: 2025 schedule and key games

Michigan football’s schedule and key games for the 2025 season.

Michigan football recruiting surged in late June, adding nine commits in two weeks, including four-star defensive back Andre Clarke.Clarke, a top-200 player nationally, chose Michigan over Kentucky and other major programs.

After a relatively slow start to the month, Michigan football finished its recruiting push with an absolute flurry to end June.

The Wolverines landed two players in the first 17 days of June, college football’s primary recruiting window, but have since added nine more commits in the previous two weeks, including Monday, June 30 when it secured a pledge from Andre Clarke Jr., a four-star defensive back from Richmond, Virginia (Hermitage High School).

Clarke announced his commitment in the afternoon on social media. The highly regarded cornerback held 30 Division I offers per his recruiting profile on 247sports, but ultimately chose the Wolverines over Kentucky, the other primary competitor after taking official visits to SMU, Syracuse, Kentucky, Miami and U-M.

Clark, who stands 6 feet 1 and 175 pounds, is the No. 5 player in Virginia, the No. 16 safety in the nation and thee No. 177 overall player in the class of 2026, according to 247Sports composite rankings.

MICHIGAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE: Ranking 2025 games in order of difficulty

“Clarke is a premier level playmaker in the defensive secondary with the ability to play both cornerback and safety,” writes 247sports analyst and prospect evaluator Clint Brewster. “Very desirable combination of instincts, athleticism, and tackling ability…Clarke is more thin-framed but shows more strength and toughness than his size insists.

“(His) playmaking ability and coverage chops project him to a mid to early round NFL draft choice projection.”

Clarke went on…

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BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff is expected to receive a seven-game suspension for violating the university’s Honor Code and considered likely to leave the program, according to multiple reports. Retzlaff is accused of battery, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress in a civil lawsuit, filed in May, stemming from an alleged incident in November 2023 in Provo, Utah.

The day the lawsuit was filed, BYU said in a statement it had just become aware of the legal action and would follow Title IX protocols. At the Big 12 spring meetings later that month, university officials — including football coach Kalani Sitake — said they had no update on the matter. BYU has not commented on the possibility of suspending Retzlaff. 

According to the filing, Retzlaff and the woman — identified as Jane Doe A.G. — connected on social media and later met at Retzlaff’s residence. She reported the incident to police after undergoing a rape kit examination at a hospital. Initially, Jane Doe A.G. declined to name Retzlaff out of fear that investigators might inform him of the report. However, she eventually identified him after a Provo police officer mentioned that “someone else filed a complaint against a football player and the police wanted to see if it was the same person.”

The lawsuit alleges that Retzlaff continued “escalating the situation” after the two kissed, and engaged in sexual acts despite the woman’s repeated refusal.

In a response to the lawsuit filed on Friday, Retzlaff denied the allegations, stating the two had consensual sex in November 2023 and…

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The Georgia Bulldogs could be getting yet another elite recruit. On3 has predicted five-star tight end recruit Kaiden Prothro to commit to the Bulldogs. He will choose to play college football among Georgia, Florida and Texas on July 12, but On3 believes he will choose Georgia.

Prothro is a five-star tight end from the class of 2026. The 6-foot-5, 216-pound tight end plays football at Bowdon High School. He is ranked as the No. 2 tight end and No. 29 prospect in the nation, according to On3. He is also the No. 4 prospect from Georgia.

Prothro earned a roster spot in the Under-Armour All-American game. The rosters included former five-star freshmen Elijah Griffin and Juan Gaston and four-star commit Zech Fort.

Georgia has been on seven visits with Prothro, which ties with Auburn for the most of any school in the nation, according to On3. That includes an official visit with Prothro, which occurred on May 30. Prothro has visited Florida four times, including an official visit on June 13. However, Texas received an official visit from Prothro on June 20.

Recruiting Prothro is essential for Georgia. The Bulldogs just saw four-star wide Vance Spafford flip to Miami, leaving Georgia with just four-star wide receivers Ryan Mosley, Craig Dandridge and Brady Marchese, along with four-star tight end Lincoln Keyes. Georgia pushed hard for the recruitment of five-star Mark Bowman, with On3 predicting that Bowman would land with Georgia, but Bowman eventually committed to the USC Trojans.

However, Georgia’s on a recruiting hot streak recently, earning commitments from 12 recruits since the start of June. As a result, the Bulldogs are the No. 4 recruiting class in the nation, according to 247Sports.

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College football’s margins have only grown slimmer following the latest wave of conference realignment. The reshaped landscape has flattened the competitive curve, turning every conference schedule into a week-to-week grind. The difference between a playoff contender and a team scrapping for bowl eligibility can come down to a few untimely injuries or bad breaks in one-score games. As a result, several teams enter the 2025 season with floors and ceilings that are miles apart.

Last season, several programs shattered expectations — for better or worse. Few predicted Arizona State’s colossal breakthrough, nor did many expect Indiana to post the best season in school history. On the other side, it would’ve taken a psychic to foresee Florida State’s collapse into a two-win disaster.

Surprises are baked into the fabric of college football. Identifying them before they happen is, by nature, an extreme challenge. But reading the tea leaves on some of the sport’s biggest mystery teams offers a glimpse into their potential to either overachieve or disappoint.

Here are college football’s biggest wild cards heading into the 2025 season.

All playoff odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

Odds to reach CFP: +520

The five wins Utah posted last season matched the fewest of its power conference era and snapped a bowl streak that dated back to 2014. Long story short: that’s probably not happening again. There would be ample shock value in seeing a team go from below .500 to the playoff in the span of one…

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The Big Ten is arguably more talented than it’s ever been thanks to the addition of four West Coast programs – including two recruiting powerhouses – and the transfer portal, which has allowed top teams another avenue to bring in talented players.

With the conglomeration of talent within the conference, earning a spot on the end-of-season All-Big Ten teams is a tough task. Here’s my prediction for how the postseason first-team All-Big Ten offense will look.

Quarterback: Drew Allar, Penn State

It’s easy to point to Allar’s shortcomings in big moments, including poor performances against Ohio State and Notre Dame last season, but it’s also clear the former 5-star recruit has improved year over year. In his first season under offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, Allar’s completion percentage jumped from 59.9% to 66.5%, and his average yards per completion increased considerably from 6.8 to 8.4. His one regression came in the touchdown-interception ratio, a side effect of pushing the ball downfield, but it was still a solid 24-8 mark in 2024. With another year working under Kotelnicki and a revamped wide receiver room – including a real threat in the slot for the first time – Allar could be poised for another leap forward. Looking at the rest of the Big Ten, Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon are all breaking in new quarterbacks, and many other teams don’t have the surrounding talent to produce big offensive numbers. Due to a lack of proven commodities around the league, Allar should be viewed as the frontrunner for this honor. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a young quarterback like Dylan Raiola or Bryce Underwood jump up and take this spot, but it’s hard to project that at this point in the offseason.

Running back: Nick Singleton, Penn State

One of the top running backs in the country, Nick Singleton will return for his…

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Every fan base is wondering how many games their team will win this upcoming season, but any win total projection comes with a range of outcomes. So as we begin to look ahead to 2025, we’re focusing on just how good — or bad — things could go for every team. 

It was certainly tempting to detail how each team’s best-case scenario, technically, is 12-0 — and the worst case is 0-12 — our hope is to identify a somewhat more realistic range of possibilities. We are too close to the start of the season for that brand of fan fiction, with media days and expert picks set to hit high gear in just a couple of weeks. 

The ACC features a couple of teams with College Football Playoff aspirations, but also plenty of squads that could be straddling the line for bowl eligibility. With a couple new coaches — including Bill Belichick — and plenty of programs under pressure, this exercise explores the extremes for our expectations in the fall.  

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook. 

Odds to win conference: +7000

Best case 7-5: The Eagles tap into some upset magic by taking down at least one of their high-profile visitors, as Clemson, Notre Dame and SMU all make the trip to Chestnut Hill in the final two months of the season. The team still takes some lumps, but Bill O’Brien shows his ability to maximize strengths and win games at the margins for the second year in a row. 

Worst case 3-9: The quarterback position never gets settled, the ground game can’t replace last year’s production and…

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