Category: College Football

Michigan State football has been given a near zero percent chance of reaching the College Football Playoff in 2025 by one metric system.

While the betting odds are posted at +1800 for Michigan State to make the 2025 College Football Playoff (which isn’t as high as I personally would have thought), ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) is giving the Spartans essentially no chance of reaching the playoff. ESPN’s FPI rating system gives the Spartans a 1% chance of reaching the College Football Playoff this year — which is one of the lowest of all the power four teams.

Per ESPN’s FPI, these are the only power four teams with a lower percentage to reach the College Football Playoff:

Oklahoma State (0.9%)Vanderbilt (0.9%)West Virginia (0.8%)Mississippi State (0.7%)Arizona (0.5%)Stanford (0.5%)Syracuse (0.5%)Houston (0.3%)Northwestern (0%)Purdue (0%)Wake Forest (0%)

FPI is a predictive rating system used by ESPN to measure and project the strength of college football teams. These ratings take a lot of things into consideration and can help predict how things will play out this fall.

While I’m not expecting a College Football Playoff run for the Spartans in 2025, I would personally give them a much higher chance than 1% of making it happen. I wrote recently how there is a path for the Spartans to be this year’s Indiana and reach the College Football Playoff, and I simply wouldn’t have written that article if I thought it was a 1% chance of happening. So with all due respect to ESPN’s FPI ratings, I’m going to pass on these odds and give the Spartans more of a fighting chance of shocking the college football world in 2025.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.

..

[ad_2]

Read More

Two former Philadelphia Eagles teammates will be making a return to their former home, this time as opposing coaches. Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson are both first-year coaches at rival Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and they will be facing off against each other at Lincoln Financial Field this fall.

Jackson coaches the Delaware State Hornets while Vick leads the Norfolk State Spartans. The game will take place on Thursday, Oct. 30, and tickets to attend this matchup will go on sale on Tuesday, June 17. 

Frank Gumienny, Eagles Chief Operating Officer, said they are “thrilled” to host the game. 

“Led by first-year head coaches and all-time Eagles greats, DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick are blazing new trails in their respective careers that we are all so incredibly proud of. Lincoln Financial Field is excited to serve as the host venue for this highly anticipated HBCU matchup. We look forward to shining a much-deserved spotlight on the Delaware State and Norfolk State football programs,” Gumienny said.

Jackson, whose many accomplishments include the first walk-off punt return in league history and the first player to earn a Pro Bowl nod at two positions, explained why his post retirement plans included coaching. He called it a “new phase” of his career at a school that he’s seen help transform students’ futures. 

“A part of that transformation is opening our students and scholar athletes up to a whole new set of experiences at the highest level. For our teams to be playing in Philly, at the Linc, on the field Coach Vick and I called home for many years will be special for our players, our coaching staffs, our alumni and fans, and for HBCU culture around the country,” Jackson said.

Vick echoed Jackson’s thoughts,…

..

[ad_2]

Read More

© Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Commitment season is here and there will be massive changes to the 2026 team rankings over the next month and a half. Taking a look at the team rankings as they stand right now, there are programs near the top of the list that haven’t been associated with elite recruiting classes in recent years.

Advertisement

Here are five programs that are currently punching above their weight in the team rankings.

RECRUITING RUMOR MILL: Latest buzz on nearly three dozen prospects | June kicks off with a bang | Baltimore | Detroit

NEW RIVALS250 RELEASED: Ranking | Top storylines | Ten prospects who could rise with a big June

CLASS OF 2026 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2027 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

TRANSFER PORTAL: Full coverage | Player ranking | Team ranking | Transfer search | Transfer Tracker

RIVALS CAMP SERIES: Rivals Five-Star heading back to Indy | Rivals Five-Star roster | Schedule/info

ARIZONA STATE

Marshall Levenson/Rivals.com

Advertisement

RELATED: Arizona State 2026 commit list

Head coach Kenny Dillingham has certainly “activated the valley” with this recruiting class, which currently sits at No. 15 in the team rankings. It’s been more than 10 years since the Sun Devils have finished with a top-20 recruiting class and it’s not out of the question to think Arizona State could reach that threshold this year.

Just one season after its unlikely run to the College Football Playoff, Arizona State currently holds commitments from three four-star prospects, which is more than in any Arizona State class since the 2021 recruiting cycle.

The Sun Devils may not be known as a recruiting power but the arrow is certainly pointing up.

Advertisement

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH ARIZONA STATE FANS AT DEVILSDIGEST.COM

ILLINOIS

Nick Lucero/Rivals.com

RELATED: Illinois 2026 commit list

Head…

..

[ad_2]

Read More

Beanie Bishop Jr.’s NFL career has mostly been synonymous with his two interceptions of Aaron Rodgers (and later getting Rodgers to sign both footballs) during the Pittsburgh Steelers’ win over the New York Jets in Week 7 of the 2024 season. Bishop is now known for something else, though. 

A proud West Virginia alum, Bishop recently posted a video of himself dragging his cleats on Pitt’s logo inside the training facility that the Steelers share with the school’s football team. His actions apparently didn’t sit well with several Pitt players who watched the end of the Steelers’ OTA practice before having some words for Bishop. 

“It’s a rivalry,” Bishop said following practice, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “People aren’t going to like me based off what school I went to, and that’s fine. It’s part of the rivalry. We don’t like them guys. They don’t like us.”

While he isn’t a fan of Pitt, Bishop said his actions were made in good fun while adding that he is friends with former Panther and current Carolina Panthers defensive back MJ Devonshire, who like Bishop was part of the NFL’s 2024 rookie class. 

“I got some guys I am cool with that I train with who went to Pitt,” Bishop said. “It was toward them a little bit. They talk mess to me, and I talk mess to them.”

As Bishop alluded to, West Virginia and Pitt share one of the longest and most bitter rivalries in college football. Nicknamed the Backyard Brawl, the schools first faced each other way back in 1895. All told, the Panthers and Mountaineers have met on the gridiron 107 times with Pitt holding a 63-41-3 series lead. 

Adding to the intensity of the rivalry is the fact that the schools are less than 80 miles away from each other. There’s a good chance that, if you live in…

..

[ad_2]

Read More

War, what is it good for?

A Week 2 non-conference college football game, for one.

Border War, and its recently announced official kickoff time, is back on a football field for the first time in 14 years on Sept. 6, when Missouri football hosts Kansas in Columbia to reignite the rivalry between the old conference enemies.

The Tigers open their 2025 campaign Thursday, Aug. 28, against Central Arkansas on Faurot Field, part of a six-game homestand to begin the season. That run includes visits from fellow College Football Playoff hopefuls South Carolina and Alabama, but ask around Mid-Missouri and the visit from the Jayhawks may just be the marquee game.

The Tribune is analyzing the offseason of each of Mizzou’s 2025 opponents to get you up to speed with the new rosters and coaching staffs after a busy offseason.

Here’s what to know about Kansas in 2025, including key additions, coaching changes and playmakers to keep an eye on when the Jayhawks come to Columbia for the first time since 2006.

Who are the opposing names to know when Missouri football hosts Kansas?

Quarterback: Jalon Daniels returns as the Jayhawks’ starter for the fourth full season, with 2025 being his sixth total year in Lawrence. Last season started out poorly for Daniels, as he was highly turnover prone in a 1-5 run to open a campaign the Jayhawks finished 5-7. At his best he’s a dynamic dual-threat player who can take control of games — as he showed in KU’s 4-2 finish to last year. At his worst, he threw 12 interceptions in 12 games with a 57% completion percentage.

Offensive playmaker: Daniel Hishaw Jr. looks likely to take the reins at running back after spending most of his career as a backup. He’s been productive as a change-of-pace player, averaging 5.3 yards per carry in his career, which has seen him tally 1,490 rushing yards and 18…

..

[ad_2]

Read More

Headed into the start of SEC spring meetings, the Big Ten believed it had a partner in its push to transform the College Football Playoff into something more akin to the NFL.

The Big Ten and SEC have grown significantly closer over the last year, having orchestrated a takeover of the College Football Playoff that gives them say over whether and how the format will change for 2026 and beyond. 

The two conferences strengthened the bond with historic conference meetups — first in Nashville in October 2024 and then in New Orleans in February. At those meetings, the Big Ten’s preference to move to more automatic qualifiers — four each for the Big Ten and SEC, two each for the ACC and Big 12 — began to resonate with an SEC contingent that had previously resisted.  

Those involved in the discussions and participants in the meetings say once Big Ten leaders laid out the reasoning for a move to more automatic qualifiers — chief among them taking away power from a perceived inconsistent selection committee process and allowing for better non-conference scheduling — it gained traction within the SEC. The Big Ten believed a move to more automatic bids would lessen the selection committee “conflicting itself week-to-week,” according to one source familiar with the discussions, and allow for consistency that it didn’t think was possible for a 13-person group that changed its membership year-over-year. 

“Make it about how you compete against your conference and take out any sort of perceived bias or politicking and campaigning and let it play out how each conference thinks is best for them,” is how one Big Ten source explained the pitch. 

Still undecided, SEC holds the key to College…

..

[ad_2]

Read More

Wisconsin football landed a commitment from class of 2026 tight end Jack Sievers on Monday evening.

Sievers pledged to the program on the heels of his official visit. He chose the Badgers over top contenders Minnesota and Boise State, each of which had visits scheduled for later this month. Obviously, those plans may now change after his commitment.

247Sports lists Sievers as a three-star recruit. He’s specifically ranked as the No. 659 player in the class of 2026, No. 34 tight end and No. 5 recruit from his home state of Washington. The tight end is Wisconsin’s 10th commitment in the class of 2026 He is also the program’s fourth addition since the conclusion of its first official visit weekend of the month, following followed three-star defensive lineman Arthur Scott, three-star linebacker Ben Wenzel and three-star defensive lineman Djidjou Bah.

The Badgers’ class was already at 10 commitments after Bah’s addition on Sunday night. However, it dropped back to nine earlier Monday after three-star edge rusher Carmelow Reed flipped to Ole Miss.

That class is now hovering around the low-30s in the national rankings after Monday’s movement. The group is trending positively, with commitments pouring in after official visits. However, the program will need to land several blue-chip players, something it has yet to do in the cycle, if it is to again threaten the nation’s top 25.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion

..

[ad_2]

Read More

Going into the 2025 football season, Nittany Lions Wire will examine each player listed on the Penn State roster. Over the preseason, each profile will cover the player’s background, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for James Franklin this season.

Defensive tackle Kaleb Artis has been impactful on special teams, appearing in 26 games across the last three seasons, primarily with the field goal unit. He’s also made several appearances on defense during garbage time across the last two seasons, including racking up a pair of tackles against Purdue in a rout of Kent State. Here’s a look at Artis ahead of the 2025 campaign.

Preseason Player Profile

Hometown: Westbury, New York

Height: 6-4

Weight: 311 lb

Class in 2025: Redshirt junior

Recruiting Rankings

Class of 2022: Consensus 3-star recruit, No. 87 defensive lineman and No. 6 recruit from Florida per 247Sports

Artis took official visits to Penn State, Auburn and Virginia before settling on the Nittany Lions out of high school.

Career Stats

GamesTacklesTackles for lossSacksForced fumbles20222000020231330.5002024114100

Depth Chart Overview

It’s unlikely Artis battles his way into the two-deep at defensive tackle this season, but he should continue to make an impact on special teams in his fourth season as a Nittany Lion.

..

[ad_2]

Read More