The 2025 college football regular season is over. But not before plenty of statements were made Saturday. Some were necessary. Others were embarrassing, and still, there were some that were unnecessary. But we are going to take the Sunday Summary to look at Statement Saturday.
Do What I Say, Not What I Do
As the world waited for the puff of white smoke to come from the Kiffin family chimney, Nick Saban had an absurd idea. He opined on ESPN’s College Gameday, along with Kirk Herbstreit, that Ole Miss should let Kiffin coach out the rest of the season before leaving for LSU. Let him finish what he started there before going to a conference rival/direct competitor.
Someone needs to put Grandpa Nick back in his recliner and tell him the bedtime story of an Alabama coach who fired his offensive coordinator before the national championship game. That coordinator had taken a head coaching job at FAU. There was no direct conflict in the jobs. But whoever that Alabama coach was only wanted people 100% focused on the job ahead.
Give Grandpa Nick his cup of cocoa and see if he can figure out the plot twist of the story.
What Your Statement Says About You
Notre Dame made a statement to the playoff committee on Saturday. We’re not sure why, but they did. All the Irish had to do was beat Stanford, and they would be 10-2 and in the playoff for sure.
But the Irish rolled up a 49-20 win. The Irish still had starters in up 42-3 in the third quarter. Honestly, the committee is not going to be any more impressed with that than, say, a 15-point win. Committee chair Hunter Yurachek made it clear last week that the committee taps out at a 24-point margin of victory. You can beat someone by 63 points, and it doesn’t matter to them any more than a 20-point win. Someone recently beat Syracuse by 63 points. Let us think about who that was. On the other hand, maybe Syracuse is really just that bad this year.
The Canes Make a Claim
The Hurricanes beat Pitt 38-7 on Saturday. It would be easy to say Mario Cristobal was trying to get some style points for the committee. His Canes seem to have spent much of November on the fringes of the playoff rankings. They went into the weekend ranked #12, which in a normal world would put them in. But this is the college football playoff system, and normal has no statement to make here.
The Canes could still be left out for one reason. And it’s not about their losses. If they get left out, all they have to do is look to the ACC headquarters in Charlotte, NC.
The Morass Otherwise Known As the ACC
Remember a few weeks ago when we chuckled at the concept of the ACC getting left out of the playoff if a four-loss Duke team wins the conference? Hey, what if a five-loss Duke team wins the conference?
SMU got beaten by Cal in Berkeley Saturday night. The Mustangs, having thrown a show, are now out of the ACC race. They are 6-2 in conference play and 8-4 overall. Miami won, as previously noted, but is also out of the race. The Hurricanes are also 6-2 in ACC play and an even more impressive 10-2 overall. So who is going instead? The Duke Blue Devils are also 6-2 in conference play and a pedestrian 7-5 overall. But they will play in Charlotte Saturday night against Virginia (7-1, 10-2).
Looking For a Path
The Cavaliers, by conference record, are the top team in the conference. But then there are five teams with a 6-2 conference record. Miami has the best overall record in that group with its 10-2. But in the absurdity of ACC tiebreakers, that is not the answer.
Georgia Tech is in that 6-2 group and 9-3 overall. Not good enough. Pitt and SMU are in the 6-2 group and 8-4 overall. Nope. Not in. Not when we can put in the 7-5 Blue Devils. Duke is 0-2 against the top six grouping in the conference, but will play in Charlotte on Saturday.
Out of all the schools in that 6-2 grouping, Duke only played GA Tech. And the Yellowjackets won. So the Blue Devils are not getting over on head-to-head play. They are winning the red string fight. Think of one of those crime scene shows where they show the wall of a maniacal criminal, and he has pins in the wall with red string going in eight different directions to make connections that only he understands. Now you get the ACC tiebreak system.
The ACC written tiebreak system is too onerous to put here. Suffice to say, it is broken, and the conference needs to make a statement by changing it before next season.
More ACC Crazy Talk
It is no longer a stretch to consider the playoff without an ACC team. If Duke wins the championship, there is no chance at 8-5 that it will be one of the five highest-ranked conference champions.
We would likely be looking at a second G5 conference champ instead. And if you leave out the ACC conference champ, you can’t conceivably include teams in the conference that did not win the title, even if they do have better records.
The Mountain West Statement
Boise State and UNLV will play in the conference championship game. Why? The MWC had four teams that finished at 6-2 in conference play. Boise State won the first tiebreak element based on head-to-head play. The next step was the overall record. UNLV has the best (10-2) of the group of four at the top of the conference. The Rebels and first-year head coach Dan Mullen are in. See how simple that is, ACC?
Also Making Statements
Ohio State beat Michigan convincingly. The Buckeyes were going to be in regardless, but staying undefeated through the regular season is a good way to handle business. Indiana walloped Purdue and was also going anyway. Now we see them in the Big 10 championship, with both of them going to the playoff, no matter the outcome. The only thing really at stake is conference money.
Texas Tech and BYU finished strong and will meet in the Big 12 championship game. The Red Raiders will make the playoff, regardless. BYU is on the fringe (although they should be in) and may need a win to get in.
Texas A&M made a failed statement this weekend. The loss to Texas will not only drop the Aggies several spots in the playoff ranking, but it cost them a shot at the SEC championship. Now it will be Alabama and Georgia. The Bulldogs are in the playoff. Bama needs a good showing, if not a win, to feel secure.
Now we just wait for some dude in Oxford, MS, to make a statement, and then we can all move on with our week.
Main Image: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
