2025 College Football: Week 12 Takeaways
There are currently two tiers of teams battling for positioning at the moment. One group contains the top SEC, Big Ten, and Big XII squads who are cruising toward CFP bids but would love a conference championship and a first-round bye. The other batch of teams consists of the second level of those conferences plus ACC, AAC, and Sun Belt teams who just want a playoff bid. Like last week, I’m going to be dividing these takeaways among the playoff race, draft prospects, and other action around the FBS. The SEC gets top billing with all of their epic showdowns, but other conferences get love too. Come check out my week 12 takeaways!
(3) Texas A&M Completes Wild Comeback to Save Unbeaten Season
Back in 2024, South Carolina was a ranked team who smashed the Aggies. This year, the story turned out much differently. The Gamecocks, one of the SEC favorites, fell flat on their faces. They’ve stumbled to a 3-6 record to go with the worst offense in the conference. As a result, nobody expected SC to compete with 9-0 Texas A&M this week, because why would they? The Gamecocks did indeed lose, but how the game went down was shocking. And it made the result all the more painful.
On a windy Texas day, TAMU simply did not have their best stuff in the first half. Their receivers dropped numerous passes, QB Marcel Reed was wild with his accuracy, and K Randy Bond missed two FGs, including one from 24 yards. Bond hasn’t been great all year, so that was expected. The rest was shocking to those who have watched the Aggies all year. South Carolina took mostly full advantage of the miscues, taking a 30-3 lead into the locker room at halftime. I say “mostly” because they made their own mistakes, most notably dropping numerous INTs and not running the ball particularly well. Still, that was a massive lead.
I can’t tell you what happened during that break, but two different teams emerged from their tunnels. South Carolina didn’t score a single second-half point as QB LaNorris Sellers (15/30, 246 yards, 2 TDs, INT; 12/28 rushing) switched back to his 2025 self. The defense melted down against the pass, though they held the Aggies to 2.2 yards per carry on the ground. Reed (22/39, 439 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs) caught fire, as did WRs KC Concepcion (7/158) and Ashton Bethel-Roman (4/139/1). Texas A&M scored 21 points in the 3rd quarter before adding one more TD in the 4th to take a 31-30 lead. They held that advantage for the final 10 minutes.
I have to shout out the Aggies’ defense here. DE Cashius Howell batted 3 passes and earned a sack, extending his SEC-leading total to 11. The team notched 4 sacks total and a stellar 10 TFLs. Most importantly, they shut out the Gamecocks for two full quarters while the offense found its way. This was a great in-game coaching job by Mike Elko, who just happened to be finalizing a new and lucrative deal. The crushing loss eliminates SC from bowl eligibility and for good reason. Meanwhile, all of Texas A&M’s goals are still in front of them. An SEC title, a CFP appearance, and an undefeated season remain attainable thanks to this effort.
(5) Georgia Takes Care of Business; (4) Alabama Can’t Say the Same
In games with major implications, #5 faced #10 and #4 welcomed #11 this week. Two of the SEC’s long-time kings hosted relative newcomers, but only one of the games went the way you’d expect. That would be (5) Georgia’s trouncing of (10) Texas. As they did twice last season, the Bulldogs trounced the Longhorns’ QB. This time around, it was Arch Manning, who regressed to his early-season form. Manning (27/43, 251 yards, TD, INT) can’t be blamed for everything. His receivers dropped plenty of passes, and the Georgia pass rush swarmed him (3 sacks). The game was still close through 3 quarters, with UGA leading just 14-10.
Georgia didn’t excel offensively against a strong Texas D, but they did enough in all 3 phases to win. In addition to the defensive greatness, the offense did hop aboard during the 4th quarter. QB Gunner Stockton (24/29, 229 yards, 4 TDs, INT; 6/29/1) rushing found his groove and put up 21 points in the final frame. Special teams even added an evil surprise onside kick. It succeeded. This 35-10 loss should be the end of Texas’ surprising second chance at the CFP. With a head-to-head win over Ole Miss but a loss to Alabama, Georgia still needs help to make the SEC title game. Their chances of a bye have increased dramatically though.
Over in Tuscaloosa, (4) Alabama hosted a desperate (11) Oklahoma, who likely faced CFP elimination with a loss. The Sooners’ defense (their best unit) threw the first major punch, with a red zone INT by DB Eli Bowen, who took the pick 87 yards for a TD. Their 10-0 lead didn’t last though, as the Crimson Tide battled all the way back, eventually taking a 21-20 lead midway through the 3rd quarter. Oklahoma only earned 212 yards of total offense, whereas Alabama nearly doubled that amount with 406 yards of their own. The problem was that the Crimson Tide made far too many mistakes to win against a quality opponent.
QB Ty Simpson (28/42, 326 yards, TD, INT, FUM) had a decent day overall, but he turned the ball over twice. Those errors directly led to 10 OU points, which made the difference in a close game. His fumble put the Sooners directly in FG range, where they converted for a 23-21 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. With a 2-point margin, I also can’t help but notice the blocked 36-yard FG Alabama suffered at the end of the first half. Alabama can still win the SEC and earn a first-round bye, making this loss less critical. Oklahoma is now in really good shape to earn an at-large CFP bid. Two tricky games await, but they should win both.
ACC Avoids Potential Doomsday Scenario with Duke, (24) USF Losses
One possible scenario filled me with so much intrigue that I couldn’t just gloss over it in my weekly CFP update below. I learned that despite a 5-4 record, Duke actually controlled their own destiny with regard to reaching the ACC title game. Imagine these hypothetical outcomes. 1. Duke wins out and claims the ACC crown as a 4-loss champion. 2. (24) South Florida wins out and earns the AAC title as a 2-loss champion. 3. James Madison wins out and seizes the Sun Belt championship with one total loss. As USF is currently ranked by the committee and JMU is #23 in the AP poll, those two would likely be ranked ahead of Duke.
The CFP rules guarantee automatic berths to the 5 highest-ranked conference championships. However, there’s no requirement for those teams to consist of the winners of all Power 4 conferences. We know that the winners of the Big Ten, SEC, and Big XII are locks. In the scenario I just described, USF and JMU would likely earn the last two automatic playoff bids. Among all ACC teams, (15) Miami is the only one that can possibly reach the top 10 and earn an at-large bid. That’s because only the Hurricanes can win out and not play in the conference title game and thus not lose to Duke. There would be a real chance of an ACC shutout.
Fortunately for the conference, that scenario lasted less than a week. (19) Virginia crushed Duke on the road in a 34-17 game that wasn’t even as close as that three-score margin indicates. As a result, any team that wins the ACC would probably have 3 or fewer losses and thus earn the committee’s favor over a Group of 6 champion. Speaking of those other conferences, USF lost at Navy this week, likely ending their hopes of playing in the AAC title game. The Bulls fought valiantly to make the final score (41-38) respectable, but they trailed most of the game. QB Blake Horvath returning for the Midshipmen really hurt South Florida.
You might argue that this was a lot of worrying over nothing, but I guarantee you that the conferences think about these things. The ACC is on much more solid ground as a result of this week’s games. As a consequence, the AAC and Sun Belt may now be jockeying for just one spot in the CFP. USF was the leading contender for that spot, but JMU should take over in Tuesday’s rankings. I think the AAC’s best hope now is North Texas if they win the conference with just one loss. Their electric offense catches eyeballs, and though they lost to the Bulls, a 12-1 champion would be tough to ignore. Regardless, the AAC needs help.
Weekly CFP Update and Analysis
For the second straight week, I’m not too upset with the committee’s rankings! Maybe they didn’t have time to shake things up with their latest chairman change, but I’m not complaining. First off, they didn’t buy into the “analytics” crap preached by the talking heads and bump (3) Texas A&M up. This week proved that they made the right choice there. (6) Texas Tech received kudos from the committee for their big win over (12) BYU. They moved up two spots, but I don’t think (7) Ole Miss deserved to be jumped. Along with BYU, (19) Virginia and (20) Louisville were the biggest droppers after losing in upsets (twice for the Cardinals).
The most surprising ranking was (21) Iowa dropping just one spot after their home loss to Oregon. The committee respects Iowa too much, thinks a loss to Oregon is an extremely worthy effort, or both. Either way, Iowa’s latest loss to (17) USC should finally knock them out of the rankings. The Trojans and (18) Michigan are just lurking in the third tier of the Big Ten. However, they’re a bit too far down to earn an at-large bid, and they can only win the conference title if (1) Ohio State and (2) Indiana implode. Neither of those schools has shown any hint of doing so. Nobody lower than (16) Georgia Tech seems able to crack the top 10.
Basically, I’m saying that USC, Michigan, Virginia, Louisville, and (22) Pittsburgh can only make the CFP if they win their conferences. That’s far more doable for the latter three than the Big Ten schools. The only ranked Group of 6 team is (24) South Florida, up from 0 such schools last week. USF will be out as quickly as they came in with their loss to Navy though. Two currently unranked teams, James Madison and North Texas, should join this week’s rankings. Unless the Sun Belt and AAC, respectively, sabotage themselves even more, those schools should be your top CFP contenders. Any surprise champs would cause chaos.
Which TE (If Any) Will Rise to the Top of the 2026 Draft Class?
Last year’s TE class was a fairly stellar one. Tyler Warren was the headliner (though Colston Loveland wrongly got selected first), but you had 6 guys who were deemed worthy of going on the first two nights of the draft. The 2026 class is much less exciting overall, with just 3 players currently projected to go in the top 100 picks: Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq, Ohio State’s Max Klare, and Baylor’s Michael Trigg. You can normally count on Iowa to give you one, but the Hawkeyes haven’t thrown the ball in about 3 years, preventing anyone from shining through. I’m not overly impressed with those three players, so who else is out there?
The main problem is that the spread offenses most teams use nowadays are not conducive to the TE position. Most schemes emphasize speed and mismatches, thus favoring tight ends who are basically oversized WRs. Dual-threat TEs (receiving and blocking) are becoming rare. To that point, Sadiq, Klare, and Trigg are all considered weak blockers and mainly profile as big receivers. That’s fine if you’re great in the passing game. Sadiq has a good vertical game, and Trigg has quality production, but none of these three really profile as high-end playmakers at the next level, limiting their draft ceilings.
Upon analyzing the position, I’ve identified three TE prospects who could either leap up the board as we go through the process or turn out to be steals in the middle rounds. As far as receiving TEs go, it’s hard to do better than Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers. Ranking first among all TEs with 665 receiving yards, the 6’5″ Stowers is a great red zone weapon. His blocking leaves much to be desired, but he’s the best receiver in this TE crop. Georgia’s Oscar Delp leans more toward blocking. There may be some untapped receiving potential here, but Delp is best known for being vicious at the point of attack in the running game.
Perhaps the most interesting case is Houston’s Tanner Koziol. He’s getting nearly no hype, but he ranks 3rd among TEs with 570 receiving yards. Koziol also uses his 6’7″ frame to great effect as a blocker, making him the most balanced TE in the class. While his speed is lacking, he towers over DBs, making him a friendly target for his QB. The fact that he has done so well in a Power 4 conference makes his lack of buzz curious. Regardless, teams that go after any of the 3 TEs I just listed are likely to be happy with the value they get. None of them should demand a first-round pick, but they could become TE1 in the class.