As we come to the end of the regular season, there was some good, bad, and ugly moments. A lot of it was outside the Top 8. Louisville blundered against Kentucky and are now out of any playoff conversation whatsoever. Elsewhere, the Big 12 finally had some resolve after a four-way battle for two spots in the title game. The Big Ten East has a winner, and the Pac-12 has locked up their spots for the title game in Las Vegas. The regular season games from late August to now has been some of the best times to watch football. Can’t wait to see how this all ends as we come into conference title week, bowl season, and the last season of the 4-team College Football Playoff.

NOTRE DAME

The Fighting Irish have nothing else to play for. They finish the season 9-3, are 2-2 against ranked opponents, but lost a New Year’s Six Bowl opportunity after a loss to Clemson. Does Sam Hartman play in one more bowl game before going to the NFL? We shall see.

ACC

It’s all Florida State and Louisville in the ACC title game, but the road was anything but clear. Florida State lost their quarterback for the season after a leg injury against North Alabama while Louisville lost a heartbreaker in the end to Kentucky after a second half surge by the Wildcats. Meanwhile, Clemson and NC State are ranked, UNC is not, Miami’s win over Texas A&M meant nothing later on in the season, Duke played their best football before quarterback Riley Leonard went down and they dragged their way to seven wins, and Georgia Tech, Boston College, Syracuse, and Va Tech fought their way to six wins. Wake Forest also finished last in the ACC after Sam Hartman left for Notre Dame.

BIG TEN

The Big Ten had no idea in the West until Iowa came out of the smoke to play in the Big Ten title game. Wisconsin also did for a bowl. And so did Northwestern. Northwestern of all teams that was supposed to finish completely last in their division and Big Ten. Kudos to them! Meanwhile in the East, all roads led to The Game and ended with Michigan on top for the third straight season for the first time since 1995-1997. Ohio State played much better against them than the last two meetings, but still fell short. Penn State finishes third again while Maryland finished fourth again. Rutgers finishes fifth for the first time since 2020 while Indiana and Michigan State are bottom feeders. Iowa and Michigan meet, but Iowa needs an offense somewhere.

BIG 12

It looked like the conference belonged to soon SEC newcomers Texas and Oklahoma, but Oklahoma fell apart against Kansas and Oklahoma State and eventually ended with their rival Ok State playing Texas. Iowa State cleared up any questions of Matt Campbell with a walk-off win at snowy Kansas State. West Virginia (and Pat McAfee) proved everyone wrong and won eight games to go bowling. Texas Tech was underwhelming to six wins while Kansas won eight games for the first time since 2008 in the Mark Mangino era. UCF is the only Big 12 newcomer to survive to bowl season. Former National title runner-up TCU fails to make bowl season. The rest hit the offseason. The all-burnt orange game in Texas’s final Big 12 title game should be a classic to remember (and a disgusting one to look at as an Oklahoma fan).

PAC-12

Every Pac-12 team played their best football against each other in-conference. However, Washington and Oregon were the only teams without a scratch against them except Oregon against that same team they rematch in their last Pac-12 title game. Arizona strung out six straight victories, including four of the last six games against ranked opponents. Oregon State was a threat to Washington and Oregon that were leaving the conference but fell short against both. Utah is no longer defending Pac-12 champs and the offense couldn’t do much more without quarterback Cam Rising this season. USC’s over-hyped expectations completely blew up in the Coliseum and questions will come as they head to the Big Ten. Cal and UCLA make bowl-eligibility. As for Arizona State, Stanford, Washington State, and Colorado, they deserve some applause for the season they have had and shown. Colorado was the most entertaining team to watch starting off the season while Wazzu had potential before it fell apart. While Stanford wasn’t good, they showed potential overall as they head to the ACC with Cal. Arizona State has a lot of potential and boy does coach Kenny Dillingham have plenty in store for Tempe in the next year or two.

SEC

As expected, all roads lead to Georgia and Alabama in Atlanta no question and hesitation. However, was their questions and some hesitation from both teams? Yes! Otherwise, they survived and now are there playing for the college football playoff. Elsewhere, Tennessee and LSU fell short of expectations. Missouri and Ole Miss found themselves in second place with a solid performance and enough wins to make it to the Top 12. Kentucky didn’t do too much but a huge upset at Louisville was a storybook ending to their regular season. Texas A&M didn’t show anything that kept Jimbo Fisher’s job. Where they go from here remains to be seen with rivals Oklahoma and Texas showing up next season. Auburn survived to six wins, but Hugh Freeze showed the Tigers have a promising and optimistic future. Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Arkansas, and Vanderbilt failed to win six games. But Vanderbilt, who had high hopes for a postseason, fell way way short of their bowl expectations.

OVERALL

The path to the playoff is clear. Top 4 teams could make it with a win, but one slip up results in one of the teams outside the Top 4 getting in with a win. While Oregon has the best shot, Texas, Alabama, and Ohio State need plenty of help to get the fourth spot at least.