What’s up everyone! Just one quick thing, I’ll be rolling out the first-round matchup previews next week. Thank you to anyone who checks out my stuff. Thank you so much!

4) TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (12-1)

Texas Tech invested over $28 million in their roster to make the postseason. It was worth the investment, and now the Red Raiders have their first Big 12 championship victory and a bye. We could name those responsible for the program’s success. First, billionaire booster Cody Campbell and The Matador Club. Second, Joey McGuire with his high school championship pedigree and his massive ties to the state of Texas. Third, several returning and transfer players that made the football team’s success possible, including linebacker and captain Jacob Rodriguez and running back stalwarts J’Koby Williams and Cam Dickey.

Not only did Texas Tech’s offense have great offensive success since 2016 in Patrick Mahomes last season, but they have by far the best defense in Red Raiders program history. They also can have that to the history books for points allowed per game (11.3). With that much balance, no wonder Texas Tech had their best season thus far with 12 wins (most in program history). The 12 games they won, their average margin was 35 points. Not even ranked Big 12 teams Utah or BYU could stop them. If there’s a team out there with probably the best chance to win the National Championship, it’s likely Texas Tech on paper and on the field. Guess money can buy happiness as long as it pays for a National Championship.

3) GEORGIA BULLDOGS (12-1)

The Dawgs were barking again this season, but in a new way. Unlike last season where it ended in disappointment, they finally ended their regular season with optimism. They didn’t allow Georgia Tech to get the best of them, and they finally equalized Bama after failing the last 3 meetings to get another postseason bye. What’s different about the Dawgs was Gunner Stockton being the catalyst to this offense, and the defense growing as their season wore on. After struggling to stop Tennessee, Ole Miss, and losing to Alabama, they bounced back by being more physical on offense and intimidating on defense in various ways.

Georgia doesn’t look like a great team, but they showed that they’re still intimidating and can also be hard to kill. No matter what any team does, they must win all 4 quarters of the game. Georgia can always egg them on until the 4th quarter before wearing them down. I was wrong about the team regretting not having Carson Beck. Coach Kirby Smart and the Georgia community praised Gunner Stockton since before last season’s postseason loss. He’s been the difference maker and will do any which way to give Georgia a winning opportunity. Whoever comes across the Dawgs in the quarterfinals, they better prepare for the worst because Georgia won’t have the same blunder they did last postseason.

2) OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (12-1)

The 2025 National Champion Ohio State came out the gates looking as good as last season if not better. Their defense set the tone for the entire season. They have the best defense in the nation and has yet to allow 20 points this season while allowing an average 8.2 points per game through 13 games. Ohio State lost plenty of leadership on defense last season, but they look about the same despite looking different. Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese, and Caleb Downs led the group to an unbelievable (but really believable) defensive success. After the Texas game, the offense went supernova all of a sudden in most of their games. Julian Sayin had a Heisman-like season alongside receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, running backs Bo Jackson, James Peoples, and CJ Donaldson, tight end Max Klare, and a revamped offensive line.

Outside of Texas and to an extent, Washington, they obliterated their regular season schedule. They even got the Michigan monkey off their back after 4 seasons of disappointment in that rivalry. They had plenty of pep in their step, until they ran into a new problem in Indiana. Then, it was the Battle of Big Ten Titans. Ohio State lost the battle, but optimism should still be on their side depending on who their opponent is in the quarterfinals. Hopefully, they’re more prepared than the previous 4 teams that were on a bye last season. The last thing they need is a downfall after defeating Michigan. That’ll set off Ohio State fans in a new negative way.

1) INDIANA HOOSIERS (13-0)

Indiana took a massive step since Curt Cignetti took the reins in Bloomington. His focus was building a program that had a belief in being a powerhouse. In just 2 seasons, they yielded the best offensive and defensive production in that span than decades since Hoosier football existed. Outside of Cignetti bringing his James Madison boys to create immediate success, he also had success bringing in good players from the portal to improve the overall roster. Two of them happened to be Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Maryland running back Roman Hemby. Thanks to them, the offense improved much more than last season.

The 2024 Indiana worked an easy schedule to their advantage with just Ohio State and Notre Dame crushing them. Now, this Indiana team got the feel of good competition last season and adapted to it. Does this make Indiana a football powerhouse program? Since Cignetti got a contract extension, it could be possible (take notes for those that coach a lesser-known Power 4 school). Indiana had plenty of challenges at Kinnick Stadium, Autzen Stadium, and even Happy Valley, but they met those challenges and conquered them. They even defeated Ohio State for the first time since 1989 just to claim their first Big Ten championship title. If they’re anything like Ohio State and Texas Tech, they’re likely National Championship contenders as long as they don’t have a postseason bye hangover.