And now, 20 Final Thoughts from college football’s Week 13, a.k.a. SEC Bye Week, when Texas A&M played Samford, Georgia played Charlotte and Tennessee played Florida.

1. Remember the glorious first half of the 2025 season? Remember when seemingly every week a couple of top 5-10 teams would suffer mind-blowing losses? When Alabama lost to Florida State? When Penn State went from a national title showdown with Oregon one week to getting creamed by UCLA the next?

Those were the days.

Now, with only a couple of weeks left, the nation’s College Football Playoff contenders have decided to stop losing. On Saturday, all of the teams ranked Nos. 1-14 (save for three that were off) won the games they were supposed to win. That means the top half of the rankings may remain unchanged Tuesday, which means we may be on the brink of an epic logjam for the last at-large spots.

2. No. 7 Oregon solidified its own berth while eliminating one of the other contenders with a 42-27 win against No. 15 USC. Both Ducks quarterback Dante Moore and Trojans counterpart Jayden Maiava moved their teams up and down the field, but Oregon also ran the ball effectively. USC did not. And the Ducks’ defense twice picked off Maiava.

The Ducks, now 10-1, seem pretty darn close to lock status after securing their elusive first win against a current Top 25 team. But they’ll still want to win at Washington next week to be safe. Not to mention they still have a shot to reach the Big Ten title game — if 11-0 Ohio State loses at 9-2 Michigan. More on those two later.

3. While 8-3 USC was not expected to win at Autzen Stadium, the loss served as a reminder of just how underwhelming Lincoln Riley’s tenure has been. The Trojans have not defeated a ranked team on the road since Riley’s first season, in 2022. While they still have a chance to get to 10 wins, with woeful rival UCLA up next week and a bowl game, their season will likely end in the Alamo Bowl. Riley’s biggest calling card right now is that he’s sitting on the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for 2026. Otherwise, the program just feels kind of irrelevant.

USC was unable to snap its losing streak on the road against ranked opponents. (Tom Hauck / Getty Images)

4. No. 8 Oklahoma has put itself on the brink of a Playoff appearance thanks to a dominant defense that just keeps outdoing itself. The Sooners shut down No. 22 Missouri 17-6 by holding national rushing leader Ahmad Hardy to 57 yards on 17 carries and twice picking off Tigers quarterback Beau Pribula. It was OU’s third win against a current Top 25 team (previously, No. 10 Alabama and No. 20 Tennessee), although Missouri, now 7-4, will likely drop out this week. Win next week against 7-4 LSU, and the Sooners are not only in but also possibly hosting a first-round game.

Not to be a downer, but Oklahoma’s offense was held below 300 yards for a second straight week and, in fact, 87 of its 276 yards came on an Isaiah Sategna catch-and-run. The Sooners will need that defense to keep dominating opponents to advance in the Playoff.

5. The only team in the top 14 that came close to losing is one that already needed help to get in.

Kansas State went to No. 12 Utah amid an otherwise forgettable 5-5 season and exploded for 472 rushing yards, the most allowed by the Utes under Kyle Whittingham. Joe Jackson (24 carries, 293 yards, three TDs) and the Wildcats led 47-37 with 7 minutes left. Miami and Vanderbilt fans braced themselves for the seas to part. But then Utah star quarterback Devon Dampier led consecutive touchdown drives, including breaking a 59-yard run on a do-or-die fourth-and-1, to win a 51-47 thriller.

Utah, now 9-2 with only a trip to 5-6 Kansas remaining, has no obvious path to an at-large bid, but it could muck it up for others if it can get into the Big 12 title game. But the Utes didn’t get the result they needed Saturday night.

6. No. 11 BYU, which holds a head-to-head edge over the Utes, entered the day as the first team out of the field but still gained little respect nationally because the Big 12 is the Rodney Dangerfield of Power 4 conferences. But the 10-1 Cougars inched closer to clinching a berth in the Big 12 title game with a 26-14 win at Cincinnati behind a career-high 222 rushing yards on 32 carries by LJ Martin. If BYU defeats 5-6 UCF at home next week, it’s off to Arlington, Texas, likely for a rematch with No. 5 Texas Tech.

BYU is the Big 12’s best hope for a second CFP berth, but that’s probably not going to happen if the Cougars take a loss in the conference title game. Even if neither of the Holy War rivals makes it, their placement is notable for one particular reason: They may block No. 13 Miami from ever passing No. 9 Notre Dame.

7. The Irish went up 21-0 on 3-8 Syracuse before they’d even run their first offensive snap, then went on to average 10.2 yards per play in a 70-7 rout. Star running back Jeremiyah Love struck the Heisman pose after yet another long TD run. Notre Dame has won nine straight games by an average margin of 43-14, and may well be the most complete team this side of Ohio State and Indiana.

But it’s not yet a lock to reach the Playoff.

8. The Irish are the committee’s ultimate “eye test” team. They have proved adept at blowing out hapless Power 4 foes such as 2-9 Purdue, 2-9 Arkansas, 1-10 Boston College and 3-8 Syracuse, but they lost to the two best teams they’ve faced, No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 13 Miami. Yet as of last week, they were slotted above even a 9-2 Alabama team with four Top 25 wins.

But that was before the “best” team Notre Dame has beaten, USC, suffered its third loss, one that may knock it out of the top 20. That was the Irish’s only Top 25 win as of last week, though Pitt will likely rejoin the rankings this week. Meanwhile, committee chairman Hunter Yurachek indicated last week that the 9-2 Hurricanes’ head-to-head win could still vault them above the Irish if the teams above them fall.

Ultimately, the committee’s only job is to rank the “best” teams, not the “most deserving” teams, and I’d defy anyone who’s actually watched a Notre Dame game since September to suggest it’s not one of the 10 best teams. But it would sure make the committee’s job easier if Miami conveniently loses at Pitt in its finale.

9. The 8-3 Pitt Panthers looked plenty capable of it Saturday, going to Atlanta and knocking off No. 16 Georgia Tech 42-28. The Yellow Jackets’ 8-0 start has given way to a defensive implosion over their past three games. Pitt running back Ja’Kyrian Turner went off for 201 yards. But his team still needs help to reach the conference title game, even if it beats Miami. So would the Canes.

How bad is the ACC? That same Pitt team lost to 4-7 West Virginia early in the season, lost 37-15 at home to Notre Dame last week and remains tied for first in the ACC. So does SMU, which lost to two middling Big 12 foes, Baylor and TCU. Heck, Duke is 6-5, lost to UConn for crying out loud and is still alive with one game left. If chalk prevails, it will be 9-2 Virginia vs. 8-3 SMU in Charlotte.

Miami, tied with Duke and Georgia Tech for fourth place in the standings, is hanging in there. The Canes have looked good the past three weeks, adding a 34-17 win at Virginia Tech to the collection Saturday. If they win in the Steel City to get to 10-2, the committee will face increasing pressure to flip Notre Dame and Miami. But first, it would have to move the Canes past Alabama, BYU and Utah.

10. Meanwhile, expect the SEC Media Apparatus to go all in on No. 14 Vanderbilt if the Commodores win at No. 20 Tennessee next week.

Vanderbilt’s 45-17 rout of 5-6 Kentucky secured the program’s first nine-win regular season since 1915 (!). Star quarterback Diego Pavia is making a furious bid to get to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. His career-high 532 yards of offense and six TDs on Saturday gave him 1,429 yards and 14 total TDs over his past three games.

But the Commodores’ CFP resume is light to this point — Missouri is their only Top 25 win, and they may lose that one. To have a chance, they’ll need a convincing win against the 8-3 Vols, which stifled rival Florida 31-11 to end a 10-game losing streak at The Swamp.

11. Both Ohio State and Michigan go into The Game on a roll, while also dealing with notable injuries on offense. The top-ranked Buckeyes were without both star receivers Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith against Rutgers. Their status for next week is unclear. But their absence did not keep Ohio State from handling the 5-6 Scarlet Knights 42-9, behind freshman running back Bo Jackson, that ridiculous defense and a 100-yard game from tight end Max Klare.

Meanwhile, No. 18 Michigan earned its fifth straight win, 45-20 at 4-7 Maryland. Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood is back on the upswing and freshman wide receiver Andrew Marsh has 17 catches for 265 yards over his past two games. On the downside, Sherrone Moore’s team has already lost top running back Justice Haynes and played without fellow standout Jordan Marshall against Maryland.

It’s a highly unfavorable matchup for Michigan, but I’ll never rule them out again after last year’s stunning upset in Columbus. And if the Maize and Blue do knock off the Buckeyes a fifth straight time to finish 10-2 — welp, there’s another at-large candidate.

Bryce Underwood threw a pair of TDs at Maryland after being intercepted twice last week. (Greg Fiume / Getty Images

12. While Ohio State-Michigan will once again be Rivalry Week’s headliner, the Texas A&M-Texas showdown on Black Friday can hardly be called an undercard.

The oft-maligned Arch Manning threw for 389 yards and accounted for six touchdowns — four passing, one rushing and, yes, one receiving — as the 17th-ranked Longhorns ran away from SEC last-place Arkansas 52-37. They will still be home underdogs against the 11-0 Aggies, but not by as much as you might think. (The guess here: A three-point spread.)

And the stakes are enormous. A&M desperately wants to beat its nemesis for the first time since 2010; if it doesn’t, the Aggies likely fall out of the SEC title game. And, yes, 8-3 Texas does still hold CFP hopes. The Longhorns would have three top-15 wins (Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and A&M) if they pull it off. And, as you’ll hear repeatedly if it happens, they wouldn’t have three losses if they had scheduled Ohio U instead of Ohio State for their season opener.

13. I’d expect Florida State to soon join Penn State, Florida and LSU on the list of national championship programs looking to hire new coaches. Mike Norvell’s last gasp came Friday, when the Seminoles lost 21-11 at NC State. The Noles finished 2-6 in the ACC, a meager improvement on last year’s 1-7 campaign. In a fittingly maddening sequence, FSU, down 14-11 late, muffed back-to-back punts, the latter turnover leading to a dagger Wolfpack touchdown with 1:47 remaining.

Hard to believe it was less than two years ago that Alabama nearly hired Norvell to be Nick Saban’s successor following his 13-win season in 2023. FSU athletic director Michael Alford really wanted to avoid paying Norvell’s nearly $59 million buyout, but beating 3-8 rival Florida to qualify for the Gasparilla Bowl is not going to win back disgusted Noles fans.

14. The best thing that can be said about Bill Belichick’s first season as a college head coach is that his team improved. But not enough to reach a bowl game.

Duke handed the rival Tar Heels their seventh loss of the season, 32-25, thanks to a gutsy fake field goal attempt with just over two minutes left. Kicker Todd Pelino dashed 26 yards to set up a go-ahead touchdown. In a sequence that typified its season, UNC drew back-to-back unsportsmanlike conduct penalties before its last-gasp drive.

Belichick got a $10 million salary to upgrade a program that went stale under predecessor Mack Brown. The program has gone in the other direction. Brown never missed a bowl in his six-season second stint.

THERE GOES TODD PELINO!!!!! pic.twitter.com/QU6b6TbOeE

— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) November 22, 2025

15. Perhaps Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh was a prophet when he announced on Nov. 6 that then 2-6 coach Luke Fickell would return next season. The Badgers have knocked off ranked opponents in two of their three games since, this time a decisive 27-10 win against No. 21 Illinois. At least for a day, it looked like old-school Wisconsin, with previously little-used running back Darrion Dupree busting an 84-yard touchdown run and the defense notching five sacks.

That had to be terribly embarrassing for the coach on the other sideline: longtime Badgers coach Bret Bielema. After winning 10 games in 2024, the Illini began the year with their highest preseason ranking (No. 12) since 1990. They will end the season with at least four losses, presumably unranked.

16. Northwestern’s David Braun made history Saturday. With a last-minute 38-35 win against Minnesota, he became the school’s first coach since 1937 to win 11 Big Ten games in his first three seasons. Braun, you may recall, earned Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2023 when he took over as interim coach unexpectedly that summer for the ousted Pat Fitzgerald and won eight games. It looked like possibly a premature promotion when the Wildcats slipped to 4-8 last season. But now they’ll be back in a bowl game next month, thanks in large part to former SMU quarterback Preston Stone’s first 300-yard game in Evanston.

 17. Stanford salvaged an otherwise lackluster season by hammering rival Cal 31-10, reclaiming the Axe for the first time in five years. While the 4-7 Cardinal will still finish below .500, interim coach Frank Reich has led them to three ACC wins, and, with 3-9 no longer a possibility, their best record since 2020. GM Andrew Luck announced last spring that Reich, his former coach with the Indianapolis Colts, would only be a one-year rental. Whoever replaces him will want to hold on to sophomore running back Micah Ford, who ran for 150 yards Saturday.

THE AXE IS BACK.#GoStanford | #BeatCal pic.twitter.com/3asc2hMx87

— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) November 23, 2025

18. I remain skeptical that James Madison can earn the Group of 5’s automatic berth due to its weak strength of schedule, but the Dukes, now 10-1, gave themselves a slight boost with a 24-20 win against visiting Washington State. The 5-6 Cougars, meanwhile, can’t get that new Pac-12 schedule going soon enough. Washington State somehow scheduled itself games this season against six teams — Ole Miss (SEC), Virginia (ACC), North Texas (American), San Diego State (MWC), Toledo (MAC) and JMU (Sun Belt) — that could still win their conferences. They are 2-4 in those games, with three of the losses by four points or less.

19. The FCS playoff bracket will be revealed Sunday, and for the first time, it will include an Ivy League representative. Perhaps even two. Yale, led by five-time Ivy League champ Tony Reno, dominated undefeated rival Harvard 45-28 to secure the conference’s first automatic berth. The 9-1 Crimson could still join 8-2 Yale in the field. The 24-team bracket includes 13 at-large berths, and Harvard entered the day ranked No. 10.

20. And now, we turn our attention to the most highly anticipated showdown of the week ahead: Ole Miss vs. LSU vs. Florida for the right to be coached by Lane Kiffin. Anyone who thinks they know who’s going to win is probably named Jimmy Sexton.

On Friday, Ole Miss AD Keith Carter announced that we should expect an announcement on Kiffin’s future the day after Friday’s Egg Bowl. It is a truly bizarre, truly unprecedented situation that could impact the Playoff race, the future of three SEC programs and perhaps several more affected by the dominoes.

Meanwhile, the Rebels still have another game to play, in Starkville, amid a sea of 60,000 cowbells, against a desperate team trying to get bowl eligible. I could see this saga ending with Kiffin laying an egg in the Egg Bowl, costing his team a CFP berth, then turning around and becoming the highest-paid coach in the sport the next day.