And now, 14 Final Thoughts from the College Football Playoff first round, in which ESPN got exactly what it paid for from its two games, while TNT might have been better off showing Christmas movies.
1. You could almost hear the cathartic roar from South Florida when Miami freshman safety Bryce Fitzgerald picked off Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed in the end zone to seal a 10-3 first-round win. Fitzgerald was not yet born the last time Miami played a game with national championship stakes, back in 2002, when the reigning dynasty of that era won its 34th straight game to reach the BCS championship against Ohio State.
The Buckeyes ended that streak in a controversial double-overtime win at the Fiesta Bowl. Miami hasn’t played in a postseason game with national title implications since. So it’s a pretty big deal that Mario Cristobal’s 10th-seeded team is headed to the Cotton Bowl for a CFP quarterfinal date with … No. 2 Ohio State.
2. Saturday’s matinee at Kyle Field marked the first time in the brief history of the 12-team CFP that a first-round game was decided in the final seconds. It was a slog, but it was an exciting one, as two tough defenses kept two usually explosive offenses out of the end zone for 58 minutes.
But there were also ghastly special teams galore. In particular, Canes kicker Carter Davis missed three manageable field goals. When Miami’s stud freshman receiver Malachi Toney fumbled at midfield with seven minutes left in a 3-3 game, I figured we were about to witness another gut-wrenching, mistake-filled Miami loss under Cristobal.
Instead, All-American defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. sacked Reed on a third-and-6 to get his team the ball back, running back Mark Fletcher Jr. broke a 56-yard run and Toney scored a redemptive 11-yard touchdown on a nifty third-and-5 sweep called by offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson. Reed nearly led the Aggies back down the field before throwing his fourth second-half interception in two games.
No, I’m not going to declare “The U is back!” just yet.
3. The 11-2 Canes, who didn’t enter the CFP field until eight days after their last game, will face a 12-1 foe that did not trail in the second half all season until its most recent game. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean Ohio State-Miami is a mismatch. I say that primarily because Bain and Miami’s defense are special. They had seven sacks Saturday, bottling up Reed both passing and running. They held A&M’s running backs to 2.8 yards per carry. They’re certainly capable of slowing down Julian Sayin, Jeremiah Smith and company, as Indiana did.
The problem is the other side of the ball. Carson Beck was just 14 of 20 for 103 yards against the Aggies. He’ll need to be a much bigger factor if the Canes hope to pull off the upset. If they do, then I’ll consider declaring, “The U is …”
Was this the best win for the Hurricanes in more than two decades?@Manny_Navarro breaks down No. 10 Miami’s victory over No. 7 Texas A&M ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/lc7z4sOfiL
— The Athletic CFB (@TheAthleticCFB) December 21, 2025
4. For Texas A&M, the high of its 11-0 start gave way to a buzzkill of an ending. First, the Aggies imploded in the second half and lost 27-17 to bitter rival Texas, missing the SEC Championship Game as a result. Then, in their first CFP appearance, they finished with a three-point showing in front of their home crowd. In hindsight, A&M’s deceivingly soft conference schedule (which included six of the bottom seven SEC teams) papered over some flaws. Like the fact that Fletcher’s long run was the 12th of 30 or more yards allowed by the Aggies’ defense. Only seven FBS teams have allowed more.
But big picture, Mike Elko’s team made considerable progress in Year 2, and has a chance to continue it in 2026. Reed, receivers Mario Craver and KC Concepcion and linebacker Taurean York are among those the program will attempt to retain. More daunting for Elko is he’s losing both OC Collin Klein (Kansas State head coach) and DC Jay Bateman (Kentucky DC).
5. Nick Saban’s final game at Alabama came in a Rose Bowl appearance, where the fourth-seeded Tide lost to eventual national champion Michigan in a CFP semifinal. Imagine telling him as he walked off the field that Bama would return two years later as a touchdown underdog against Indiana.
Kalen DeBoer’s ninth-seeded Tide, whose inclusion in the field drew considerable backlash, found some redemption Friday night with their 34-24 comeback win at No. 8 seed Oklahoma. Give Bama credit for going on the road and erasing a 17-0 deficit (albeit with a couple of helpful gifts from the Sooners), while largely dominating the second half. QB Ty Simpson, when not getting sacked, had his most efficient passing night since the Tennessee game two months ago.
But Alabama, now 11-3, still fails to inspire confidence that it can make a deep run.
6. The Tide struggled to run the ball (again), save for one 30-yard Daniel Hill run. Their O-line struggled to handle blitzes (again), and their receivers dropped passes (again). A team prone to self-inflicted mistakes could be in for a long day against Curt Cignetti’s extremely disciplined Hoosiers.
But that’s assuming we get the same versions of those teams come Jan. 1. Last year’s quarterfinals saw the teams coming off a longer break (Indiana’s will be 26 days by then) go 0-4, and another 13-0 Big Ten champion, No. 1 Oregon, looked like a shell of its former self in the Rose Bowl. Perhaps Fernando Mendoza and the Hoosiers come out similarly rusty.
There’s a big difference, though, between the veteran-led, dripping-with-talent Ohio State team that waxed the Ducks last year and an Alabama squad that’s relying heavily on youth and trying to duct-tape its running game. Never thought I’d write these words, but: Indiana is a bad matchup for Alabama.
Ty Simpson led Alabama’s comeback against Oklahoma, but the Tide face an uphill battle vs. Indiana. (Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
7. Oklahoma managed to win 10 games and make the Playoff despite its big-ticket quarterback, John Mateer, not being quite the same after his thumb injury in Week 4 that required surgery. He showed flashes of his former self in staking his team to that 17-0 lead against Alabama, but that mostly ended after his pick six late in the first half that tied the game. The junior will now have to decide whether to run it back, turn pro (not recommended!) or hop back in the portal.
The Sooners figure to keep turning out elite defenses for as long as Brent Venables is their coach, but they haven’t yet fully figured out the whole offense thing.
8. On Friday, I rose to the defense of Tulane and James Madison after watching several prominent TV analysts take turns shoving the little guys into their lockers. On Saturday, the little guys failed to rise to their own defense.
Ole Miss 41, Tulane 10 and Oregon 51, James Madison 34 were as lopsided as feared. (Though JMU deserves credit for rallying in the second half to cover the spread.) G5 teams held their own over the first nine years of the CFP, going 4-5 in New Year’s Six/CFP bowls from 2014-22, but since then, it’s been four straight blowout losses. Three of the G5 teams involved were ranked in the 20s (2023 Liberty, 2025 Tulane and JMU).
Probably not a coincidence the trend began right as several of the best G5 programs (Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and SMU) moved up to P4 leagues, and the end of transfer restrictions made it easier to raid those teams’ rosters.
9. We saw zero evidence Saturday that Lane Kiffin’s departure had any negative impact on No. 6 Ole Miss’s players. Rebels QB and new AT&T customer Trinidad Chambliss was his usual efficient self. Kewan Lacy broke two long runs. And while Jake Retzlaff and Tulane moved the ball at times, newly promoted head coach Pete Golding’s defense stuffed all four of the Green Wave’s fourth-down attempts and forced three turnovers.
But 12-1 Ole Miss faces a stiffer challenge against No. 3 Georgia in the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl quarterfinal. In the Rebels’ only loss of the season, Chambliss led the offense to five straight touchdowns and a 35-26 lead against Georgia in Athens. But then Kirby Smart’s defense shut them out in the fourth quarter, while QB Gunner Stockton threw his third and fourth TDs to win 43-35.
Georgia’s defense only got stingier from there. While it’s hard to imagine the Dawgs manhandling Chambliss and Lacy like they did Alabama in the SEC championship, the onus will be on Ole Miss’s defense to keep them in it.
The Golding Era has begun.
In their first game without Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss and new head coach Pete Golding picked up the program’s first Playoff win.@gmraynor breaks it down ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/VUTAtDsLxR
— The Athletic CFB (@TheAthleticCFB) December 21, 2025
10. We would love to get a peek inside the Nike factory that churns out Oregon’s endless supply of receivers. A cast of seven caught 11 of 12 targets by Dante Moore in the first half as he rained bombs on JMU’s overmatched defense. (Though he did throw two picks after halftime.) Dan Lanning’s team has so much darn speed across its offense.
Which makes the fifth-ranked Ducks’ Orange Bowl matchup against No. 4 Texas Tech incredibly intriguing. The Red Raiders’ loaded defense has mostly negated big plays thanks to dominant linemen David Bailey, Lee Hunter and Nagurski Trophy winner Jacob Rodriguez. But, of course, Tech didn’t see an offense as dynamic as Oregon’s in the Big 12.
11. Saturday’s back-to-back yawners will surely lead to renewed calls to claw back G5 leagues’ access to the CFP, to which I’ll provide two reminders: 1. This was the first and likely last time two G5 teams will earn automatic berths. 2. The new CFP deal that begins next year is expected to specifically guarantee bids to the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC, as opposed to an open-ended “five highest conference champions.” Albeit a year too late for Duke.
But more pertinently, the CFP’s precursor, the BCS, ultimately crumbled due to the relentless lobbying, Congressional hearings and threats of antitrust investigations every time a Utah or Boise State went 13-0 but couldn’t compete for the national championship. So even if the SEC’s Greg Sankey or Big Ten’s Tony Petitti might want to kick those teams to the curb, their lawyers will likely advise them against it.
12. The weekend didn’t break the way those leading Michigan’s coaching search hoped. The thought that Alabama’s DeBoer might run for cover if the Tide lost to Oklahoma went out the window. Then Saturday morning, Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham put an end to a nervous week in Tempe by signing a new contract. After which, the refreshingly candid 35-year-old went before the cameras and begged any rich people in Phoenix to donate $20 million to the program.
It’s always possible a surprise candidate is lurking somewhere, but Michigan’s most obvious remaining names are Washington’s Jedd Fisch and its current interim coach, Biff Poggi. Another question is how quickly, or not, it plans to move.
13. While we have to wait another month to see whether Ohio State, Georgia or Alabama adds to its trophy collection, another dynasty has already added another chapter.
In a clash of 15-0 teams Saturday in McKinney, Texas, Ferris State claimed its fourth Division II national championship in five years with a 42-21 win against Harding. The Michigan school managed to reload yet again this season despite losing its star quarterback to the transfer portal. A guy by the name of Trinidad Chambliss.
Maybe we should give Ferris State a crack at Ole Miss or Oregon next.
14. Conversely, the FCS playoffs have not gone remotely to script. Unseeded Illinois State, which entered the postseason 8-4, became the first team to reach the championship game by winning four straight road games thanks to its 30-14 upset of Villanova. The Redbirds, which stunned top seed North Dakota State in the second round, will now have to beat No. 2 seed Montana State in the title game Jan. 5 in Nashville to claim the school’s first FCS trophy.
It’s a heck of a story, but one that I was reticent to bring up. Don’t need Petitti using it to justify a 24-team CFP.
