The Athletic's Stewart Mandel is a preseason Penn State believer, placing the Nittany Lions atop his too-early top 25 for 2025. "I'm skeptical they can actually pull it off," Mandel writes, "but on paper, James Franklin's team deserves that status given how many players are returning."

Ohio State’s run to its first national championship in a decade enabled the Buckeyes to dominate the Associated Press’ all-College Football Playoff team. The AP changed the way it put together its postseason all-star teams this season as college football introduced an expanded 12-team playoff that had some schools playing as many as four postseason games.