Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where Massachusetts goes gently into that good night as the only winless FBS team of 2025. First Quarter: Shame On Everyone. Second Quarter: The SEC Makeover is Nearly Complete. Third Quarter: Where the Playoff Tension Lies.
Fourth Quarter: And Now for Something Completely Different
Kalani Sitake (31) seems like a perfect fit at BYU, but that’s not the same as being a forever fit. And when Penn State (32) comes calling, any football coach would listen. The discussions are serious according to multiple reports, but not yet finalized.
This is both bad news and worst timing for the Cougars, who are preparing for a College Football Playoff–or–bust game against Texas Tech for the Big 12 championship. The Nittany Lions have shuffled through a succession of candidates without landing a successor to James Franklin, and Sitake now might be it.
He is about as BYU as it can get, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an alum who has been the head coach for 10 seasons. He’s also been highly successful, averaging more than eight wins a year and going 22–3 over the last two seasons. The move from independent status into the Big 12 has gone better than could have rightfully been expected.
He has no natural ties to Penn State, that area of the country or the Big Ten. He’s never coached further east than the Mountain time zone. In proverbial “fit” terms, he doesn’t.
But fit can be overrated, with countless examples across the history of the sport. And Penn State offers one thing that BYU does not—a better chance to make the playoff and compete for a national championship.
For two straight years, the Cougars have won 11 games and will not get an at-large CFP bid. They were left on the doorstep last season and will be again this year unless they upset the Red Raiders on Saturday. The Big 12 was a one-bid league in 2024 and could be again in ’25.
The Big Ten put four teams in the playoff last year, one of them being Penn State. This year the league will have three representatives. Even in a competitive 18-team league, the odds are better of getting to The Promised Land from the Big Ten than as a member of the Big 12. Especially at a school like Penn State, which has the requisite commitment to winning big.
The fact that the Nittany Lions are at this point in their search indicates that things haven’t gone according to plan. A Sitake–Penn State marriage, not yet consummated, would be a leap of faith by both sides.
Championship Week: All Will Be Revealed
On Friday and Saturday, all FBS conference champions will be crowned. At least seven of the 12 playoff spots are locked up, but the rest of them—and the order—are yet to be determined. A brief look at the most interesting stakes in the power-conference matchups:
The No. 1 playoff seed and Rose Bowl berth will go to the winner of the Big Ten championship game (33) between Ohio State and Indiana. We started the season thinking the Buckeyes vs. Texas was the Game of the Year, and we’re ending it with the Hoosiers taking the Longhorns’ spot. That is a gobsmacking turn of events.
The chance to go 13–0 and win a Big Ten title in Indianapolis is the absolute apex fantasy for Indiana football fans. Really, it’s more than most of them truthfully ever envisioned before Coach Google Me swaggered into town and started talking about it two years ago. But the Buckeyes are the new Death Star of the sport, having won 16 straight games with ease and eyeing a repeat national championship. Indiana will have to beat the best to be the best.
The secondary storyline here: a Heisman Trophy showdown (34) between the quarterbacks, Julian Sayin of Ohio State and Fernando Mendoza of Indiana. They’re not the only candidates in the mix (hello, Diego Pavia and others), but a big game in Indy could put the winner over the top. They’re currently 1-2 nationally in pass efficiency, with Sayin just 1.13 points ahead of Mendoza.
In the SEC: The well-worn matchup of Alabama against Georgia gives Kirby Smart (35) another chance to face his houndstooth fears. Smart is 1–7 against the Crimson Tide and 68–5 against the rest of the league. It’s no longer just a Saban thing, because Kirby is 0–2 against Kalen DeBoer. A Georgia win locks up a first-round bye and a Sugar Bowl quarterfinal, but a loss to the Tide makes for an interesting discussion of who should be the top-seeded SEC team.
In the Big 12, Texas Tech (36) is trying to win its first outright conference championship since going 3-0-1 in the Border Conference in 1955. The Red Raiders also have one all-time Top 10 finish, in 1965 and are aiming for another. The only downside to a likely first-round playoff bye with a win over BYU is that it would deprive Lubbock of hosting a first-round game, which would be an event unlike anything ever seen in that city or on that campus.
The Dash covered much of the mess surrounding the ACC championship game in the Third Quarter, but let’s note the historic nature of Duke vs. Virginia (37), which matches a pair of original ACC teams in a league that barely recognizes itself. The Blue Devils are trying to win their first outright ACC football title since 1962. The Cavaliers are trying to win their first outright ACC football title ever.
Coach Who Earned His Comp Car This Week
Chuck Martin (38), Miami (Ohio)
He’s got the RedHawks in the Mid-American Conference championship game for the third straight season, something that hasn’t happened for any MAC program since 2013 to ’15. If he wins the MAC title against Western Michigan, it will mark the first point in his 12-year tenure that Martin’s record moves above .500. He’s currently 72–72. It’s been a long uphill climb since opening his tenure with four straight losing seasons.
When Martin arrived at Miami after serving as an assistant under Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, he probably didn’t dream of being there for 12 seasons. But he’s become the longest-tenured leader in the history of the Cradle of Coaches, which launched Bo Schembechler, Bill Mallory, Dick Crum, Terry Hoeppner and Randy Walker to successful tenures at larger programs. It’s become a good fit.
Coach Who Should Take the Bus to Work
Matt Rhule (39), Nebraska
A season that began with a cushy schedule—no road games until Oct. 11, no Ohio State, no Indiana, no Oregon—ends with a thud at 7–5. Yes, quarterback Dylan Raiola’s injury in the ninth game hurt, but injuries happen. In Year 3, Rhule still hasn’t been able to produce a winning Big Ten record.
This week he fired defensive coordinator John Butler. Last year he fired his offensive coordinator during the season. He’s about out of scapegoats.
Point After
When thirsty in Atlanta, as many SEC fans figure to be this weekend, The Dash recommends a Tropicália IPA from Athens-based Creature Comforts Brewing (40). They’re available all over, and they are delicious. Buy one for your favorite Georgia or Alabama fan and thank The Dash later.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Forde-Yard Dash: Penn State’s Kalani Sitake Interest Adds Chaos to Championship Week.
