The New York Jets’ trying season has hit a new low – yet one long familiar to the franchise.

With Sunday’s 32-26 overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins, the Jets (3-10) were officially eliminated from playoff contention, extending the NFL’s longest active postseason drought – and worst in the organization’s history – to 14 seasons. The stretch is tied for the 12th-longest mark in league history.

New York’s ninth consecutive losing season was locked in last Sunday with a 26-21 defeat against the Seattle Seahawks.

Aaron Rodgers’ return from a torn Achilles suffered just four snaps into his debut season with New York fostered high hopes that an end to the skid was finally within reach. But after a 2-1 start, the Jets’ season devolved into a series of setbacks and desperate attempts to reclaim relevance.

Owner Woody Johnson surprised many by firing coach Robert Saleh after the team dropped to 2-3. Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich subsequently shifted play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hacket, a close friend of Rodgers, to passing game coordinator Todd Downing.

All things Jets: Latest New York Jets news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

The Jets traded for three-time All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams and reached an accord to end two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Haason Reddick’s holdout, but the team continued to flounder, with its lone victory since the end of September coming in a Halloween win over the Houston Texans. General manager Joe Douglas was fired on Nov. 19, with Johnson bringing on former GM Mike Tannenbaum and his media company The 33rd Team to assist in the searches for the team’s top jobs.

Rodgers, who is signed through the 2025 season but faces an uncertain future amid the Jets’ wider reboot, said Wednesday he hoped to play out the rest of the season but does not feel he has anything to prove.

‘If they want me to stay, fantastic,’ Rodgers said. ‘If it takes these five games, maybe they don’t know what I bring to the table. But that being said, I’d love to play really frigging well the last five games.’

Longest NFL active playoff droughts

1. New York Jets: 14 seasons
2. Denver Broncos: 8 seasons
3t. Carolina Panthers: 6 seasons
3t. Atlanta Falcons: 6 seasons
5t. Washington Commanders: 3 seasons
5t. Indianapolis Colts: 3 seasons
5t. Chicago Bears: 3 seasons
5t. New Orleans Saints: 3 seasons
9t. New England Patriots: 2 seasons
9t. Arizona Cardinals: 2 seasons
9t. Tennessee Titans: 2 seasons
9t. Las Vegas Raiders: 2 seasons

Longest NFL playoff droughts in history

1t. St. Louis Cardinals: 25 seasons (1949-1974)
1t. Washington: 25 seasons (1946-1971)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers: 24 seasons (1948-1972)
4. New Orleans Saints: 20 seasons (1967-1987)
5t. Cleveland Browns: 17 seasons (2003-2020)
5t. Buffalo Bills: 17 seasons (2000-2017)
5t. New York Giants: 17 seasons (1964-1981)
5t. Philadelphia Eagles: 17 seasons (1961-1978)
9t. Detroit Lions: 16 seasons (1936-1952)
10t. Arizona Cardinals: 15 seasons (1983-1998)
10t. Green Bay Packers: 15 (1945-1960)

Tamar Bates scored a season-high 29 points for Missouri to spark a 76-67 upset of visiting No. 1 Kansas on Sunday in Columbia, Missouri.

Mark Mitchell added 17 points for the Tigers (8-1), while Anthony Robinson II scored 11 as Missouri beat its ‘Border War’ rival for the first time since February 2012. Robinson and Bates both tallied five steals, as the Tigers forced 22 Kansas turnovers.

Fans stormed the court after the Tigers sealed the victory.

Hunter Dickinson’s 19 points and 14 rebounds led Kansas (7-2), which will tumble in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll after losing its second game in a row, following Wednesay’s 76-63 defeat against Creighton. David Coit scored 14 for the Jayhawks, followed by Dajuan Harris Jr.’s 13 and KJ Adams Jr.’s 11.

Leading by 14 at halftime, Missouri built its advantage to 51-30 on Bates’ three-point play with 16:15 remaining. After Tony Perkins’ mid-range jumper stamped a 6-0 Missouri run to give the Tigers a 57-33 lead, Adams had a three-point play followed by Dickinson’s triple, jumpstarting a 15-0 Kansas run.

Missouri didn’t score again until Perkins’ layup at the 7:32 mark, pushing Missouri’s lead to 59-48.

After Gray’s deep 2-point jumper gave the Tigers an 11-point advantage with 4:53 left, Dickinson and Adams each converted three-point plays to cut Kansas’ deficit to 62-57 with 3:20 remaining.

A minute later, Harris’ three-point play trimmed Missouri’s lead to 65-63 at the 2:20 mark. Mitchell drilled a triple to begin a 7-0 Tigers scoring run capped by Bates’ layup, icing the upset for Missouri.

After Zeke Mayo’s layup opened the game’s scoring 13 seconds in, Missouri embarked on an 11-2 run.

The Tigers’ advantage grew to 12 after a pair of Bates free throws and Robinson’s steal and slam with 8:26 left.

Adams’ three-point play cut Kansas’ deficit to 26-17 with 8:11 remaining, the Jayhawks didn’t score for another 5:16. Missouri’s ensuing 8-0 run included six points from Bates.

Kansas finished the first half with a 6-2 spurt and entered halftime down 39-25.

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Another big-time college football quarterback has entered the transfer portal.

Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah is reportedly entering the transfer portal when it officially opens on Monday, according to multiple reports, including ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The redshirt freshman should be among the top signal callers in the portal, given his production and three seasons of eligibility remaining.

A first-year starter in 2024, Mensah beat out former blue-chip Oregon quarterback Ty Thompson, a junior in his first season with the Green Wave. The 6-foot-3 quarterback completed 189 of 287 passes (65.9%) for 2,723 yards with 22 touchdowns to six interceptions, adding 132 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Mensah led Tulane to the American Athletic Conference championship game on Friday, which it lost to Army 35-14. Overall, Tulane finished 9-4 on the season with two losses to Power Four programs in Kansas State and Oklahoma, both of which he performed well against.

In fact, Mensah’s career-high in passing yards is 342, which came against the Wildcats after he nearly led Tulane to an upset win after completing 19 of 29 passes with two touchdowns to an interception. Mensah finished 14 of 32 passing for 166 yards with a touchdown to an interception against the Sooners’ stout defense in nonconference play.

The San Luis Obispo, California, native is not yet ranked by 247Sports’ Composite transfer rankings, however, he will likely be ranked much higher than out of high school, when he was a 2-star recruit tabbed the nation’s No. 2289 player overall and No. 135 quarterback. Tulane and Idaho State were reportedly the schools to make him offers, with the former obviously being his choice.

Mensah joins other high-end transfer portal quarterbacks like Texas A&M’s Conner Weigman, USC’s Miller Moss, Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold and Liberty’s Kaidon Salter, with presumably many more additions to come when the transfer portal officially opens Monday.

Follow along as the College Football Playoff rankings are unveiled.

‘Tis the season for complaining. 

In other words, it’s December, the teams for the 12-team College Football Playoff have been selected, and the talk about resumes and which teams you beat or lost to will be debated ad nauseam until the first round of games kicks off on Dec. 20. 

The teams on this snubs list have no one to blame but themselves, and no amount of whining, no matter how good or silly the argument, will change that. But in any other year, each of them is good enough to make the playoff and possibly play for a national championship, and the snub is more of a numbers game than anything else.  

So those who didn’t receive the gifts they wanted from Santa and his elves (a.k.a. Warde Manuel and the CFP selection committee) can look forward to next year – along with mass transfer portal entries, bowl game opt-outs and the usual finger-pointing at those reclining in Grapevine, Texas tasked with being objective and selecting and seeding the nation’s best football teams. 

Alabama 

Alabama’s snub can be summed up in two words: Norman, Oklahoma.  

That was the site of the Crimson Tide’s 2024 house of horrors when they laid an absolute egg two weeks ago against a pedestrian, yet motivated, Oklahoma team. Losing to Vanderbilt earlier in the season didn’t help either, but the way Alabama was completely dominated by the Sooners had fans and pundits jumping off the bandwagon despite their resume being as strong as any of the actual playoff participants. 

UP AND DOWNS: Winners and losers from the playoff reveal

POSTSEASON LINEUP: Complete college football bowl schedule

Miami 

There are only so many times you get a second chance, and the Hurricanes had multiple chances this season to make this point moot. Losing twice by a grand total of nine points gets no sympathy here, and the nation’s leader in total and scoring offense won’t get a chance to show that off. In this case, it isn’t who Miami lost to; it’s comparing them to other schools and picking and choosing which data point (strength of record, the strength of schedule, eye test, etc.) satisfies whatever argument is being made to whatever athletic director has a gripe.  

South Carolina 

It’s too bad Shane Beamer doesn’t have the gift of gab like Nick Saban because maybe, just maybe, it would do him some favors in trying to get the Gamecocks into the playoffs. Unfortunately, SEC participation trophies aren’t given out. South Carolina is as hot as any team in the nation and wouldn’t be an easy out no matter who it played. 

Mississippi 

Perhaps Ole Miss has the most legitimate claim to be included in the playoffs. But then again, losing to Kentucky and Florida, regardless of whether the SEC is the toughest conference or not, with a team with more talent than both of those teams combined, likely fell on deaf ears to the selection committee. Lane Kiffin knows exactly how this works and no amount of clowning the ACC was going to get them one of those coveted 12 slots.  

Army 

Truthfully, Army could have gone 12-0 and received zero consideration for the playoffs. However, winning championships and possibly the commander-in-chief trophy are the only consolation this season for the Black Knights. A team with a top-10 defense and a top-10 rushing offense, such as Army, could give most of the teams in the playoff issues. But being in the AAC, without a previous history as a giant killer, and losing the one game they had to have (a 35-point beatdown by Notre Dame) gives them no benefit of the doubt, no matter what AAC commissioner Tim Pernetti says.

Brock Bowers’ prolific debut campaign is now one for the NFL record book.

With his 87th catch of the year – and third of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – the Las Vegas Raiders standout broke the single-season record for receptions by a rookie tight end, which was set by the Detroit Lions’ Sam LaPorta in 2023.

Bowers, who was the No. 13 overall pick in this year’s draft, entered Sunday leading the NFL in receptions with 84 while ranking fourth in receiving yards with 884. He broke Amari Cooper’s Raiders franchise record for receptions (72) by a rookie after just 11 games.

Bowers finished Sunday’s 28-13 loss to the Buccaneers with three catches for 49 yards.

The two-time Mackey Award winner out of Georgia is also within striking distance of Mike Ditka’s all-time mark for receiving yards by a rookie tight end (1,076).

All things Raiders: Latest Las Vegas Raiders news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Bowers was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month for November after leading all rookies in in receiving yards (349), receptions (32), and receiving touchdowns (three) in the month. In a Week 11 loss to the Miami Dolphins, he broke the record for receptions by a rookie tight end in a single game with 13.

This story has been updated with new information.

Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State claimed the top four seeds while SMU edged out Alabama for the final at-large spot in the debut 12-team College Football Playoff.

The decision to go with SMU comes after the Mustangs lost 34-31 to Clemson in the ACC championship game. That earned the Tigers an automatic bid to the playoff as one of top five conference champions.

Alabama went 9-3 in the regular season with wins against Georgia, South Carolina, LSU and Missouri. But the Crimson Tide also lost to 6-6 teams in Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, the latter by 21 points. SMU finished 11-2 and joined Oregon as the only Power Four teams to go unbeaten in conference play.

The rest of the field followed the blueprint laid out in last week’s penultimate playoff rankings.

The Ducks, Bulldogs, Broncos and Sun Devils were given a bye into the quarterfinals and will face the winners from the opening round. ASU made a late-season charge to the Big 12 title capped by Saturday’s 45-19 win against Iowa State. Boise earned the automatic bid given to the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion.

UP AND DOWNS: Winners and losers from the playoff reveal

BOWL PROJECTIONS: Forecasting the entire postseason lineup

This group was followed by No. 5 seed Texas, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 9 Tennessee, No. 10 Indiana, the No. 11 Mustangs and the No. 12 Tigers.

These teams will meet on the home field of the higher-ranked team in games scheduled for Dec. 20-21. Texas will host Clemson, the Nittany Lions will face SMU, Notre Dame will take on Indiana and Ohio State will meet Tennessee.

The winner between the Nittany Lions and Mustangs will take on Boise State in the quarterfinals. Oregon will take on OSU or Tennessee; the Ducks beat the Buckeyes 32-31 in the regular season. ASU will meet the Longhorns or Tigers and Georgia will face either the Fighting Irish or Hoosiers.

What is the College Football Playoff schedule?

The four highest-rated conference champions are given byes into the field. The first-round games will be on campus either on Dec. 20 or Dec. 21.

Winners of those games will advance to the quarterfinals. The Fiesta Bowl will be played on Dec. 31. The Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl will be played Jan. 1.

The Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl will host the semifinals on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10, respectively.

The championship game will be played Jan. 20 in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

First-round games (with seeding)

No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas

No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State

No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame

No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State

Quarterfinals

Fiesta Bowl: No. 3 Boise State vs. Penn State-SMU winner

Peach Bowl: No. 4 Arizona State vs. Texas-Clemson winner

Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Georgia vs. Notre Dame-Indiana winner

Rose Bowl: No. 1 Oregon vs. Ohio State-Tennessee winner

College Football Playoff rankings Top 25

1. Oregon (13-0)

2. Georgia (11-2)

3. Texas (11-2)

4. Penn State (11-2)

5. Notre Dame (11-1)

6. Ohio State (10-2)

7. Tennessee (10-2)

8. Indiana (11-1)

9. Boise State (12-1)

10. SMU (11-2)

11. Alabama (9-3)

12. Arizona State (11-2)

13. Miami (Fla) (10-2)

14. Mississippi (9-3)

15. South Carolina (9-3)

16. Clemson (10-3)

17. Brigham Young (10-2)

18. Iowa State (10-3)

19. Missouri (9-3)

20. Illinois (9-3)

21. Syracuse (9-3)

22. Army (11-1)

23. Colorado (9-3)

24. UNLV (10-3)

25. Memphis (10-2)

(This story has been updated to change a video and add a gallery.)

As we unveil the final US LBM Coaches Poll of the regular season, it’s important to keep a couple of things in mind. First and foremost, the poll might not – and probably will not – look the same as the playoff committee’s rankings. Furthermore, the rankings in either case will not mirror the bracket seedings, since the top four spots are reserved for conference champions. With all that said, however, there is no dispute about which team will be No. 1 in all seedings and rankings entering the quest for the championship.

Oregon remains the unanimous top team after claiming the Big Ten title, and will enter the playoff as the lone unbeaten squad. Georgia moves up to No. 2 in the poll after its overtime win against Texas in the SEC finale. Notre Dame is No. 3, followed by runners-up Texas and Penn State. Tennessee holds at No. 6, followed by Ohio State. Mountain West champ Boise State climbs to No. 8, with Indiana and Arizona State rounding out the top 10.

TOP 25: Complete US LBM Coaches Poll ranking

BOWL PROJECTIONS: Forecasting the entire postseason lineup

To reiterate, the coaches rank Alabama at No. 11 ahead of SMU at No. 12, but that might not be how the committee has it for that all-important final at-large spot. Clemson is No. 13 in the poll but is assured of being in the field as the ACC champ.

The conference championship games didn’t cause anyone to drop out of the top 25. Army moves up five positions to No. 18 after claiming the American Athletic Conference title, and UNLV holds on at NO. 24 despite coming up short against Boise State.

(This story has been updated to change a video and add a gallery.)

Purdue hired Barry Odom on Sunday to be its football coach, fresh off Odom leading UNLV to its best season in 40 years.

Odom, 48, is 44-33 in six seasons as a coach, including four at Missouri and the past two at UNLV. He led the Rebels to the Mountain West Conference championship game, where they lost to Boise State on Friday. Had UNLV won, it would have been in the running to reach the College Football Playoff.

‘During our interactions with Coach Odom, it became clear that he possesses the belief, tenacity and competitive drive necessary to return Purdue football to the standard of excellence we all expect,’ Purdue athletics director Mike Bobinski said in a news release announcing the hire. ‘He is a proven and experienced leader who has brought success to two different football programs.’

Odom replaces Ryan Walters, whom Purdue fired on Dec. 1. Walters went 5-19 in two seasons with the Boilermakers. That included a 1-11 record this season.

The push to jump-start Purdue comes during college football’s rapidly changing landscape, including the dawn of the first 12-team CFP bracket, revealed Sunday. Indiana, Purdue’s longstanding rival, earned a playoff bid under first-year coach Curt Cignetti, despite being a longshot to reach this field before the season. And the chasm between the programs couldn’t seem bigger: Indiana beat Purdue 66-0 on Nov. 30, a day before Purdue fired Walters.

Odom earned his first college head-coaching job at Missouri, his alma mater, from 2016-19. He went 25-25 there but only had one losing season. The Tigers made two bowl appearances under his watch and were 6-6 in his final season in 2019. Odom’s past stints also include defensive coordinator stops at Memphis, Missouri and Arkansas.

Odom’s 10-3 record this season at UNLV marks the best season of his career.

(This story has been updated to add a video.)

The Las Vegas Raiders have already lost their starting quarterback, Gardner Minshew, to a season-ending shoulder injury. Now, his backup, Aidan O’Connell, is dealing with a serious injury.

O’Connell was injured in the third quarter of the Raiders’ Week 14 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It occurred as the second-year quarterback scrambled right and connected with Jakobi Meyers for an 8-yard game.

O’Connell was pushed from behind by Buccaneers defensive tackle Calijah Kancey after he threw a pass while scrambling to the right sideline. The Raiders quarterback remained down after the play and medical personnel attended to him.

Eventually, O’Connell was loaded onto a cart and taken off the field. His left leg was in an air cast, indicating that the quarterback had suffered a potentially significant injury.

Here’s what to know about O’Connell’s injury and who will replace him with the Raiders.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

Aidan O’Connell injury update

O’Connell was injured with 1:23 left in the third quarter of the Raiders vs. Buccaneers game. It wasn’t clear exactly what happened to his leg, but he had to be carted off the field because of his injury.

The Raiders quickly ruled him out and clarified that O’Connell had suffered a knee injury. He finished the day completing 11-of-19 passes for 104 yards and an interception.

Raiders QB depth chart: Who is Aidan O’Connell’s backup?

O’Connell will be replaced by his backup quarterback, Desmond Ridder. The third-year pro has only been with the Raiders since signing off the Arizona Cardinals practice squad on Oct. 21, 2024, but has seen action in two games this season.

Ridder has completed 16-of-26 passes with the Raiders for 138 yards and a touchdown. He hasn’t yet made a start for the team, but he has a career record of 8-9 as a starter.

The Raiders have only one other healthy quarterback in their system besides Ridder: undrafted rookie Carter Bradley, who is currently on the team’s practice squad.

Las Vegas could look to sign another quarterback if O’Connell’s injury is as serious as it looks.

A conference silver medal became the golden ticket with this College Football Playoff selection committee.

The playoff committee’s bracket choices Sunday in this inaugural 12-team field devalued the reward for winning a conference title by protecting teams that lost in conference championship games.

Confused? So am I.

Let’s start with the most-puzzling presentation in the bracket: The committee awarded the No. 11 seed to SMU (11-2), the ACC’s runner-up that owns no marquee victories. The committee clearly valued SMU’s 11 victories compared to teams left out of the field like Alabama (9-3) and Mississippi (9-3), which compiled inferior records against a tougher schedule.

I might disagree with that rationale, but I understand it. What I can’t comprehend is why SMU received a better seed than 12th-seeded Clemson, the ACC’s champion that beat SMU on a neutral field less than 12 hours before the bracket reveal.

Clemson (10-3) snatched a playoff auto bid thanks to that victory, but despite playing a tougher schedule than SMU and beating the Mustangs in what had been billed as a high-stakes game, the committee bizarrely seeded the ACC’s champion behind the conference’s silver medalist.

It’s as if committee members fell asleep before Clemson won with a last-second field goal to beat SMU 34-31.

Respect for conference title losers goes beyond SMU

Elsewhere in the bracket, you’ll find more supreme valuation of conference runners-up. Texas and Penn State lost their respective conference championship games but earned the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds, respectively, the highest seeds available to at-large qualifiers.

Those seeds are particularly valuable within this bracket format, because it guarantees Texas and Penn State won’t face either of the playoff’s top two seeds, Oregon and Georgia, sooner than the semifinals.

Texas could coast into the semifinals without beating a top-10 team.

The committee seeded Penn State two spots ahead of eighth-seeded Ohio State after the Buckeyes beat Penn State in Happy Valley just more than a month ago. While Penn State enjoys arguably the most ideal placement in the bracket – it opens against SMU – the Buckeyes received one of the toughest draws. They’ll start by hosting Tennessee, and No. 1 Oregon awaits the winner.

The Nittany Lions own one extra victory than Ohio State, but they have the same number of losses. The Buckeyes beat two playoff teams, including – let’s reiterate – Penn State. The Nittany Lions beat no playoff teams and only one team in the CFP’s top 25. But, hey, they’ve got that Big Ten silver medal. That’s as good as gold.

If the committee had rejected SMU or penalized Penn State in the seeding, it would have signaled that conference championship results matter. As is, it’s as if SMU and Penn State lost in glorified exhibition games Saturday, and the committee deemed those results mostly meaningless.

CFP welcomes ACC runner-up, rejects Army, BYU, others

Much of the attention Sunday centered on whether the committee would choose Alabama or SMU for the final at-large spot. Let’s put aside for the moment Alabama, a team that lost to two 6-6 opponents, and look at Army.

If the committee were willing to embrace a team with a squishy strength of schedule to avoid selecting a three-loss team, why not choose the 11-1 Black Knights, who pummeled Tulane to win the AAC? Army’s only loss came against Notre Dame, a caliber of opponent SMU never faced.

If this had been an exercise of valuing conference champions, select Army. If it’s about valuing record, there again, Army looks good. Avoiding losses to bad teams? Army still looks good.

Don’t like Army’s strength of schedule? Understood. If strength of schedule rules, opt for Alabama or South Carolina.

Or, if impressive victories rule, choose Ole Miss, which smashed Georgia and South Carolina.

Value head-to-head results? OK, consider Brigham Young, a two-loss team that beat SMU in the Mustangs’ stadium in September and played a tougher schedule than SMU.

By embracing SMU, the committee went for none of those alternative ideas. Instead, when forced to make tough selection and seeding decisions, this committee chose a peculiar path and protected conference runners-up who didn’t get blown out. SMU, Penn State and Texas combined for six losses, the most lopsided of which was Texas’ 15-point regular-season loss to Georgia.

In contrast, Alabama suffered a blowout two weeks ago at Oklahoma. Adios, Alabama. South Carolina got trounced at home in October by Ole Miss. Bye-bye, Gamecocks, even though you beat Clemson one week before SMU lost. Clemson lost in a lopsided game to Georgia in the season opener. Enjoy that 12-seed, Tigers. And Army got whipped by Notre Dame, so the committee ignored the Black Knights’ conference title.

The case for SMU centered almost entirely around its 11 victories – a figure Army matched while playing one fewer game – and the Mustangs’ ACC red ribbon. By luck of the draw, SMU avoided Clemson, Miami and Syracuse during the regular season. Those three teams join SMU as the ACC’s only teams ranked inside this CFP top 25.

The 17-team ACC plays only eight conference games. SMU’s favorable schedule draw set it up for a runner-up finish that it parlayed into a sweet prize.

“It would be criminal if we are not in,” SMU’s Rhett Lashlee told reporters after losing to Clemson. “It would be wrong not just to our team but to what college football stands for.’

I understand Lashlee campaigning for his team, but I’m sorry, since when has college football stood for protecting the ACC’s runner-up?

Since Sunday.

Never in college football’s history has there been a better time to lose a conference championship game.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.