The special uniforms for the Army-Navy Game are a tradition that involves years of planning and research.
Each academy works with its apparel company to create intricate designs that honor military history.
The uniform designs are kept a closely guarded secret until they are revealed to the players and public.

What will be on the field for the 2025 Army-Navy Game is four years in the making.

It’s one of the many aspects that makes the battle of service academies one of the great traditions in college football — the uniforms.

Special uniforms for the game started modestly in 2008, but have become a spectacle with intricate designs for both sides since 2012. 

It’s a history lesson in a helmet, jersey and pants, with both branches typically paying respect to the people and moments that defined the U.S. military. Army and Navy aren’t just trying to beat each other on the field, but in the uniform game. 

Alternate uniforms are nothing new in college football; nearly every team has different looks and endless combinations to put out on the field. 

But none of them compare to Army-Navy. Because these uniforms involve years of planning, research, execution and hiding to pull off — resulting in a beautiful piece of storytelling that will again be on display when the Black Knights and Midshipmen take the field for the 126th meeting Saturday, Dec. 13 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. 

“We want everything to be perfect,” Navy athletic director for equipment operations Greg Morgenthaler told USA TODAY Sports.

Coming up with the uniform

The process to design the uniform for the Army-Navy Game begins two years before, with each academy meeting with their respective apparel company. Army has Nike and Navy has Under Armour

However, the 2025 game is special. In 2021 when planning the 2023 uniforms, Morgenthaler recalled letting Under Armour know 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the Naval Academy. So Under Armour had some time to think about this year’s uniforms, and plans were finalized around June 2024, 18 months before the game. Both teams decided on honoring 250th anniversaries of their branch.

From there, the apparel companies get to work. The first part is doing the research to determine what should be included in the uniform and is accurately depicted. Then a mood board is created with images and colors the teams want to draw inspiration from. After that, a toolkit for branding is created for other apparel.

All throughout the process, the academies are doing their own work. Army director of football equipment Thomas Cancalosi said the history department looks into its own research to make sure things are accurate. Both Army and Navy noted the apparel companies stay in touch through the entire process to not only make sure it looks good, but it makes sense. There’s been times where designs along the way were a little extreme, Morgenthaler said, but the final product always has the team excited.

For Navy, this year’s uniform is inspired by the USS Constitution, the only remaining of the six frigates that made up the first fleet. The washed blue primary color comes from the uniform of sailors and the copper helmet represents the copper sheathing of the ship, the tradition of coins being placed under the mast and the Save ‘Old Ironsides’ Campaign in 1924 when students across the country donated pennies to fund the restoration of the USS Constitution. Those are just a few of the several elements involved in each team’s uniform.

“You want to make sure that everything you put on a uniform or in a design has a meaning and has a purpose, not just because it looks cool,” said Colby Smith, Under Armour graphic designer for team sports. “We go into the design itself and have some checkpoints along the way, and usually we’ll go through about two to three revisions of the uniform before it’s finally signed off.”

Once the uniform is approved, then comes arguably the hardest part: keeping it a secret.

Keeping the secret

About two miles away from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland sits a warehouse. Starting in late August, it becomes another top secret military base, but there aren’t any documents coming in. 

It’s the gear for the Army-Navy Game, but it might as well be classified files. For all of the work that goes into creating the uniform, it takes just as much — if not more — to make sure it doesn’t get out before intended. 

The circle of trust is small on the project. Smith said about eight to 10 people at Under Armour know about it and don’t reveal it with people not involved. 

“Loose lips sink ships, so we try and keep all the ships afloat,” he said.

The same goes at Navy and Army. The equipment staff has to do their best to ensure there isn’t a leak and they’re the only ones that know what the look is. In a way, they are the most powerful people in the program.

“You really got to trust the people that work with you, that they’re not going to open up their mouths and not going to take pictures,” Morgenthaler said. “There’s a lot of hiding.”

The players don’t help with that either. From the moment summer camp starts, Morgenthaler and Cancalosi said they are constantly asked about them. Team members want to know what the theme will be or what they look like. 

It happens at least once a day in West Point as the anticipation continues to build toward release day. 

“They’ll try to get it out of you,” Cancalosi said. “But it’s been seven years for me now here, and they haven’t gotten out of me yet.”

The reason for it to remain kept behind closed doors is mainly neither team wants the public to get eyes on it. It’s meant for the academies and for when they want to show their teams and fan base. The last thing anyone wants is someone to leak something with such a special meaning.

All of the secrecy eventually pays off. Just a few weeks before the game comes the exciting part. The teams gather and are presented the story for their uniform. After learning about it, it is revealed for the players, a moment that always draws excitement. Seeing the reactions is what Morgenthaler said is “probably the best part” of his job.

Making the military proud

While the college football world will get to see the uniforms on the field and be wowed at all the details, it’s important to remember it’s not really for them. Cancalosi said the ultimate goal is to get the approval of everyone that was, is or going to be a soldier, including those on the field. 

He noted this year’s uniforms, which are marble to represent the headstones at Arlington National Cemetery and have purple outlined numbers for George Washington’s military badge of merit, which became the Purple Heart, truly represents the ultimate sacrifice every soldier gives in their service.

“The people who are in the United States Army, if they are proud of the product that we’ve created, then we’ve done our job to the fullest,” he said.

It’s the same mindset at the apparel companies, which is why Smith calls it an “honor and a privilege” to be part of such a unique project. It’s a long process with so many details to execute, but it’s rewarding to see how proud the players and academies are of it.

It won’t be long after the game is over when the process starts all over again. The uniforms and theme for the 2026 game are already set, so it’s 2027 currently being worked on. Just like all iterations of the game, no one plans to reveal any detail of what will come, other than Smith noting Under Armour always tries to one up itself.

But we do know it will be an extraordinary way to tell the story of Army and Navy. There’s no other game like it, and the long journey it takes for the uniform to appear on the field is what makes Morgenthaler call it “the coolest looking show on TV.”

The Moore allegations – an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a staffer – are seedy enough. But the Michigan athletic department has long been a cesspool, and that’s squarely on athletic director Warde Manuel.

There was the basketball coach who smacked an opposing assistant in the face. Not to be confused with that same coach’s altercation with someone on his own staff. There was the toxic and misogynistic atmosphere in the hockey program. There was the gymnastics coach fired after police found him engaged in sexual activity with a student in a car. There was football’s sign-stealing scandal. The recruiting violations uncovered during the sign-stealing scandal.

The failure to monitor. The laundry list of staffers who’ve been arrested or sanctioned by the NCAA.

And these are just the things we know about!

“This conduct constitutes a clear violation of university policy,” Manuel said in a statement Wednesday announcing Moore’s dismissal, “and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”

Zero tolerance? Anything goes at Michigan, until you’re caught

Since when? Manuel has been running a department where anything goes, no sin too big to paper over or forgive. Unless the Michigan regents enjoy their school being the perpetual source of national embarrassment, Manuel has to go, too.

Whether Manuel had direct knowledge of or involvement in any of these scandals is irrelevant. He hired Moore despite all his baggage. He hired Juwan Howard and then stood by his basketball coach despite knowing the men’s basketball program was a ticking time bomb. He hired hockey coach Mel Pearson.

Manuel created an atmosphere in Michigan’s department where the big names and underlings alike saw rules as mere suggestions and the sole guiding principle was ‘by any means necessary.’ This is Manuel’s athletic department. Everything that occurs in it, the good, the bad and the criminal, is a reflection of his leadership.

(Manuel also hired Kevin Ollie when he was the AD at UConn, for what it’s worth, and we all know how well that turned out.)

This ‘Michigan man’ wins, but keeps damaging the university’s reputation

Manuel is a “Michigan man,” a defensive tackle under the legendary Bo Schembechler, and the Michigan regents might be reluctant to throw one of their own under the bus. Especially one who’s overseen as much success as Manuel has.

In addition to football’s national title in 2023, the women’s gymnastics team were NCAA champions in 2021 while John Beilein took the Wolverines to the men’s basketball title game in 2018.

But that success has come at what cost to Michigan’s reputation?

Michigan prides itself on being one of the country’s elite academic institutions, and its athletic programs are meant to reflect that higher-minded pursuit. The Wolverines do not chase fads or fashion, their block M and football’s winged helmets visible testaments to their time-honored traditions and values. They have produced champions and role models, not embarrassments and cringe-worthy memories.

They are supposed to be, in Michigan’s mind, the country’s best, setting a standard both on the field of play and off.

Yet Moore’s firing, and the circumstances around it, cement Michigan’s status as just another one of the renegades. A school with no moral compass or code of values. A school that prizes wins above else and thinks playing by the rules is for suckers.

This is Manuel’s legacy at Michigan, even more than those national titles and All-Americans.

Yes, Moore is the one who did wrong. Same as all those others at Michigan who cut corners and thought rules didn’t apply to them. But Manuel allowed it to happen. He is just as much to blame for Michigan’s shame.

(This story has been updated with additional information)

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

After an encouraging start, Major League Baseball’s offseason has stalled out, kind of like an unwanted weather pattern.

Its winter meetings produced a pair of semi-blockbuster deals for Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso, yet a lot more of the groundwork-laying more associated with the general managers’ meetings one month earlier.

Sure, those chats and texts can bear fruit, evidenced by the run on relief pitchers continuing in the hours after the meetings. Yet industrywide momentum will prove elusive until a handful of situations are settled or franchises move definitively in a certain direction.

Let’s take a look at five agenda items that can go a long way toward producing a winter wonderland of transactions as the holiday season continues:

A destination for Kyle Tucker

Yeah, that’d be nice. It’s not often the postseason works in a top-down fashion, though it’s also not out of the question that the winter’s consensus top free agent signs before, during or shortly after the winter meetings (See: Juan Soto in 2024, Shohei Ohtani in 2023).

There’s been precious little smoke on Tucker, however, other than the decreasing likelihood that the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers will be in play for the slugging corner outfielder. And for some clubs, such as the Toronto Blue Jays, Tucker — who has been worth between 4.6 and 5.3 WAR in every full season of his career — doesn’t necessarily represent an either/or proposition. They can simply shift around what they have — think Addison Barger, Ernie Clement and Co. — without any major adds.

Yet for some clubs, engaging with Tucker and either succeeding or failing in that pursuit might determine several other paths. Which brings us to …

The Yankees: Do something?

GM Brian Cashman was generally both coy and vague (cague?) in his media briefings, exiting the meetings by noting that there was “not a lot of the inventory I’m interested in coming off the board yet,” and owner Hal Steinbrenner seems to indicate both that the Yankees are still at the forefront of player investment while also warning that the till may not be totally open.

Still, there’s always time for the biggest-market team to put together a stealth attack on a player like Tucker, who won’t command Soto money yet will still end up with a larger guarantee than, say, Aaron Judge. (Inflation these days, right?)

Closer to home, though, a Tucker resolution would also provide a lot more clarity for Cody Bellinger, whom the Yankees would like to retain, though not necessarily at a boutique price. Agent Scott Boras’s thinly coded assessment of Bellinger’s robust market indicates there could be a flock of very serious suitors, and it stands to reason exploiting the Tucker losers would maximize the return for his client.

The Yankees say they both need to close the gap on the Blue Jays yet are quick to note they won the same amount of games — 94 — in the regular season before Toronto flattened them in the ALDS. So it’s not a damn-the-torpedoes winter in the Bronx, yet things must be done. Right?

Starting pitchers: Who wants one?

Proving that there are no offseason absolutes, this was one market that did, in fact, unfold top-down: Dylan Cease’s $210 million pact with Toronto was agreed to before Thanksgiving, which one might intuit would spark a mini-frenzy in an area of import that’s always short on inventory.

Yet since then, nada — unless Michael Soroka to the Diamondbacks warms your hot stove.

A semi-informed decision: The next two pitchers on the board, left-handers Framber Valdez and Ranger Suarez, aren’t the sort of arms a club would necessarily build its offseason around. Their markets will percolate and finally heat up, but it might not be until other clubs have exhausted other options or areas of greater need.

For instance, the Orioles might engage more furtively with Valdez now that Alonso has been secured for five years and $155 million. And once Valdez and Suarez go, the rest should follow with some rapidity, from the Zac Gallens and Michael Kings all the way down to fortysomething horses Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

Homes for Munetaka Murakami and Tatsuya Imai

Hey, finally some hard and fast deadlines!

The slugging Murakami and the right-hander Imai are the biggest prizes posted from Japan this season, and the clock is ticking on their 45-day windows to sign with a major league club. Murakami must sign by 5 p.m. ET on Dec. 22, and he shouldn’t have a problem finding a fairly large deal with a club willing to bet his 246 home runs in eight seasons in Japan will translate nicely to the big leagues.

Imai should face an even more robust market. Teams have until Jan. 2 to reel in a 27-year-old who struck out 178 batters in 163 2/3 innings, with a 1.92 ERA, in what figures to be his last season in Japan.

Sure, that’s a ways out still. But at least there’s a defined endgame looming for both these guys.

The Cardinals: Trade somebody?

St. Louis and Nolan Arenado are staging a stirring remake of The Long Kiss Goodbye, starring a third baseman with a no-trade clause who can’t find the right fit. The Cardinals thought they had him dealt a year ago, then played another season with the 10-time Gold Glover. At this point, nobody’s waiting with bated breath for this deal.

Brendan Donovan? Now, that’s another story.

A 2025 All-Star second baseman who can toggle to two or three other positions with two years remaining before free agency? No wonder the Cardinals were popular with several teams at the meetings, particularly those who might want to plug a second base vacancy without the long-term commitment to slugging Ketel Marte.

The Cardinals certainly got the ball rolling on their tear-down by dealing pitcher Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox. Now, if they can find a landing spot for Donovan (and the Giants, Mariners, Astros and others have kicked the tires), that could greatly stimulate the trade market.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye have the same agents and developed their friendship that way.
Maye is an NFL MVP candidate in his second season and leads the league in completion percentage and passer rating.
The Patriots and Bills are set to face off on Sunday, Dec. 14. New England can win the AFC East for the first time since 2019.
Allen recently broke the record for most career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback and continues to be a dual-threat danger.

To say Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has mentored New England Patriots second-year signal-caller Drake Maye would be a stretch. 

The two share agents through Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the powerhouse representation firm, and the connection has meant they’ve spent plenty of time in the same spaces and even trained alongside each other briefly. The conversations were more about life than football, but “any opportunity I can to help somebody,” Allen said, “I’m willing to do that.” 

Comparing the two, despite the obvious physical similarities – tall, right-handed gunslingers who can be equally deadly with their pocket mobility and legs – makes for good media discussion, Maye said. He’d be the first to say he has a long way to go to rival the 2024 NFL MVP. But Maye soon may match him in the hardware department, as the North Carolina product entered the Patriots’ Week 14 bye as the betting favorite to win the award this season.

“But I’m honored,” Maye said. “If that comparison is there with Josh, I’m honored to be compared to a guy like him at his level. I think I’m a far, long ways away from playing like him, and he’s, like I said, the best in the game. I’m looking forward to another matchup when we meet versus him.” 

That next meeting is Sunday, Dec. 14. A Patriots victory would give head coach Mike Vrabel’s team its first division title since 2019 in his first season at the helm in New England and snap the Bills’ streak of five consecutive AFC East crowns. 

“This is a great stage that we’ve put ourselves on,” Vrabel said. 

Riding a 10-game winning streak, New England is in this position in no small part due to Maye’s breakout campaign. Maye led the league in completion percentage (71.5) and passer rating (111.9) entering Week 14. 

“He’s playing like a veteran quarterback. He’s seeing things extremely well. He plays at a great pace. It looks like things have slowed down for him. Which, again, we hate to see that, right?” Allen said with a smile. “But I’m happy for how well he’s playing because he’s a great human being on top of being a great football player. Just got to find a way to win on Sunday.” 

Allen, who earlier this season broke Cam Newton’s record for most career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback, is the first player in NFL history with 20 or more passing scores and 10 or more rushing touchdowns in three different seasons (2023-25). He entered the matchup against the Patriots leading all QBs with 487 rushing yards and 12 scores.

His 40-yard touchdown run against the Cincinnati Bengals came with the defense playing man coverage to the degree Allen strolled past a defender who had his back turned to the play. When the Bills faced a third-and-15 later in the game, Allen iced the snowy proceedings with a 17-yard dash for a first down. Suffice to say, Allen’s legs create a myriad of problems for defenses. No defense can call a particular coverage, defense or blitz package against him for the entire game, Vrabel said. 

“I think it’s about picking the opportunities and then when you get an opportunity to make a play on him, you’ve got to do everything that you can to get him on the ground, not jump when he pump-fakes, fall down when he stiff-arms you or anything else,” he said. 

Vrabel said the mantra of “keeping him in the pocket,” often applied to playmaking quarterbacks, is too simple. 

“We can all just stand there, and he’ll do this,” said Vrabel, mimicking Allen’s throwing motion. “You have to just – again, coordinated and relentless is probably the best way to phrase it. Because, again, you say, ‘Well, keep him in the pocket.’ And then guys are just standing there and they’re cautious, and we don’t want to coach that way. We want to make sure that we’re trying to remain aggressive, but certainly sound. When he does extend, then we’re going to need to plaster and have guys be able to come up and help us.’

That is one area of Allen’s game that Maye has certainly paid attention to, is how the Bills quarterback looks off defenders or executes a pump-fake while scrambling to the edge. 

“He’s very down to earth. I like to say I’m down to earth,” Maye said Oct. 1. “He’s a great player. Golly, it’s fun watching him. He makes some plays every week that you’re like, ‘Man, that’s pretty cool.’ 

“Stuff like that, that he’s so good at. From there, he’s great throwing down the field and great at extending plays, moving guys and scramble drill. So, he’s great.”

Maye venerated quarterbacks such as Allen and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers, who he faced in Week 3 (the last time the Pats lost). Facing them as competitors doesn’t completely erase the admiration.

“When you’re playing against these guys that are the best quarterbacks in the league, you want to compete with them,” Maye said. “You want to beat them, and you want to kind of master their level, but at the same time, you still want to take things from them and realize and appreciate what they’re doing for the game, what they’ve done for their careers and the players they are.

“Josh is one of them. He’s fun to watch, and he’s one of the best, if not the best, in the game right now. So, he’s playing at a really high level, and it’s always fun to watch. He’s been good to me, and I appreciate the relationship he’s built with me.” 

Have a night, Kyle Pitts.

The Atlanta Falcons’ fifth-year tight end had the kind of game on ‘Thursday Night Football’ that his team hoped would be a lot more common when it made him the fourth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Pitts set new career-high numbers in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns against the Buccaneers and accomplished something no tight end has since 1996.

According to NFL senior researcher Tony Holzman-Escareno, Pitts is the first tight end to have 150-plus yards and 3-plus touchdowns in a game since Shannon Sharpe did it in Week 6 of that 1996 season.

The Falcons’ tight end finished with 13 more yards on two fewer catches than Sharpe did in his big game 29 years ago.

In the absence of Drake London, who missed his fourth straight game with a PCL sprain, Pitts stepped up in a massive way. Here’s a closer look at his numbers during his career night against the Bucs in Week 15:

Kyle Pitts stats

Pitts is having the best game of his career in the Week 15 edition of ‘Thursday Night Football.’

With just over three minutes to play, here’s how his stats against the Buccaneers look so far:

Targets: 12
Receptions: 11
Receiving yards: 166
Yards per reception: 15.1
Touchdowns: 3

Pitts had one touchdown all season coming into tonight’s game. He quadrupled that season total in one evening against the Bucs in Week 15.

Kirby Smart would rather smash a nonconference opponent than face another SEC team next season.
As CFP auto bids are awarded by conference championship games, shouldn’t teams play more than half the conference?
Kirby Smart ‘very concerned’ about Georgia playing a ninth SEC game in 2026, instead of facing Louisville.

Kirby Smart picked a peculiar time to climb upon the soap box. And soap box is a polite way of saying, Smart started whining about Georgia’s 2026 schedule, a year in advance. Seriously.

Say this for Smart: He’s consistent. A year ago, he roasted commissioner Greg Sankey about Georgia’s 2024 schedule, right after accepting the SEC trophy.

This time, the Bulldogs had just finished off a beatdown of Alabama in the SEC Championship, when a reporter asked Smart about young players stepping up in the victory.

A few seconds into his answer, Smart took a left turn. He wanted to discuss something else. By discuss, I mean lament.

Smart, like some of his SEC coaching peers, aren’t crazy about the conference adding a ninth league game next season.

Swapping in another SEC opponent in place of a nonconference game stands to make the schedule tougher. Coaches work relentlessly to minimize risk. Playing another SEC game heightens risk. Plus, it complicates Smart’s quest to win every game.

“I mean, the coaches in our league are concerned about” adding a ninth SEC game, Smart said. “Very concerned about it. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t speak my piece and say it’s concerning.”

As Smart put it, half of the SEC’s teams lose a conference game. Clearly, he’d prefer to dunk on overmatched nonconference foes.

Well, boo-hoo.

We’re supposed to pity a coach who must play Arkansas in place of Louisville?

More conference games help improve CFP auto bid process

Consider the upside of a ninth SEC game. If the CFP is going to keep guaranteeing bids for the SEC’s champion and its runner-up, wouldn’t it be helpful to know the conference’s two best teams are actually playing for the conference championship?

Officially, CFP rules don’t guarantee a bid for the SEC runner-up, but, let’s be real, that’s happening. The committee proved in recent weeks it has no intention of omitting the SEC’s runner-up, just as it never rejected the SEC’s champion from the four-team bracket.

The committee bent over backward to preserve a spot for Alabama. It went to such farcical lengths as elevating the Tide in the penultimate rankings after an ugly win against Auburn. That provided a rankings cushion, in case Alabama lost the SEC Championship game and Brigham Young won the Big 12 championship.

The SEC deserves multiple bids in a bracket of this size. No argument there. No argument with Alabama qualifying, either. It built a case, courtesy of the Tide’s 10 wins against a stout schedule. But, before the committee hands out a wink-wink auto bid to the loser of the SEC Championship, let’s at least employ additional measures to help ensure the conference’s two best teams are actually playing in Atlanta.

Alabama reached the conference championship by beating seven teams in a 16-team conference.

When I played first base for a three-time E League champion slow-pitch softball team, we faced everybody in the league en route to the titles. No automatic bid to a slow-pitch playoff awaited. Just a free T-shirt.

The E League respected what college football does not: To call yourselves champs (or runners-up), you need to face everyone in the league. (Also, $1 off draft beers if you reused the same plastic cup week after week.)

Conferences have become so bloated teams can’t possibly face everyone in their own league, but at least by adding a ninth SEC game, every team will play more than half the teams in the conference.

Same goes for the ACC, which will add a ninth conference game next season. In the meantime, unranked Duke won the ACC with an 8-5 record.

To capture the crown, the Blue Devils beat seven members of the 17-team league, showing how absurd conference championships have become.

This has made me evolve my thinking on the playoff. I’m now for a playoff with no automatic bids. I’d do away with the Power Four conference championship games and add a 13th regular-season game for everyone.

But, hey, the conference title games make a lot of money, so they endure.

In response to the addition of a ninth SEC game, Georgia countered by canceling future nonconference games against Louisville and NC State. So be it.

If conferences insist on retaining championship games and the CFP attaches automatic bids to them (and, in the SEC’s case, attaches a wink-wink bid to the runner-up), then conferences should maximize efforts to produce the top two teams in the finals. Playing a ninth conference game aids that.

Additional meaningful games will help clear up CFP selections

Also, consider how increasing the number of meaningful games helps the CFP selection committee.

The committee deserves criticism for its dubious machinations, but let’s acknowledge the difficulty the committee faces while sifting through teams with identical records and similar metrics that didn’t play each other, especially when those teams hail from the same conference.

Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, a pair of 10-win teams, didn’t play each other. So, the committee was left to guess that the Sooners deserve a bid and not the Commodores, by virtue of OU’s slightly better strength of schedule and superior record against common opponents.

There’s parity like never before in the SEC. The more games that pit similar-caliber teams against one another, the easier it becomes for the committee to separate the wheat from the chaff, without the need for guesswork.

Georgia deserves its first-round playoff bye and its SEC hardware. No one disputes that. But, when a team plays 25% of its 12-game regular-season schedule against nonconference cupcakes, as Georgia did this year, that’s a recipe for committee guesswork.

No matter the schedule, Smart’s Bulldogs will keep winning, while he stands on the soap box.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

The Indianapolis Colts signed 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers out of retirement.
Three teams, the Broncos, Patriots and Rams, can clinch playoff berths in Week 15.
The Houston Texans are on a five-game winning streak and have the league’s top total defense.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ playoff chances could drop to just 1% with a loss to the Chargers.

We are in the midst of the stretch run for the NFL season.

Week 15 features some compelling matchups, including the Denver Broncos vs. Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots.

There’s also the improbable return of 44-year-old Philip Rivers who came out of retirement to help the QB-depleted Indianapolis Colts.

Here are my observations for Week 15:

Colts signing Philip Rivers is an act of desperation

There are people around the league who believe Rivers could play as soon as this weekend against the Seattle Seahawks. I’m more pessimistic. It’s hard to imagine a 44-year-old Rivers, who’s five years removed from football, having much success in Indy. Granted, Rivers does know Shane Steichen’s offensive system from their days together with the Chargers. If Rivers does help keep Indy’s season afloat and lead them in the playoffs, it should boost his Hall of Fame candidacy.

The Colts’ final four games are against teams vying for the playoff – Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Colts lose their next four games and finish the year on a seven-game losing streak.

Seattle’s defense has the NFL’s second-highest pressure rate and ranks second in the league in QB hits. Houston leads the NFL in total defense and points allowed.

Good luck, Rivers.

Three teams can finally clinch playoffs in Week 15

The Denver Broncos, New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams can become the first teams to clinch a playoff spot this week. The 2025 season marks the third time since realignment in 2002 that no playoff berths have been clinched entering Week 15, per NFL Research.

Patriots part of growing worst-to-first trend

Speaking of the Patriots. New England has a chance to win the AFC East division with a win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. It would be the Patriots’ first AFC East title since 2019.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround for coach of the year candidate Mike Vrabel, MVP candidate Drake Maye and the Patriots. New England finished last in the division last year. At least one team finished in first place in its division the season after finishing in last or tied for last place in 19 of the past 22 seasons, via NFL Research.

Kyler Murray’s uncertain future in Arizona

However, Murray’s contract will complicate matters if Arizona decides to move on. Murray is owed $36.8 million fully guaranteed in 2026, per Over The Cap. He’ll also earn $19.5 million in guaranteed money in 2027. I can see Murray and the Cardinals choosing an amicable divorce this offseason despite money complications.

Surging Texans

The red-hot Texans are looking like the scariest team in the AFC. Houston’s won five straight games, has the NFL’s top total defense, and ranks No. 1 in points allowed.

The Texans are one game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars for first place in the AFC South. Don’t be surprised if Houston overtakes Jacksonville for first in the division – their playstyle travels. The Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts are the only clubs on Houston’s schedule with a winning record. The Texans can become the fifth team since 1990 to begin 0-3 and make the playoffs.

Optimism despite Eagles’ three-game losing streak

The Eagles are in danger of having another late-season collapse similar to their 2023 meltdown.

There are three reasons to still believe in the Eagles despite their tough stretch. I don’t expect Jalen Hurts to replicate a career-worst five turnovers (four interceptions, one lost fumble) the rest of the way. Hurts had just two interceptions before his nightmare Week 14 performance.  

The Eagles are at their best when they are a run-oriented team. Saquon Barkley had his second 100-yard rushing performance of the season last week.

Lastly, three of Philly’s final four regular-season games are against teams with losing records, including a potential get-right game versus the lowly Las Vegas Raiders at home this week.

Bucs, Panthers fight for NFC South title

Bryce Young hasn’t received enough credit for Carolina’s surprising turnaround. Young’s on pace to have career highs in every major quarterback statistical category. He’s already tossed a single-season best 18 touchdown passes.

The 7-6 Panthers have a chance to take the NFC South lead with a win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. Carolina and the 7-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers meet twice in the final three weeks.

Carolina hasn’t won an NFC South crown since 2015 and hasn’t earned a playoff berth since 2017.

Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff face former teams

It’s poetic the Stafford-led Rams can clinch a playoff spot if they beat the quarterback’s former team this week.

The MVP candidate Stafford leads the NFL in touchdown passes (35) and passer rating (113.1). Stafford and the Rams have lost their two most recent meetings against Goff and the Detroit Lions, including the playoffs.

Chiefs on brink of being eliminated from playoffs

The 6-7 Chiefs are currently 10th in the AFC playoff race. Kansas City currently has 12% chance to reach the postseason. The Chiefs’ playoff probability drops to just 1% if they lose to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, per Next Gen Stats.

The Chargers beat the Chiefs in Week 1. The last time the Chargers completed a season sweep of the Chiefs was in 2013 when Philip Rivers was the Chargers’ QB. Patrick Mahomes was in high school.

Way-too-early NFL draft observations

If the season ended today, the New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans would own the top three picks in the 2026 NFL draft. Only one of those teams – the Raiders, presumably, need a quarterback.

We could see some trades at the top of the draft if the order remains the same.

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.

Indiana won its first outright Big Ten title since 1945 and was rewarded with seven players on the 2025 USA TODAY Sports Network All-Big Ten team.

Ten players earned unanimous first team All-Big Ten honors, led by Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza (Offensive Player of the Year), Ohio State DB Caleb Downs (Defensive Player of the Year) and Iowa kick returner Kaden Wetjen (Specialist of the Year).

Mendoza also won Big Ten Newcomer of the Year with his coach Curt Cignetti the unanimous pick for Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Here is the rest of the 2025 postseason All-Big Ten team as determined by beat writers who cover the league for USA TODAY Sports Network.

USA TODAY Network All-Big Ten team

* denotes unanimous selection

OFFENSE

QB: Fernando Mendoza, Indiana*
RB: Emmett Johnson, Nebraska*
RB: Kaytron Allen, Penn State*
WR: Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State*
WR: Makai Lemon, USC
TE: Kenyon Sadiq, Oregon*
OL: Carter Smith, Indiana*
OL: Logan Jones, Iowa
OL: Beau Stephens, Iowa
OL: Emmanuel Pregnon, Oregon
OL: Vega Ioane, Penn State

DEFENSE

DL: Derrick Moore, Michigan
DL: Caden Curry, Ohio State
DL: Kayden McDonald, Ohio State
DL: Tyrique Tucker, Indiana
LB: Sonny Styles, Ohio State*
LB: Aiden Fisher, Indiana
LB: Arvell Reese, Ohio State
DB: Caleb Downs, Ohio State*
DB: D’Angelo Ponds, Indiana
DB: Louis Moore, Indiana
DB: Dillon Thieneman, Oregon

SPECIALISTS

K: Nico Radicic, Indiana
P: Ryan Eckley, Michigan State*
Returner: Kaden Wetjen, Iowa*

Also receiving first team votes

WR: Omar Cooper Jr. (Indiana)
OL: Caleb Tiernan (Northwestern), Iapani Laloulu (Oregon), Gennings Dunker (Iowa), Austin Siereveld (Ohio State), Trevor Lauck (Iowa), Matt Gulbin (Michigan State)
DL: Gabe Jacas (Illinois), A’mauri Washington (Oregon), Stephen Daley (Indiana)
LB: Rolijah Hardy (Indiana), Isaiah Jones (Indiana)
DB: Bishop Fitzgerald (USC), Davison Igbinosun (Ohio State), Zach Lutmer (Iowa), Brandon Finney Jr. (Oregon)
K: Drew Stevens (Iowa), Sean O’Haire (Maryland), Mateen Baghani (UCLA)

Big Ten postseason award winners

Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana*
Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: DB Caleb Downs, Ohio State
Big Ten Specialist of the Year: KR Kaden Wetjen, Iowa
Big Ten Coach of the Year: Curt Cignetti, Indiana*
Big Ten Newcomer of the Year: QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana