Most Interesting Matchups Early in 2025 College Football Season
In case you weren't already beginning to feel the building excitement for the 2025 college football season, the calendar flipping to July should change that.
Practices start this month.
Games—real, actual games—are right around the corner.
And early in the 2025 campaign, we'll be treated to some fantastic matchups. There are marquee nonconference games such as Texas' trip to Ohio State and LSU's journey to Clemson in Week 1. There are league clashes, rivalries and plenty more showdowns packed into the initial three weeks of the season.
The following sections are not comprehensive lists of every interesting game, but the picks are based on stakes, storylines and season expectations.
Week 0 Top Game: Iowa State vs. Kansas State
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After watching Georgia Tech beat Florida State in Dublin, Ireland, to begin the 2024 season, we get another conference clash at Aviva Stadium to kick off 2025.
Hopefully we remember this one more fondly in hindsight.
Florida State entered last year as an ACC front-runner and soon imploded, yes. Iowa State and Kansas State, nevertheless, are approaching the campaign as notable contenders in a wide-open Big 12.
Not that either team needs extra motivation in the opener, every conference loss stings, but avoiding an 0-1 start in the Big 12 standings will be their shared, contested goal.
Week 1 Top Game: Texas at Ohio State
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During this millennium, only two regular-season tilts have featured the teams ranked first and second in the AP Top 25. Most recently it was Tennessee at Georgia (2022), and before that it was Ohio State at Texas (2006).
How fitting.
No matter how the preseason AP poll shakes out, the clash between Texas and Ohio State in Columbus is a spectacular way to open the 2025 season.
Texas is turning to Arch Manning. Ohio State, which is also set to debut a new full-time starter, is the national champion. It's a rematch of a 2024 CFP semifinal in which OSU pulled out a hard-fought 28-14 victory.
Both programs enter the campaign with championship dreams, and one team is destined to put a massive win on its resume.
Week 1: Best of the Rest
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Not only is there a potential 1 vs. 2 clash on the opening slate, but that weekend also features two more likely top-15 affairs.
Saturday night, LSU heads to Clemson.
Sunday night, Notre Dame plays at Miami.
Those prime-time battles are otherwise the headliners of Week 1, which also has Auburn traveling to Baylor—two programs maybe just outside the Top 25—and a neutral-site matchup with Virginia Tech and South Carolina. The latter game, played in Atlanta, is set for Sunday afternoon.
One final storyline worth mentioning is the debut of North Carolina coach Bill Belichick as the Tar Heels host Big 12 contender TCU.
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Week 2 Top Game: Michigan at Oklahoma
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The asterisk for this contest is mostly about true freshman Bryce Underwood, who hasn't yet earned the QB1 label at Michigan. Assuming that happens, though, this is a massive game for both teams.
Last season, Michigan struggled to 8-5 because it had an unthreatening offense—and Oklahoma's unit, the main factor of a 6-7 record, was worse.
Underwood, the nation's top prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle, is billed as a program cornerstone at U-M. Meanwhile, OU is eager to unleash star transfer John Mateer after the dual-threat quarterback's prolific year at Washington State. On paper, each offense is much improved under center.
Michigan begins the season at home against New Mexico, and OU hosts Illinois State. Theoretically, those should be tune-up games.
All of the offseason optimism will be tested in Norman.
Week 2: Best of the Rest
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No matter your feelings on the expanded College Football Playoff, the 12-team format has increased the importance of this genre of matchups.
Sure, the Week 2 slate isn't loaded with showdowns like the opening weekend. Scan the whole 2025 schedule, and it's possible this is the "worst" weekend of the season—which, my friends, means we have a great year ahead.
Ole Miss travels to Kentucky, which beat Lane Kiffin's team in 2024 and essentially kept the Rebels out of the CFP.
Big 12 contender Baylor plays at ACC runner-up SMU, which swiped a CFP bid last season in part because of Ole Miss' fate. Illinois, hoping to assemble an SMU-like surge in 2025, faces its first notable test in a trip to Duke.
Rounding out the best of the weekend, there are a pair of bitter rivalries with Iowa taking on Iowa State, and Kansas playing at Missouri.
Week 3 Top Game: Georgia at Tennessee
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At least two other matchups have a compelling case, but Georgia's trip to rival Tennessee is a fascinating early showdown.
On one sideline, there's the annual power. After an ill-timed injury to Carson Beck shoved Gunner Stockton into the lineup for the Sugar Bowl, the young QB is getting his first true opportunity to lead the SEC champions. Expectations are again incredibly high for Kirby Smart's team.
Tennessee, meanwhile, is beginning a new chapter following a wild offseason that included an overhaul on offense—and Nico Iamaleava bolting for UCLA. How will the new-look Vols handle a consistently stout UGA defense?
The winner picks up a vital SEC result, and the loser sees its path to the College Football Playoff narrow slightly.
Week 3: Best of the Rest
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Staying in the SEC, the third full weekend sends Florida to rival LSU in a valuable early conference game. Florida sprung an upset last season, and LSU—likely a preseason title pick for some—needs a win, not simply for revenge.
Texas A&M is also aiming for redemption when it flies to South Bend, where last year's national runner-up awaits. Notre Dame clipped A&M in 2024.
For good measure in the SEC, Ole Miss begins conference play against Arkansas.
Georgia Tech, which stunned Miami and nearly upset Georgia in home games last season, is worth monitoring as Clemson come to town.
In a fun storyline game, Duke—which plucked Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah out of the portal—travels, you guessed it, to Tulane. Finally, the 108th edition of the Backyard Brawl between Pitt and West Virginia is on the docket.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
