College football has finally returned for all 136 FBS teams after a Week Zero amuse-bouche, and it didn’t take very long for some of our preconceived notions to become completely flipped on their heads after a long offseason full of debate and wonder.
Thanks to events in Tallahassee, for example, it might be time to start talking about the Noles again after Florida State straight up bullied Alabama around. The U might be back for real in South Florida, and that school west of the Rockies who flashes the same hand symbol might be too given what transpired in the Rose Bowl. Even filtering on down into the Group of 5 ranks, the American is certainly shaping up to have an incredible season after starting things off on the right foot. The MAC may be much tougher during conference play than expected given how so many teams wound up pushing Power 4 teams through four quarters.
As a result, the postseason picture underwent a significant shift despite the limited sample size of final score lines.
Bill Belichick’s uninspiring debut against TCU should cause North Carolina to tumble from being an attractive bowl pick to a team that might soon find out what the greatest NFL head coach looks like donning an oversized sombrero to ring in the New Year in El Paso. Speaking of coaches, Shane Beamer and Bret Bielema could be in line for Round 2 of their postseason spat. It’s also hard to know what might be more appealing in this week’s projected Mayo Bowl matchup, the thought of Lane Kiffin getting a tub of said condiment dumped on his head or all the potential touchdowns we’d be in store for if Ole Miss winds up seeing Jeff Brohm and Louisville.
Here is how Sports Illustrated sees the 35 bowl game matchups coming together to form the postseason picture and which 70 FBS teams will wind up going bowling in 2025–26.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bowl Projections After Week 1: North Carolina Tumbles, Appealing Mayo Bowl Matchup.