The Group of Five is now the Group of Six, but the opportunity remains the same for the teams in each of those leagues: You can make the College Football Playoff. The five highest-ranked conference champions in the College Football Playoff rankings make the 12-team bracket,

The ratings and projection from Ford are based on the schedule difficulty, essentially stating a team with a higher schedule difficulty needs a lower number of wins to reach the College Football Playoff. Ford has Michigan State having the No. 18 most difficult schedule in the country.

The old Power Five is history after college football underwent a major conference realignment, but with the new-look Power Four still at the helm of the sport, there are still 10 conferences that make up the FBS at the highest level.

There's no major conference realignment to talk about (for once) ahead of a new college football season. Delaware and Missouri State moved up from the FCS to FBS and will play in Conference USA. But doesn't mean realignment is over. There's more to come for the 2026 season with the rebirth of the Pac-12 and a new-look Mountain West.

The CFP will release weekly rankings starting Nov. 4, with final selections and the 12-team playoff bracket announced Dec. 7

ESPN unveiled its new college football bug during the season's first Week Zero matchup, a Big 12 rivalry game between Kansas State and Iowa State being contested in Dublin, Ireland. It is a notable change from the graphics unveiled less than a year ago for the 2024 College Football Playoff.

The Hoosiers’ schedule for 2025 is not particularly challenging. According to Kyle Wood from Athlon Sports, Indiana has the fourth-easiest schedule in the Big Ten. He ranks the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Michigan Wolverines and Illinois Fighting Illini as having easier schedules than Indiana.

Texas A&M senior CB Will Lee III is ready to prove he's one of the best cornerbacks in the country after his Jim Thorpe Award snub.