Clemson — Get Cade Klubnik going

The preseason No. 4 team in the country is unranked! Clemson fell to 1-2 after a loss to Georgia Tech, two weeks after losing to LSU in Week 1. How can the Tigers turn around the most disappointing start to the season in the ACC?

It starts with the man under center, Cade Klubnik. The quarterback is completing only 59 percent of his passes this year — a number that drops to 53 percent if you take away the Troy game. That’s terrible quarterback play from a team that has championship-level expectations and from a veteran who had 3,639 passing yards and 36 touchdowns last year.

RANKINGS: Ohio State leads, Georgia Tech enters Week 4 AP Top 25 Poll
Colorado — Find the starting quarterback

Colorado is 1-2 after three games. Three is an important number here, because that’s how many quarterbacks Colorado has in the conversation for playing time. Ryan Staub started the most recent game against Houston, throwing two costly fourth quarter interceptions. Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter started the first two games. Five-star freshman Julian Lewis has also played this season. 

As the saying goes, “if you have two quarterbacks you have none.” Colorado has three so, the Buffaloes need to solve that issue if Coach Prime and his program hope to turn this season around.
Florida — Settle down DJ Lagway

Let’s not overthink this one. Florida dropped from preseason No. 15 to unranked — and a big reason has been turnovers in close losses. Quarterback DJ Lagway has struggled.

Only one of Lagway’s five interceptions against LSU came under pressure. His interception against South Florida wasn’t under immense pressure either as he rolled out to his right, throwing before setting his feet.

Lagway has to cut down the turnovers if Florida wants to be competitive in the SEC this year.

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Kansas State — Establish the run

Does college football have an Ireland curse? Florida State lost in 2024’s Week 0 opener and proceeded to go 2-10. Navy lost in 2023’s opener and went 5-7. Nebraska lost in 2022 and went 4-8. All three teams were 1-3 after four games.

So is Kansas State, the loser of 2025’s Aer Lingus College Football Classic, after opening the preseason ranked as the No. 17 team. I see a trend happening, do you?

Nonetheless, there’s plenty of season left to play for the Wildcats, but to bounce back, they’ll need to fix some offensive struggles. Kansas State is converting only 31 percent of its third downs, ranking 116 out of 134 FBS teams. Could the low third down conversion rate be a result of a bigger offensive issue — a failure to run the ball? Kansas State averages only 108 rushing yards per game, the 15th-lowest in the FBS.

If Kansas State can establish the ground game, the Wildcats can turn this season around.
Notre Dame — Finish games

Notre Dame is the only ranked team that you will see in this article. The Fighting Irish are No. 24, but they were the preseason No. 6 team and are winless at 0-2 against two ranked opponents.

Notre Dame might have just one more ranked game on its schedule — and maybe not even that by the time the Fighting Irish play current-No. 25 Southern California in mid-October.

Without a conference, the only way Notre Dame bounces back from its disappointing start is by winning out. A key to doing that is by learning to finish on defense. In each of Notre Dame’s two losses, the defense allowed a game-winning drive with under two minutes to go.
How CFP teams are selected under new format

The 12-team College Football Playoff field will include the five highest-ranked conference champions, which will receive automatic bids. The seven highest-ranked teams remaining will round out the 12-team format. 

FOLLOW IT ALL: Live scoreboard and stats for every game
Where CFP games will be played

As of 2025, the teams ranked Nos. 1-4 will also be seeded Nos. 1-4 and receive a first-round bye. Previously, in the first edition of the 12-team CFP during the 2024 season, the four highest-ranked conference champions received a first-round bye, regardless of ranking.

Seeds 5-12 will play each other in the first round. The higher-seeded teams will play host in their first round games. Here's a breakdown of the first round matchups:

    No. 5 vs. No. 12
    No. 6 vs. No. 11
    No. 7 vs. No. 10
    No. 8 vs. No. 9

New Year's Six bowl games will be introduced in the quarterfinal round. The semifinals will be played in bowls on a rotating basis while the national championship host site is determined through bids by prospective host sites.

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