ESPN College Football

The House Settlement got its final approval and Greg McElroy is here to tell you what it means for college football, who gets paid, roster limits and if it will bring "competitive balance” to the sport. McElroy also talks about the importance of the College Sports Commission and maybe the unintended consequences it might have. Plus, we look at the comments Ryan Day made about automatic qualifiers...

Joey McGuire has Texas Tech at levels not seen since Mike Leach was roaming the sidelines in Lubbock. McGuire joins the show to talk about Texas Tech’s rise, how the Red Raiders have approached the transfer portal, lessons learned from his first 3 seasons, the depth of the BIG 12, and recruiting in Texas (and he shares an amazing story). Plus McElroy looks at OVER/UNDER win totals for Texas Tech,...

Defense wins championships so we decided to go down and rank the Top 10 defenses entering the 2025 season. Notre Dame, Penn State, Ohio State and Clemson all welcome in new defensive coordinators - what impact will that have early next year? Texas might have their best defense EVER, Alabama is returning A TON of production while Georgia and Oklahoma are looking to get back to dominance. McElroy br...

Marcus Freeman joins the show and talks about Notre Dame’s quest for a National Championship, how the Irish have stayed focused, lessons learned from a LONG season, the rivalry against USC, what the QB competition looks like heading into summer and much more. Plus, the SEC Meetings have concluded and McElroy looks at the straight seeding model adopted for the 2025 CFP and the much talked about 5+1...

Rece Davis and Pete Thamel explore the potential future of the College Football Playoff format heading into 2026. They delve into the possibility of expanding to a 16-team playoff and discuss the SEC’s openness to participating in a broader format. Also on the pod, Rece Davis sits down for an exclusive one-on-one interview with Dabo Swinney and Bill Belichick. Together, they reflect on the evolvin...

Lincoln Riley joins the show to talk about USC getting back on top, what he learned in his first season in the BIG 10, the recruiting surge that the Trojans have been on and the changes that come with the evolution of college football. Plus, conference expansion has already cost us more rivalries than football fans care to admit. McElroy talks about how the Notre Dame USC rivalry can continue but...

Kalen DeBoer joins the show to talk about Alabama getting back on top, what he learned in his first season in Tuscaloosa, the quarterback competition, recruiting and what Ryan Grubb will bring to the staff in 2025. Plus, we look at win totals for all P4 teams with second year head coaches - Can Alabama, Texas A&M and Michigan make a jump, can Indiana, Syracuse, Duke and others prove Vegas wrong? M...

Mario Cristobal joins the show to talk about Miami being on the up and up, how his first recruiting class are now the clubhouse leaders, Carson Beck’s impact, the youth at wide receiver, why playing Notre Dame early will motivate his team (and the fans) and much more. Plus, week 1 in 2025 is good with Texas vs Ohio State, Notre Dame vs Miami, LSU vs Clemson but McElroy lays out how it could be bet...

Coming off a 9 win season where they defeated FOUR ranked teams, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer joins Greg McElroy on the show. The two discuss LaNorris Sellers impact, culture within the Gamecocks locker room, when coach Beamer knew they were going to be good last year and raised expectations in . Plus, we give a hat tip to Cam Rising after his retirement and McElroy gives his reasons for...

Coming off a CFP appearance and a program record 11 win season, Curt Cignetti joins Greg McElroy on the show.  The two discuss how Indiana’s commitment to football brought him in, why he looks for production over potential in the transfer portal, changes to the CFP selection process and expectations for the Hoosiers in 2025. Plus, is Nebraska getting disrespected over Sherrone Moore’s suspension a...

Who are the best running backs heading into the 2025 college football season? Can Jeremiyah Love and a deep running back room get Notre Dame back to the CFP, how much better is Penn State’s RB tandem than everyone else in the country and what impact will the transfers have at Oklahoma, Missouri and Oregon? How many running backs from the SEC made the list and can anyone challenge the BIG 10 as the...

Spring is over and the portal is closed and so we decided now was the best time to give you McElroy’s Top 10 QBs entering the 2025 season. Are Arch Manning and Nico Iamaleava in the top 10? How much does Carson Beck have to prove at Miami this year? Where will Cade Klubnik and Drew Aller rank and who has the immediate impact transfer (hint: Oklahoma). McElroy goes over all of it plus gives you som...

Greg McElroy takes a look at the Madden Iamaleava-Arkansas situation and if recouping NIL via buyouts could become a regular occurrence moving forward. Greg then gets into spring game recaps for Texas A&M and South Carolina, discussing season outlooks for both SEC squads. Finally, Greg gives his take on Joey Aguilar to Tennessee, what’s going on with the CFP meetings and the changes that could hap...

Greg starts today’s show celebrating the career of the legendary Lee Corso before getting into some portal news and spring game recaps. Do we buy what Nico’s camp said about why he transferred away from Tennessee? And what will it look like now that he’s QB1 for UCLA? Plus, Steve Angeli is in the portal, David Stone returns to Oklahoma and more. Finally, Greg talks about Bryce Underwood’s spring g...

Rece Davis and Pete Thamel break down the lingering questions surrounding Nico Iamaleava—did he leave Tennessee too soon, prioritizing financial opportunity over development? Is UCLA truly committed to him? And can he work his way into future NFL Draft conversations? Then, ESPN NFL Draft Analyst and Insider Matt Miller joins to spotlight the player everyone’s talking about: Jalon Walker. He also w...

The spring transfer portal is open and players are jumping in every day. McElroy goes through the early contenders and gives you the needs that each team has. Will Alabama take a Tight End, will Texas, LSU, Georgia and Ohio State go after the same defensive lineman? Can Miami and Michigan bolster their wide receiver rooms and will Tennessee find help at quarterback? So many needs, so many question...

Tennessee drew a line in the sand and separated themselves from Nico Iamaleava. McElroy addresses everything from Nico’s camp, the impact it has on college football, what other coaches are saying about it around the country, what Tennessee will do next and options for Nico Iamaleava moving forward. Plus updates on the QB competitions at Alabama and Notre Dame and does Ohio State need to hit the po...

Rece Davis, Pete Thamel and Bill Connelly, creator of the SP+ ranking, discuss the rise of Arch Manning as he takes the reins at Texas. Will the fan love last—or is he destined for backlash, like other rising stars? The crew also breaks down this season’s elite quarterback contenders, asking: who’s in line for the QB1 crown—Penn State’s Drew Allar or LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier? Meanwhile, Ohio State...

We all know Jeremiah Smith is the best wide receiver, but is he the best “football player” in college? McElroy goes through and lists the Top 10 wide receivers heading into the 2025 season and outside of Smith you will see other familiar names like Ryan Williams, Elijah Sarratt and Jordyn Tyson but watch out for transfers to Auburn, Nebraska and Missouri. Keep an eye on LSU, Oklahoma, Notre Dame a...

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Arch Manning’s pressure at Texas, Julian Sayin’s poor scrimmage, Ty Simpson’s potential upside at Alabama and the battle at Notre Dame between Steve Angeli and CJ Carr are just some of the intrigue coming out of spring camps. McElroy hits the mailbag to answer questions about all those quarterbacks plus talks about Stanford hiring of Frank Reich, the benefit of having NFL experience at the college...

Who are the 10 BEST coaches in College Football heading into the 2025 season? On this episode McElroy goes through and ranks 10 thru 1 based on longevity (which some coaches don’t have), program trajectory and year over year improvement and much more. It’s not just about where you coach but what you do with the resources made available to you, the list will surely be debated but truthfully probabl...

Who are the 25 BEST coaches in College Football heading into the 2025 season? On this episode McElroy goes through and ranks 25 thru 11 based on longevity (which some coaches don’t have), program trajectory and year over year improvement and much more. It’s not just about where you coach but what you do with the resources made available to you, the list will surely be debated but truthfully probab...

The ACC is maybe the most intriguing of any of the P4 conferences heading into spring practice. Will Clemson get back to a championship level, can Carson Beck take Miami to the CFP, can Louisville, Georgia Tech or NC State take the next steps and become contenders? Will SMU sneak up on anyone and how BIG will the Florida State bounce back be? McElroy gives you ONE big question for each ACC team as...

Can the BIG 10 win THREE straight National Championships?! Maybe, but if they do, there will need to be some questions answered this spring, like does Penn State have a WR that will step up, is Dante Moore ready to take over at Oregon, and are there too many changes at Ohio State? Is Nebraska ready to breakthrough, can Michigan just reload on defense and who are the surprise teams from the BIG 10...