The 440: College Football

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. A big week of off-the-field news forces the future of the game back to center stage. The Power 4 contines it's proverbial breakaway but is there a way this could eventually lead to two totally different types of football?

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Coaches from all over the country offer up anonymous scouting reports on every team in the country. 

The Athlon Sports preseason Top 25 is officially out! Steven Lassan and Braden Gall break down the rankings and what the playoff bracket will look like in 2024.

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall go on a Group of 5 Mid-Major journey through 2024. Who are the best G5 teams in college football in 2024 and what are the biggest games? Rivalries, conference championship match-ups, great locations, New Year's Six implications and more.

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall tease the magazine's Top 25 rankings by looking at what will be the toughest and most important games of 2024. Which games will define the season and which games will prove our rankings wrong?

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The sport is close to revenue sharing agreement so it's important to ask what is best for the game? An equitable financial format that fosters parity and balance across leagues and schools? Or a system where the gold rules? Also, which teams "won" the portal and does it even matter?

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Which teams are on the top tier in each major conference - who are the conference contenders we are debating during magazine production? What is the one big roster question about each of these championship contenders?

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. We take a deep dive into the 31 new head coaches, what are expectations, which program did the best job hiring a headman, which names could be busts and which could be stars. We also talk Colorado, the NFL Draft and the FSU-ACC lawsuit.

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. We head out on our SEC dream road trip for 2024. With two new teams, no divisions, a deep crop of contenders, lots of new rivalries (and some old ones) and no Nick Saban, the SEC 2024 schedule appears to be loaded with monster games. You have to see all 16 teams, can't see any team more than twice and can't repeat a stadium. Let's go!

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. One question and one observation about college sports before we head out on our long, winding, strange dream road trip through Big 12 country. The most unpredictable and possibly most balanced league in America will make for some awesome and bizarre match-ups in 2024.

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall take their 2024 ACC Dream Road Trip this week. This fall, the new ACC could feel very old with lots of historic and nostalgic rivalry dotting the schedule. How will SMU fare? Who will challenge Florida St and Clemson? A fascinating second-tier of teams will keep things very interesting deep into November as well.

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. We take our annual dream road trip to the conferences in 2024 (now that they are huge). You have to see all 18 teams and can only see a team a maximum of two times while going to a different stadium each week. What the most important games in the Big Ten in 2024 and what did we learn about the upcoming schedule?

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The SEC and Big Ten have successfully strong-armed a new playoff format, TV contract and revenue sharing model into place. Packaged with a new ACC lawsuit, what does it all mean for college football? Texas A&M steals a Nebraska alumni, will we change how we evaluate head coaches and how many legit QB battles are taking place this spring?

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The SEC-Big Ten negotiating tactics are on full display currently as we debate 12 or 14 teams. Where it will land seems obvious. Then we look at the most unpredictable teams in each major conference as we head into magazine production. Which teams could surprise and be this year's TCU? And which teams could implode and be this year's other TCU?

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. We look at who the All-Conference and All-American quarterbacks could be in 2024. There is no clearcut No. 1 player in the country under center. So who is in the discussion? Which league is the best? Which conference is the most exciting?

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. A newsy week of action as the Playoff has settled on a tournament format just weeks after agreeing to a $7.8 billion contract. There are two new rule proposals that we actually like. EA Sports appears to be poised to actually return. Nick Saban has joined Gameday. And a head coach leaves to be a... tight end coach?

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Another round of coaching changes at Boston College, Ohio St and UCLA may finally end the carousel. Then how has money and NIL impacted recruiting? How should we evaluate team rankings in the new era of roster management? What is the recruiting landscape in the new-look Power 4 conferences.

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Unions, employment status, NCAA investigations, the Big Ten-SEC Advisory Group and private equity. The chaos of the game has never been greater so asking the right questions about the future of the sport is the what we have to do.

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Jim Harbuagh has officially left Michigan - what's his legacy, what are expectations in 2024 and what should fans learn about the future of coaching? The NCAA seems to be trying to prove its relevancy but is it misguided? Which issue are conference poised to fix first? And we rank all the new coaches in new conferences. Where do new teams in new...

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall take a look at what the preseason Top 25 rankings could be after coaching changes, portal news and most of recruiting. This is obviously going to change but here is where our preseason rankings for 2024 sit currently.

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Nick Saban has retired and Jim Harbaugh is looking to leave Michigan for the NFL. The chain of events these decisions have and will set off in college football entering a new era of alignment and playoff expansion is hard to explain. What do we know about hiring coaching, what makes a good candidate and why things are moving so much faster?

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall break down Michigan's win in the national championship game over Washington. Many things are true: Michigan was great and Michael Penix was not. The game was close and dramatic but also a blow out. Jim Harbaugh's legacy is cemented, what's Washington's future and what it means for the Big Ten to break through.

Steven Lassan and Braden Gall recap the Rose Bowl as Michigan defeated Alabama in overtime and the Sugar Bowl as Washington outlasted Texas. It wasn't perfect but the Wolverines topped the Tide in perfect setting out West. Meanwhile, Michael Penix and the timely defense of the Huskies has U of Dub one win from a ring. A contrast of styles is coming in the national championship game.