As the 2025 recruiting cycle ends and the 12-team CFP era rolls on, here is a look at four teams that have improved their chances of securing a playoff spot, and, maybe winning it all, as long as their transfers contribute as expected and they get production from some youth in their current class of recruits.

It doesn’t appear that ESPN’s presentation of the College Football Playoff will undergo many, if any, fundamental changes. While those in sports media like Tony Kornheiser blasted the CFP and NFL scheduling competing games as “football on football crime,

Alabama came up short in head coach Kalen DeBoer's inaugural season by missing the first season of the 12-team college football playoff. With selection Sunday for year two of the 12-team playoff over 11 months away, ESPN announced its projections with the Crimson Tide slotting as the No. 5 seed.