Latest news with #non-NewYear'sSix
USA Today
04-08-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ranking the head coaches on Oregon Football's 2025 schedule from toughest to weakest
For the Oregon Ducks, the 2025 college football season will be one of great interest. After a 2024 season in which Dan Lanning's team won the Big Ten Conference in its first year as league members, expectations were set high. Now, with an almost entirely new-look roster that returns just four starters, there are a lot of questions to be answered. We have less than a month until those questions will start to be answered, and as we continue our preview coverage of the upcoming season, we want to begin examining the Ducks' schedule and some of the players, teams, and coaches they will face over the coming months. To begin, let's examine the top of the organizational chart and focus on the coaches. Oregon fans know well how much difference a good coach can make on the success of the program, so here's a look at the best and worst coaches that the Ducks will face in the 2025 season. 12. Trent Bray — Oregon State Beavers Overall Coaching Record: 5-7 Coaching Record at Current School: 5-7 Bowl Record: 0-0 Analysis: The resume is still small with Oregon State's Trent Bray, but he didn't show anything in 2024 to move up the list. While the deck is stacked against him in Corvallis, we will see if he can lead the Beavers to success this season, especially with Maalik Murphy under center. 11. David Braun — Northwestern Wildcats Overall Coaching Record: 12-13 Coaching Record at Current School: 12-13 Bowl Record: 1-0 Analysis: David Braun's first year at Northwestern was impressive, taking over as the interim on short notice and becoming bowl-eligible with an 8-5 record. However, there was some serious regression last season, going 4-8, and not much confidence for improvement going forward. 10. Brent Vigen — Montana State Bobcats Overall Coaching Record: 47-10 Coaching Record at Current School: 47-10 Analysis: While he may coach at the FCS level, Brent Vigen is one of the best in the Big Sky Conference. In his four seasons with Montana State, Vigen has made a pair of national championship games, losing both to the North Dakota State Bisons both times. Few Oregon fans may know who Vigen is, but he deserves some recognition. 9. Greg Schiano — Rutgers Scarlet Knights Overall Coaching Record: 94-101 Coaching Record at Current School: 94-101 Bowl Record: 6-3 Analysis: Greg Schiano has been coaching at Rutgers for a long, long time, and while he has a losing record overall, he is above .500 in the last 11 years, with a 6-3 bowl game record. The Scarlet Knights could be a lurking team in the conference this year with some new talent, and Schiano might be the guy to get them where they need to be. 8. PJ Fleck — Minnesota Golden Gophers Overall Coaching Record: 88-61 Coaching Record at Current School: 58-39 Bowl Record: 7-2 (0-1 in NY6 Bowl Games) Analysis: PJ Fleck has made some noise at times during his tenure with Minnesota, but has struggled to reach the top tier of teams. His bowl record is great, though all of the success has come in non-New Year's Six bowls. Going into 2025, there is a belief that the Golden Gophers could be a sneakily good team in the Big Ten. 7. Mike Gundy — Oklahoma State Cowboys Overall Coaching Record: 169-88 Coaching Record at Current School: 169-88 Bowl Record: 12-6 (2-3 in NY6 Bowl Games) Analysis: Mike Gundy has stood the test of time in the world of college football, rolling along at Oklahoma State over the past couple of decades and finding some pretty solid success along the way. In this new era, it's yet to be seen whether or not the Cowboys can compete at the top level in the Big 12, but they have a solid coach should they get the talent necessary. 6. Kirk Ferentz — Iowa Hawkeyes Overall Coaching Record: 204-124 Coaching Record at Current School: 204-124 Bowl Record: 10-11 (0-2 in NY6 Bowl Games) Analysis: There have been a lot of changes in the world of college football over the years, but Kirk Ferentz has been a constant at Iowa. While the Hawkeyes have struggled to reach the top tier of success in the sport, Ferentz has always been solid, typically winning 7-9 games per year with a great defense and an offense that underperforms. We will see if that continues in 2025 with FCS transfer Mark Gronowski under center. 5. Jedd Fisch — Washington Huskies Overall Coaching Record: 23-29 Coaching Record at Current School: 6-7 Bowl Record: 1-2 Analysis: Jedd Fisch's record doesn't match up with how good of a coach he is, in my opinion. There were some down years at Arizona, where he was fighting an uphill battle when it came to the talent he had on the roster, but we saw flashes late in his tenure of how good of a coach he can be. The deck was stacked against him last year at Washington due to the mass exodus of players following Kalen DeBoer's departure, but he could very well have the Huskies back in contention this season. 4. Luke Fickell — Wisconsin Badgers Overall Coaching Record: 76-38 Coaching Record at Current School: 13-13 Bowl Record: 3-4 (0-2 in NY6 Bowl Games // 0-1 in College Football Playoff Games) Analysis: Luke Fickell is another coach who has shown before that he can scheme the X's and O's with the best of them, but putting it all together has eluded him as of late. Fickell made a run to the College Football Playoff with the Cincinnati Bearcats several years ago, but since taking over at Wisconsin, he's struggled to find the same success. That doesn't negate the fact that he is a solid coach who many teams would be happy to hire. 3. Lincoln Riley — USC Trojans Overall Coaching Record: 81-24 Coaching Record at Current School: 26-14 Bowl Record: 3-4 (1-4 in NY6 Bowl Games // 0-3 in College Football Playoff Games) Analysis: When it comes to offense, Lincoln Riley is one of the best coaches in the game, but putting together a whole team that can stop teams from scoring is what has been the biggest hurdle. That was the case even before Riley's time at USC, where he made it to three College Football Playoffs with the Oklahoma Sooners, losing all of them. The Trojans are recruiting at a high level right now and appear to be improving, but they've got a bit to go before they compete at the top of the Big Ten and return to the CFP. 2. Curt Cignetti — Indiana Hoosiers Overall Coaching Record: 30-6 Coaching Record at Current School: 11-2 Bowl Record: 0-1 (0-1 in College Football Playoff Games) Analysis: Curt Cignetti is nothing if not entertaining, both on and off the field. He had great success with James Madison before moving to Indiana, and he continued that success last year with the Hoosiers, putting together the best season in program history and advancing to the College Football Playoff. The schedule will be more challenging this season, so we will see if Indiana can repeat its success, but Cignetti seems to be among the top rising coaches in the game right now. 1. James Franklin — Penn State Nittany Lions Overall Coaching Record: 125-57 Coaching Record at Current School: 101-42 Bowl Record: 8-7 (5-3 in NY6 Bowl Games // 2-1 in College Football Playoff Games) Analysis: Regardless of his track record in big games, you can't deny the fact that James Franklin is one of the better coaches in the world of college football, routinely putting his team in a position to do some big things. Franklin tends to win all of the games that he is supposed to, but has struggled in games where he is facing equal or better talent over the years. The Nittany Lions made a nice run in the College Football Playoff last year, and have the deck stacked once again this year to compete for a championship. Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
USA Today
07-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Every Big 12 team's 2025 bowl projection following spring football
Every Big 12 team's 2025 bowl projection following spring football It is only the first week in May, but spring football is over, and the anticipation for more football is never greater than when we don't have it. Thanks to Brad Crowford at 247Sports, we have some post-spring bowl projections to explore after all the dust settled following the spring transfer portal window. The Big 12 is expected to be loaded at the top with arguably six or seven teams capable of winning the conference championship. That makes projecting bowl games and, more importantly, which team or teams will represent the conference in the College Football Playoff. Forty-one bowl games will cover this season's postseason slate, including six within the CFP. The Big 12 has tie-ins to six different bowl games, and former Pac-12 schools (Colorado, Utah, Arizona State, and Arizona) will still play in Pac-12-affiliated bowl games. Teams will be eligible to compete in Big 12 bowl games beginning in 2026, Without further ado, let's dive into Brad Crawford's bowl projections, a solid seven months before the 2025 season kicks off. Projection: Alamo Bowl vs. USC USC-Kansas State would be quite the matchup, and should be one of the top non-New Year's Six bowls. The Wildcats project as one of the Big 12's top teams, but according to this projection, they miss out on the College Football Playoff. Projection: Independence Bowl vs. Oregon State The Cougars have brought in a solid transfer portal class and most of their returning production. Head coach Kalani Sitake is one of the top coaches in the Big 12 and should once again have his Cougars in contention for a conference title. Projection: Texas Bowl vs. Texas A&M Baylor might be my sleeper pick to make a run to the Big 12 championship, but here the Bears take on a fellow Texas program in a matchup that should draw fans of both teams. Aggies facing off against the Bears would be an underrated game if it were to happen. Texas Tech Red Raiders Projection: Pop Tarts Bowl vs. SMU Texas Tech should be another talented Big 12 team. In this prediction, the Red Raiders face off against the SMU Mustangs. Texas Tech brought in one of the top transfer portal classes in the country, and they should take advantage of it this year. Projection: Las Vegas Bowl vs. Nebraska Looks like the Sun Devils take a small step back in 2025 after making the College Football Playoff last season. Nevertheless, the quarterback battle in this bowl game would be elite. Sam Leavitt versus Dylan Raiola would be must-see TV. Projection: Liberty Bowl vs. Missouri Former Big 12 rivals will face off for the first time since 2011. This will be a hotly contested battle, as the all-time series is 57-54-9 in favor of the Tigers. TCU Horned Frogs Projection: Rate Bowl vs. Iowa I am not as high on the Horned Frogs as some might be, but they should still challenge for a top spot in the Big 12. A bowl matchup against Iowa would be a solid season. Projection: CFP Quarterfinal (Cotton Bowl) vs. Penn State The Cyclones wouldn't be my pick to win the Big 12 Championship, but it is a pick-em out of the top teams. Rocco Becht is a talented quarterback, and no one should be surprised if Iowa State makes the CFP after narrowly missing out last season. However, the Cyclones are not beating the Nittany Lions. Utah Utes Projection: LA Bowl vs. UCLA Our first Pac-12 Bowl tie-in goes to the Utes, who will be a drastically improved team from their 5-7 record last season. The Bruins could be a team to take another step forward with Nico Iamaleava under center. Depending on how each team's season turns out, this could be a team featuring two 7-plus-win teams. UCF Knights Projection: Birmingham Bowl vs. Arkansas The Knights finish their American Conference bowl tie-in with a date with a mediocre SEC team. UCF is back under Scott Frost's leadership and hopes to return to bowl eligibility after missing out last season. No bowl game projected Follow Charlie Strella on X, Threads, and Instagram. Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.
