What Are The 10 Biggest On-Field Questions For The 2025 College Football Season?

Who will win the college football national championship in 2025-26?

Obviously, that’s the biggest question of the upcoming college football season. But in order to answer that question, a bunch of other questions need to be answered first. Will teams like Ohio State, Texas, Penn State and Georgia live up to their full potential? Will Kalen DeBoer have a stronger Year 2 at Alabama? Which player will persevere and win the Heisman?

Those are just a few of the many questions that will likely shape the title race and all-around intrigue in the college football world in 2025. But which of the unanswered questions are the biggest entering the year? Here are the 10 biggest on-field questions entering the 2025 college football season.

10 biggest on-field questions entering the 2025 college football season

Bryce Underwood is competing to be Michigan’s starting quarterback in 2025. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

Michigan’s quarterback play was a significant problem last season, proving to be a major reason why the Wolverines went from being a perennial title contender to an 8-5 team in one season. The only three teams that threw for fewer passing yards per game than Michigan were the three service academies.

That’s why Underwood, widely regarded as the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the Class of 2025, reportedly received a massive name, image and likeness (NIL) package to commit to Michigan. Despite his pedigree, it isn’t a guarantee that Underwood starts, though. But he earned most of the first team reps at quarterback in spring camp due to injuries to Davis Warren and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene, putting Underwood in a good position to start.

Michigan was still pretty talented outside of quarterback, ranking 15th in scoring defense among power conference schools. So, if Underwood can give the Wolverines quality quarterback play in 2025, they may very well be a title contender again. 

9. Is Clemson a legit title contender behind Cade Klubnik?

Cade Klubnik had a breakthrough season in 2024. Can he take the next step in 2025? (Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images)

After a disappointing 2023 season, Klubnik showed that he could be the quarterback who at least helps Clemson win ACC titles again in 2024. He was in the top 10 in passing yards (3,639) and touchdowns last season (36) as well, giving the Tigers strong quarterback play. However, Klubnik struggled against Georgia and wasn’t able to help Clemson beat South Carolina and Texas as it lost in the first round of the CFP. Clemson has one of the most talented rosters in the nation this year, so elite play from Klubnik could be the difference between a deep CFP run or another early exit. 

8. Will Carson Beck lead Miami (Fla.) to the CFP?

Carson Beck’s college career continues, but he’s at a new school in 2025. (Photo by Matt Kelley/Getty Images)

The Carson Beck college experience will go on for another season, but he’ll be at a different stop in 2025. Beck reversed his decision to enter the 2025 NFL Draft and transferred to Miami in January, giving the Hurricanes another solid quarterback option following Heisman finalist Cam Ward’s departure for the pros. Despite Ward’s strong season, the Hurricanes weren’t able to make the CFP in 2024 thanks to multiple late-season losses against lesser ACC foes. Beck never lost to an unranked opponent in his two seasons as Georgia’s starter, but he obviously had one of the best teams in the nation around him. He also underwent UCL surgery in December, limiting the amount he could throw this offseason. 

7. Can Lincoln Riley make USC a contender in Year 4?

Lincoln Riley ended a disappointing 2024 season by leading USC to a bowl win. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)

Riley’s first year in Los Angeles provided many reasons for longterm hope that USC was back to its glory days. However, after falling a win short of a CFP appearance in 2022, the program has taken a step back in each of the last two seasons. Caleb Williams wasn’t able to put up a repeat Heisman performance in 2023, with USC losing five of its last six regular-season games that year. Miller Moss wasn’t the answer in replacing Williams last year, getting benched late in the year as the Trojans went 7-6.

Jayden Maiava provided some hope at quarterback for USC late in the year, though. There also seems to be some momentum surrounding the program, with USC holding the best recruiting class for 2026 (per 247 Sports) as of Wednesday. If Riley and Maiava can help USC have a turnaround season in 2025, it could be the start of a longterm title run for the Trojans.

6. How will Deion Sanders adjust to life without Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter?

Travis Hunter was a siginficant boost for Deion Sanders in his first two years at Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

When Deion Sanders was hired to be Colorado’s coach ahead of the 2023 season, part of his allure was that he was bringing one of the top quarterbacks and best all-around players in the country with him to Boulder. Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter largely lived up to their billing, with the latter winning the Heisman in 2024 as Colorado went 9-4 just two years after a one-win season.

With both players now gone to the NFL, expectations for Colorado seem to be all over the place in 2025. The Buffs did get a couple of options with solid upside at quarterback to replace Sanders, though, with 2023 C-USA MVP Kaidon Salter and four-star freshman Julian Lewis competing for the job. Still, losing a player in Hunter who was arguably the best wide receiver and cornerback in the nation last year is a tremendous blow. 

5. How will Bill Belichick adjust to the college game?

Bill Belichick is entering his fist year as UNC’s head coach. (Photo by Peyton Williams/Getty Images)

After spending nearly five decades exclusively coaching the NFL, Belichick is on the college sideline for the first time in his coaching career. He also made numerous headlines this offseason for non-football matters, seemingly raising the stakes for him at North Carolina.

Belichick overhauled a UNC roster that went 6-7 in 2024, landing 41 players in the transfer portal and 71 total new players. The Tar Heels’ transfer class ranked as the ninth-best in the nation, per 247 Sports, so the talent might be there for Belichick to succeed. However, expectations don’t seem to be tremendously high as UNC’s projected win total for the 2025 season is set at 7.5 wins, per DraftKings Sportsbook.

4. Who is this year’s Indiana?

Curt Cignetti helped Indiana become a surprise team in his first year as its head coach. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Indiana had one of the most surprising single-season turnarounds in recent college football memory this past year, going from 3-9 to an 11-1 regular season in Curt Cignetti’s first year as head coach. The Hoosiers made the CFP as well, but lost in the first round.

As we try to figure out which team could follow in Indiana’s footsteps this year, FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt has mentioned Illinois as a possibility. The Illini return quarterback Luke Altmyer and several experienced key contributors from a team that went 10-3 last season. 

However, Illinois might be highly ranked when the season begins due to how well it played at the end of last season. If you’re looking at teams that had losing records last season, Auburn and Belichick’s UNC squad had the highest transfer portal class rankings, via 247 Sports. Wisconsin, Mississippi State and UCLA are among other teams with losing records from last season who were in the top 20 of 247 Sports’ transfer portal rankings. 

3. Is this the year Penn State wins the big game?

James Franklin is 1-15 against top-five teams in his Penn State tenure. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images for ONIT)

The Nittany Lions had their best year under James Franklin in 2024, reaching the CFP semifinal for the first time in program history. However, Penn State didn’t beat a ranked in the top five in order to get there. In fact, it didn’t beat a top-five team all season long as Franklin is 1-15 against top-five teams in his Penn State tenure. The one win came in 2016. 

At some point, Penn State is going to have to beat a top-five-ranked team in order to win a national championship (unless there’s extreme chaos in the CFP bracket). Klatt has the Nittany Lions ranked as his No. 1 team in the nation in his post-spring top 25 poll as they return Drew Allar, Nic Singleton and many other top players from last year’s squad. But it won’t mean a thing if it fails to beat the Ohio States and Oregons of the world again. 

2. Can Ohio State beat Michigan and repeat as national champions?

Ryan Day and Ohio State have lost their last four games to Michigan. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

As we learned last year, Ohio State doesn’t need to beat Michigan in order to win a national championship. But if you asked everyone associated with that program, they certainly would like to beat the team up north en route to winning a title. 

Ohio State will carry a four-game losing streak against its top rival when it makes the trip to Ann Arbor in late November this year. If Bryce Underwood (or whoever is under center) proves to be the answer at quarterback for Michigan, there’s a good chance The Game will serve as a de facto play-in game for the Big Ten Championship Game. If that’s the case, then the winner of The Game would be in a good spot to earn a first-round bye in the CFP. 

Of course, there’s also the pressure Ryan Day is facing to win this game. Even though he won the national last season, it was clear Day’s job was on the line after losing as a 20-plus-point favorite to Michigan. Day was able to shake off the hot seat talk with the title run, but how much goodwill will that buy him with Ohio State fans if he loses to Michigan for a fifth straight season? 

1. Will Arch Manning be the real deal and lead Texas to a national championship?

Arch Manning is set to enter his first full season as Texas’ starting quarterback. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

The Manning era in Austin will officially begin this fall as the highly-touted quarterback is set to become the Longhorns’ full-time starter. To this point, Manning has been like a lightly used, expensive sports car through his first two years at Texas. He showed tremendous flashes when he filled in for Quinn Ewers last season, throwing for 939 yards and nine touchdowns. He also dazzled with his legs, with one of his four rushing touchdowns being a highlight play due to the top speed he reached.

But most of Manning’s playing time came against lesser SEC competition or out-of-conference foes. Now, he’ll be tasked with trying to lead Texas back to the SEC Championship Game and help Steve Sarkisian break through in the CFP after two straight semifinal losses. 

If Manning is indeed the real deal, it’d be tough not to imagine Texas making a run for the title. The Longhorns are widely viewed to have one of the top few rosters in the country, if not the best roster in the nation. An elite year from Manning might just mean that Texas will be a national champion again for the first time in 20 years. 

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