Today: Way-too-early bowl projections, the top college sports influencers, Mick Cronin's outburst, and the B1G takes aim at the SEC.

~7.5 minute read (1,759 words)

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NCAA FOOTBALL

2026 Way-Too-Early Bowl Game & College Football Playoff Projections

Before diving into 2026, a quick moment of silence for the bowls we lost: the Bahamas Bowl, forever remembered for 2014's lateral-filled bad beat classic; the LA Bowl, which never quite found stable footing; and Detroit's long-running game, which quietly exited after nearly three decades of sponsor swaps and postseason service.

With three bowls shutting down, there will only be 78 bowl teams needed to fill 39 bowls. Because conference bowl contracts expired and the Big Ten and SEC have yet to settle on a future Playoff format, affiliations roll over for one more year. That means legacy Pac-12 programs such as Arizona, Oregon, and USC will still slot into traditional Pac-12 bowls rather than their new conference tie-ins, adding another wrinkle to an already fluid postseason picture.

Without further ado, here's a snapshot of Brett McMurphy's 2026 way-too-early College Football Playoff and bowl projections (the full list can be viewed here).

College Football Playoffs

The 12-team field opens with compelling first-round matchups. No. 12 UTSA travels to No. 5 Texas, while No. 9 Utah heads to No. 8 Oregon in a matchup loaded with former Pac-12 familiarity. No. 11 Oklahoma visits No. 6 Texas Tech in an all-Texas showdown, and No. 10 Texas A&M goes on the road to face No. 7 Indiana. In the quarterfinals, top-seeded Notre Dame draws Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl, Miami meets Texas in the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State faces Texas Tech in the Rose Bowl, and Georgia squares off with Indiana in the Peach Bowl.

The semifinals set up blue-blood clashes. Notre Dame meets Miami in the Orange Bowl, while Georgia and Ohio State collide in the Sugar Bowl. The championship game in Las Vegas projects as No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Georgia, with the Fighting Irish claiming the national title.

College Football Bowl Projections

Pop-Tarts Bowl: Florida State vs. Cincinnati
Gator Bowl: Tennessee vs. SMU
Music City Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Nebraska
Citrus Bowl: LSU vs. Penn State
Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona vs. Michigan
Liberty Bowl: Houston vs. South Carolina
Duke's Mayo Bowl: Alabama vs. Louisville
Holiday Bowl: Clemson vs. USC

See McMurphy's full list of bowl projections here.

SPORTS BUSINESS

Ranking the top college sports influencers, brands, creators on X for 2025

Pat McAfee, Dave Portnoy, Robert Griffin III, Will Compton

If you're on X (formerly known as Twitter), chances are you saw the viral debate yesterday about the top influencers and brands driving the college sports conversation.

As college athletics continue to surge in popularity, so does the volume of discussion online. Football still leads from a ratings standpoint, but this time of year brings significant overlap. Men's and women's basketball are entering the final stretch before March, while baseball and softball are underway. The result is a nonstop content cycle. According to data from Socialpruf, here are the top influencers and brands on X in 2025 based on total impressions.

5. Clay Travis (@ClayTravis), Outkick

Impressions: 1.65 billion
Average per post: 249K

Clay Travis generated 1.65 billion impressions on X in 2025. The founder of Outkick remains deeply involved in the national college sports conversation through his platform and Outkick: The Show, where he frequently weighs in on major storylines across football and beyond.

4. On3 (@On3)

Impressions: 2.36B
Average per post: 1.06M

On3 generated 2.36 billion impressions in 2025, the highest total among dedicated college sports brands. The account consistently delivers recruiting news, transfer portal updates, and national analysis, and its per-post average of more than one million impressions underscores the efficiency and reach in the space.

3. Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow), ESPN

Impressions: 3.4B
Average per post: 292K

McAfee ranked third overall with 3.4 billion impressions. He completed his third season on ESPN's College GameDay while his daily show continued airing on ESPN. His energetic on-air presence translates seamlessly to X, where his commentary and clips regularly generate massive engagement.

2. Dan "Big Cat" Katz (@BarstoolBigCat), Barstool Sports

Impressions: 3.72B
Average per post: 332K

One half of Pardon My Take, Big Cat produced 3.72 billion impressions in 2025. In addition to his podcast role, he contributed to FOX's Big Noon Kickoff during football season, helping extend his influence beyond digital platforms and into live broadcast coverage.

1. Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente), Barstool Sports & Fox Big Noon Kickoff

Impressions: 4.51B
Average per post: 1.01M

With 4.51 billion impressions, Portnoy led all college sports influencers, brands and creators in 2025. As president of Barstool Sports and a Big Noon Kickoff personality, Portnoy's posts routinely top one million impressions, making him the most visible and impactful voice in the space this year.

See the full rankings here.

NCAA BASKETBALL

UCLA's Mick Cronin ejects own player after flagrant foul, berates reporter in postgame interview

No. 15 Michigan State rolled past UCLA on Tuesday night, 82-59, but the biggest moments had little to do with the scoreboard. Mick Cronin ejecting his own player and then unloading on a reporter afterward quickly became the lasting images from East Lansing, overshadowing what was already a damaging loss for a Bruins team clinging to the NCAA Tournament bubble.

UCLA, which shot just 37% from the field and 32% from three, dropped to 17-9 overall and 9-6 in Big Ten play. After entering the season with Top 25 expectations, the Bruins now find themselves fighting to stabilize their résumé amid back-to-back lopsided defeats. Cronin has already been outspoken this year about his frustrations with scheduling, travel, and the broader landscape of the sport.

Cronin ejects his own player

With 4:26 remaining and Michigan State comfortably ahead, UCLA center Steven Jamerson II committed a hard foul on Carson Cooper during a dunk attempt. Cooper was ruled defenseless in the air, and while officials sorted out the call, Cronin made his own decision.

He immediately sent Jamerson to the locker room, ending his night. The sequence quickly went viral, and afterward, Cronin explained why he took matters into his own hands.

"True toughness is how you compete and how you go to work every day," Cronin said. "Steve's a good kid. He made a bad decision… The guy was defenseless in the air. The game's a 25-point game. You don't do that."

Even Michigan State coach Tom Izzo admitted he had never seen a coach eject his own player. Jamerson, a transfer from San Diego, finished with two points, two rebounds, and two assists in limited action. The move didn't affect the outcome, but it became a defining moment of the night.

Bizarre interaction with reporter

As if the on-court moment wasn't enough, Cronin's postgame press conference certainly amplified it.

Already visibly frustrated, he bristled when asked about Michigan State's student section and the chants directed at UCLA throughout the night. Video of the exchange quickly circulated online.

"I could give a rat's ass about the other team's student section," Cronin said. "I would like to give you a kudos for the worst question I've ever been asked."

When the reporter attempted a follow-up, Cronin cut him off and challenged whether his voice was being raised. "Are you raising your voice at me?" Cronin asked (he wasn't).

It was a tense, bizarre exchange that underscored the mood around the program. UCLA has now lost two straight by at least 23 points and returns home to face No. 10 Illinois and USC next week, with little margin left for error.

Read the latest on Cronin here.

🚨Headlines

NCAA FOOTBALL

The Big Ten's latest 24-team College Football Playoff proposal is aimed directly at the SEC

The first thought when Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti's newest 24-team College Football Playoff idea leaked? He finally understands his opposition.

By pitching a 24-team format with 23 at-large spots, Petitti aimed straight at the SEC's sensibilities. Some within the 16-team league believe they deserve 16 spots in a 16-team field, so why wouldn't they embrace 23 or 24 at-larges in a 24-team bracket? It feels like Petitti listened to last year's spring meetings. "The best system should be the 16 best," Lane Kiffin said at the time. Petitti's counter seems simple: if you want the best, let's take even more of them.

Perhaps he believes influential SEC voices will sway commissioner Greg Sankey off his preference for 16. Or perhaps Sankey will dig in simply to avoid giving Petitti a win. The two must agree after their leagues effectively seized control from the other eight FBS conferences. If they cannot, the result is stalemate. That might not be the worst outcome. Twelve works for now. Let it play out.

The CFP expanded to 12 teams in 2024, and the 2025 season was the first with seeding practices that aligned with the sport's new conference reality. The result was a thrilling tournament that ended with the first competitive national title game in eight years. The original seeding rules, written in 2021, assumed a different landscape before the SEC added Oklahoma and Texas and the Big Ten absorbed USC and UCLA. By the time the 12-team format arrived, the world looked completely different.

The current deal, struck in early 2024, expanded the playoff for the final two years of the old media agreement and sold exclusive rights to ESPN for a 12- to 14-team format beginning in 2026. Last year, the SEC favored 14. The Big Ten was open to 14 or 16 but wanted multiple automatic bids for each power conference. SEC coaches pushed back, preferring more at-larges, and the league adopted that philosophy. Larger formats were discussed internally. The SEC dismissed them. The Big Ten embraced them.

As a December deadline approached, every league except the Big Ten supported a 16-team format with five automatic bids and 11 at-larges. Even after ESPN extended the deadline to Jan. 23, a January meeting made clear the sides remained apart.

Now comes Petitti's new idea. Dropping automatic bids is a major concession that reveals the priority: 24. More games mean more revenue and flexibility beyond ESPN's 14-team ceiling. A 24-team bracket would create 23 games and potentially allow broadcast partners beyond ESPN, diversifying rights like the NFL.

But doubling the field would dramatically change the regular season and the CFP's exclusivity. Even at 12 teams, it remains the most exclusive major American team-sport postseason. Twelve may be the sweet spot. NIL and transfer rules have flattened the sport, and No. 10 seed Miami nearly beat No. 1 Indiana for the title last season. Still, whether 24 teams could truly compete at a championship level remains uncertain.

The Big Ten wants 24. The SEC has not seemed interested, though this version appears tailored to appeal to it. Will the gambit work? Or will the impasse continue while 12 proves its value?

Read the full story from Andy Staples.

TRIVIA

Now here's a guy...

Below, you'll find 3 facts about a random college football player. You'll try to guess who the player is based on the facts. Let's go.

I made my college debut at Minnesota with a 39-yard touchdown catch and later led the Golden Gophers with 84 receptions for 1,074 yards in a breakout junior season.
During my senior year, I ranked among the nation's leaders in receiving yards, was once named the third-best wide receiver in college football by Sports Illustrated, and also played college baseball and was drafted twice in the MLB Draft.
In the NFL, I recorded three straight 1,000-yard seasons and earned a Pro Bowl nod while catching passes from Peyton Manning in Denver.

Answer at the bottom.

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