Faculty soccer’s restructured panorama took some getting used to in the course of the 2024 season. With huge conferences stretching from coast to coast, the momentary stoppage of a century-old league, and a 12-team Faculty Soccer Playoff, final yr was maybe essentially the most jarring prior to now half-century of the game.
However the 2024 season additionally delivered loads of acquainted pleasure. From the entertaining Heisman Trophy conflict between Ashton Jeanty and Travis Hunter to Ohio State’s redemptive run to the nationwide championship, the brand new faculty soccer retained sufficient of the previous faculty soccer’s aura.
With an autumn to regulate, the 2025 season kicks off Aug. 23 and guarantees much more thrilling uncertainty than a season in the past. This quartet of potential subplots affords a mere sampling of what this marketing campaign may ship.
Penn State vs. Expectations
Any descriptor of James Franklin’s tenure as Penn State head coach that fails to incorporate some variation of the adjective “nice” falls brief. Franklin took over in 2014, when this system’s future was murky within the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, and led the Nittany Lions to a Large Ten title in his third season.
The Nittany Lions have persistently received double-digit video games below Franklin and are coming off their first Faculty Soccer Playoff look. However Penn State has struggled towards Ohio State, with eight consecutive losses, and has but to succeed in the nationwide semifinals.
The Buckeyes will host the Nittany Lions on Nov. 1.
Heading into 2025 because the preseason media ballot choose to win the Large Ten — edging out reigning champion Ohio State — this may very well be the yr Penn State breaks by to a stage it hasn’t reached for the reason that Eighties. The Nittany Lions final received a nationwide championship in 1986, the latest of their 4 in program historical past.
“That’s a part of the explanation why I got here to Penn State, to compete for every part like [the Big Ten and national championships],” quarterback Drew Allar informed Nittany Sports activities Now eventually week’s workforce media day.
Allar’s return is on the coronary heart of the lofty expectations awaiting the Lions once they open the season Aug. 30 vs. Nevada.
“To go to the place the place we need to go, it’s going to take all people,” Allar mentioned. “I feel we’ve executed an incredible job embracing that.”
SEC on Drought Watch
Dec 4, 2021; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Good greets Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban earlier than the SEC championship recreation at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Obligatory Credit score: Jason Getz-Imagn Pictures Labeling three consecutive seasons and not using a nationwide championship a full-on drought could also be dramatic. The Large 12, for example, final received a nationwide title 20 years in the past — and its solely two within the 2000s got here from packages now within the SEC.
Nonetheless, since LSU break up the 2003 championship with Southern California, the SEC has by no means gone three straight seasons with out producing a champion. If the 2025 nationwide title goes to a different league, it would mark the longest such stretch since 1999 by 2002, when Florida State, Oklahoma, Miami and Ohio State traded trophies.
The SEC was essentially the most profitable convention of the four-team Faculty Soccer Playoff period, with championships within the 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons — greater than half the last decade.
So no, the CFP format didn’t expose the SEC’s monopolization of BCS championships from 2006 to 2012 as a byproduct of a flawed system. The league proved its energy on the prime. However the hole is probably not as broad as SEC loyalists made it appear.
The game’s present wide-open nature additionally underlines simply how outstanding Nick Saban’s Alabama dynasty actually was.
Clemson on the Comeback Path
Dec 7, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; Clemson Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) celebrates after successful the 2024 ACC Championship recreation at Financial institution of America Stadium. Obligatory Credit score: Bob Donnan-Imagn Pictures Not so way back, when Alabama was at its peak below Saban, its greatest challenger was Clemson. The Tigers received nationwide championships in 2016 and 2018 and appeared in six straight Playoffs.
Since then, Clemson has hit a pace bump. To be clear, most packages would gladly commerce for the Tigers’ “downturn” — 40 wins, a convention title and a Playoff look from 2021 to 2024.
Nonetheless, Clemson hasn’t resembled the juggernaut of the late 2010s. Coach Dabo Swinney’s resistance to embracing NIL and participant compensation raised questions on this system’s endurance within the new period.
The 2025 season presents a main likelihood to silence these doubts. Clemson is the preseason favourite to repeat as ACC champion, and with Cade Klubnik — the league’s preseason offensive participant of the yr — below middle, expectations are excessive.
Throughout Clemson’s peak, it had Heisman candidates Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence at quarterback. Klubnik has flashed comparable upside however might want to ship throughout a full season if the Tigers hope to contend.
Anchors Aweigh
Few groups completed final season stronger than Navy. The Midshipmen crushed rival Military on the finish of West Level’s finest season for the reason that mid-Twentieth century, then edged Oklahoma in a thriller on the Armed Forces Bowl.
With standout quarterback Blake Horvath again to expertly run the choice — and unleash a sneaky-good passing assault — Navy appears to be like poised to construct on its 10–3 marketing campaign.
The offense has lengthy been Navy’s identification, however its turnover-hungry protection could also be the actual key to success. Head coach Brian Newberry, who took over after longtime chief Ken Niumatalolo’s departure, crafted a unit that rounded into kind late final yr.
Navy picked off 17 passes in 2024, rating seventh nationally. Changing star nook Dashaun Peele received’t be simple, however returners like Landon Robinson and Griffen Willis ought to maintain the strain up entrance and assist the secondary generate takeaways.
If the Midshipmen can contend for the Group of 5’s Playoff bid, the storied Military-Navy rivalry may tackle much more nationwide significance.
Not a nasty solution to cap the season forward of the second 12-team event.
