Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman or Penn State’s James Franklin will become the first Black coach to lead a team into the national title game at college football’s highest level.

That pair, and others like it, became part of notable trend in the 2024-25 bowl season: 21 of the 30 non-Playoff bowls that aired on an ESPN network through Jan. 2 saw year-over-year viewership increases, the majority of them by 20 percent or more.

Favorites improved to 8-0 straight-up, 7-1 against the spread with last round's set of games, even though it might not really feel like it because of the finale.

Now that the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff is down to four teams remaining — the size of the field the previous 10 seasons — things really don't look that much different. The final quartet includes two teams from the Big Ten,

A look at the factors that could help Ohio State prevail against Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl on Friday night.

If Ohio State beats Texas in the Playoff semifinals, the sport will be assured of having consecutive national champions from outside the Sun Belt region for the first time in three decades. The possibility means the playoff's expansion from four to 12 teams accomplished one of its major goals,