‘Fear Arch Manning’ USC a CFP sleeper, can Indiana repeat as National Champions, Notre Dame | FTF
FOX Sports CFB analyst RJ Young joins First Things First to talk about his 138 CFB rankings, together with Indiana’s odds of repeating as National Champions. He then breaks down what’s stopping Notre Dame from profitable all of it, together with the Big Ten’s new rule concerning gamers returning to CFB from the NFL. RJ then explains why Arch Manning will dwell up to the hype, together with how the 2026 season can be the best yr in CFB historical past. He additionally unveils his darkish horse National Championship Winner. (00:00) Intro
(00:26) RJ’s 138 CFB Rankings
(01:29) Indiana Going Back-to-Back?
(02:34) Notre Dame’s Limitations
(03:50) Big Ten’s New Rule
(06:40) Will Arch Live Up to Hype?
(08:00) Most Competitive CFB Season Ever?
(10:44) Dark Horse National Championship Winner
The college football appetizer referred to as week zero has come and gone, and though it wasn’t fairly as sturdy as the actual opening week that’s nonetheless to come, it did greater than sufficient to hold football followers happy whereas they look forward to the predominant course this coming Saturday.
Yesterday felt like a return to normalcy for college football fanatics after months of court dates and NIL doomsday prophecies, and it was good to simply sit again and watch some superb pigskin motion with out worrying about any of that extracurricular rubbish that has been plaguing the information cycle.
One of the telltale indicators that the season is underway is the myriad overreactions you will note up and down your social media timeline, and Saturday night/Sunday morning was no totally different.
As you will see, it is by no means too early to overreact to your crew’s efficiency in the first week of the yr, even with an expanded College Football Playoff affording groups extra regular-season Mulligans than ever earlier than.
Here are three overreactions you will see throughout your cellphone display screen as you do your Sunday afternoon scroll, and a few carry extra weight than others.
Florida State can be fortunate to win three video games this yr
Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell earlier than the sport between the Florida Gators and the Florida State Seminoles on November 25, 2023 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field in Gainesville, Fl. (David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire through Getty Images)
If I might sum up Florida State’s 2026 opener towards New Mexico State on Saturday evening in a single phrase, it might be “woof.”
And I’m not alone in that evaluation, FSU followers took to social media for the majority of the previous 16 hours and completely trashed their beloved Noles.
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It wasn’t with out benefit, both.
The Seminoles have been 31.5-point favorites heading into the contest, with New Mexico State coming off a 4-8 season in 2025.
Florida State ended up solely profitable by 17, and the sport bought as shut as 10 halfway by means of the fourth quarter.
If it wasn’t for a nasty choose in the crimson zone to open the sport and a drop by a large open receiver in the finish zone, the Aggies may need really pulled the upset in Tallahassee.
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The Noles bought bullied on the strains of scrimmage by a crew a lot smaller than them and their new quarterback, Auburn switch Ashton Daniels, was a combined bag in his debut in garnet and gold.
Fans are already calling for head coach Mike Norvell’s firing, however the odds of that occuring earlier than the season are slim given his exorbitant buyout.
The reality is, FSU supporters is perhaps in for an additional lengthy season, and this overreaction would possibly carry some weight.
It is perhaps time to pull the plug on the Dan Mullen Experiment
Dec 28, 2022; Memphis, TN, USA; ESPN analyst Dan Mullen appears to be like on prior to the 2022 Liberty Bowl between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Arkansas Razorbacks at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. (Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports)
The UNLV Rebels have been a classy choose to make the College Football Playoff this season as a Group of 6 consultant, and whereas that may nonetheless occur, these goals took a giant hit with a 27-21 dwelling loss to fellow G6 Playoff hopefuls Memphis on Saturday.
Head coach Dan Mullen spent the majority of the information convention complaining that his followers have been making an excessive amount of noise whereas the Rebs have been on offense as an alternative of worrying about different issues like why his protection was getting torched by a Division II switch at quarterback.
I’ve seen a ton of UNLV followers making impassioned pleas to Mullen asking him to fireplace defensive coordinator Paul Guenther, however a lot of them have come to the realization that it will not be taking place.
As a Florida Gator fan, I can verify Mullen is ready to go down with the ship as his embattled DC sits proper alongside him in the captain’s quarters.
This is the deadly flaw of Mullen: he is cussed and dependable to a fault.
He had a ton of probabilities to fireplace Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham as he harpooned any probabilities the Gators had of profitable a championship in 2020, and I worry he’ll do a lot of the similar in Vegas.
Now, the half that makes this an overreaction is the proven fact that Guenther is in yr one as the UNLV defensive coordinator.
Perhaps he turns it round, however getting dissected by a quarterback and head coach (Charles Huff) of their very first sport with the program shouldn’t be precisely a very good signal.
File this one below “something to keep an eye on.”
USC followers have given up on Lincoln Riley in a pivotal yr
Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley stands on the sidelines throughout the first quarter towards the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind., on Sept. 13, 2025. (Marc Lebryk/Imagn Images)
If you have been on social media in any respect in the final 24 hours, you are in all probability conscious of USC’s attendance problem throughout their opening sport towards San Jose State.
The Trojans have arguably their most proficient crew since head coach Lincoln Riley arrived 5 seasons in the past and have a reputable shot at making the CFP, however the followers weren’t satisfied.
Several photographs of the Coliseum confirmed what might, generously, be described as a half empty stadium. So what provides?
Defenders of the program will blame the empty seats on issues like a warmth wave, or courses not beginning but. Others fireplace again with screenshots of a house venue packed to the gills with USC followers throughout equally sizzling temperatures only a few brief years in the past.
Are followers punting on Riley proper as he is about to flip issues round?
I believe the reality might be much more easy and fewer sinister than that.
Los Angeles is not an enormous sports activities city, and I believe followers want to see proof of idea earlier than they present up to a sport and help their crew.
I say this as somebody who’s from a equally fair-weather sports activities city in Miami; the Dolphins and Hurricanes will play to a stadium that’s barely half full except they are reputable championship contenders.
It’s simply the manner it’s.
I’ll say this, for as empty as the Coliseum was on Saturday, the college students did their half, as their part of the stadium was packed to the gills and screaming full throat for his or her Trojans.
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This is totally an “overreaction,” and the minute USC is 4-0 and ranked in the high 10 after they play Oregon, I assure you that the constructing can be rocking.