Change. Change. Everywhere change! That’s the state of college football today. The old axiom that “you have to have a program to know the players” has never been truer. In this age of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) money and the transfer portal, college football rosters are in constant flux. Coaches are changing jobs. New powerhouses are emerging from larger, sometimes exorbitant, roster budgets. Everywhere you look, there’s change. It’s a lot to unpack. But that’s exactly what we’ll do, along with some special guests, in the sixth year of this fun OLLI at UVA Discussion Group. Coaches and three of the Power Four conferences — the Big Ten, the ACC, and the Big 12 — favor expanding the current 12-team playoff to 24 teams. The SEC leadership favors playoff expansion, but only to 16 teams. Only 12 teams will compete in this season’s playoffs, and we’ll examine who may still be playing come December. Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana have won the last three national titles, giving the Big 10 a three-peat. Can they make it four in a row? Michigan and Penn State both have new coaches who are proven winners. Ohio State and Oregon are loaded with talent. Will Indiana’s miraculous run continue? Notre Dame is getting a lot of preseason love. Speaking of new coaches, what will James Franklin’s first Virginia Tech team look like? Can Tony Elliott continue UVA’s winning ways after posting the first 11-win season in school history? We’ll take a long look at both schools, as well as the rest of the ACC, where Miami is the favorite. In the Big 12, Texas Tech, Utah, and BYU again look strong. Oklahoma State could be the next Indiana with a dramatic roster makeover that includes 85 new players. Lane Kiffin’s coaching move to LSU from arch rival Ole Miss generated hours of talk show commentary and a whopping $42 million roster makeover. Can all of that compete with Texas, Georgia, and Texas A&M for SEC supremacy? What about the Ivy League and the Group of Six schools? We’ll talk about it all. Join us, have some fun, hear from special guests, and get ready for the 2026 season.
Early in his career, while working at The Tuscaloosa (AL) News—before spending four decades in Washington, DC, as a congressional press secretary and a public relations professional—Steve Bevis had the opportunity to cover one of the nation’s premier college football programs. While his career moved on from sitting in press boxes on crisp fall afternoons to time on Capitol Hill and a public relations career that included projects with historians, members of Congress, Senators, and Presidents, his passion for college football never waned.
