We have reached what is, perhaps, the trough of the offseason.
This is partly due to the time in between the end of last season and the start of next season being nearly identical and is also due to the fact that there is next to nothing of substance happening right now.
Spring games for most if not all teams are over and official visits for recruits won’t start until after Memorial Day.
Hell, even media days seem like they might as well be decades away.
That hasn’t stopped people from talking, though. And the main topic on everyone’s tongue is .
Most of that is his own doing, but I have to say even I am guilty of mentioning the man’s name when I maybe could have refrained.
What can I say, he’s an easy target.
Today, I’m here to tell you that offseason discourse doesn’t have to center around the Lane Train.
There are plenty of engaging storylines to dive into this summer that won’t include and their carnival barker of a head coach even in the slightest.
Let’s talk some college ball sans Kiffin, shall we?
If it wasn’t for he-who-shall-not-be-named, I can almost guarantee the big talking point this offseason would be about whether the to 24 teams.
I’m sure you all know my thoughts on the matter at this point, but I was shocked to see that the discourse on social media wasn’t quite as lopsided against expansion as I thought it would be.
The argument seems to splinter into two factions: people who view the and people who want more programs to get a bite at the apple.
While it’s noble to want to include everyone in the postseason, it does reek of “participation trophy” vibes, and if you want college football to be this egalitarian society, you’re probably new here and you shouldn’t hold your breath.
College football has always been an aristocracy, and most fans like it that way.
Besides, to level the playing field than an expanded playoff ever could.
Look at my darlings out in Lubbock, Texas Tech.
You’re finally legally allowed to pay players, and all the Red Raiders have done is summon their bottomless pit of billionaires to start purchasing five-star edge rushers and offensive tackles.
Last year was supposed to be Texas Longhorns quarterback coronation.
Many fans thought he should have been starting over Quinn Ewers a season earlier, and bemoaned the fact that the prodigal nephew had to wait his turn in this instant gratification society we have.
2025 arrived, but Manning took a little time to morph into even a shell of what Texas fans expected him to look like.
By the end of the season, though, Arch had put together a hell of a second half of the season, ending with a brilliant performance against Michigan in their bowl game in which the Longhorns signal caller posted a QBR of 99.2 (they measure those bad boys on a scale that goes to 100, by the way).
Now that we’ve seen what Manning is truly capable of, the pressure will be on for him to deliver in 2026.
The redshirt junior is already the presumptive Heisman favorite heading into this season, and the Longhorns will be viewed as one of the teams with the shortest odds to win it all.
Will Manning’s 2026 resemble the first half of 2025, where he looked like a deer in the headlights at times? Or will he look more like the version of himself during the second half of last year, throwing darts all over the field and knocking off top-ten teams like Vanderbilt and Texas A&M?
There’s only one way to find out.
I wrote about this a little earlier with of recruiting rankings, but the talent acquisition landscape as a whole is starting to look a lot different than it has in years past.
Aside from UCLA, you have “new blood” Texas Tech knocking on the door of the top ten and boast
