The 2025 college football season is gaining ground on the horizon. Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that are whetting our appetites for the best sport on earth.
The summer sun is blazing all over this country, and the media is assembling next week for the absurd ritual of SEC media days. That’s right, college football anticipation is beginning to simmer.
Let’s take a look at nine things – three each at Mizzou, around the SEC, and across that nation, that have us excited for the upcoming season.
Mizzou Football
A Real QB Race
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For the first time in a few years, Mizzou has an honest-to-goodness QB position battle in fall camp. Penn State dual-threat transfer Beau Pribula is the clear favorite, but everyone’s favorite backup Sam Horn will give him a run for the spot. In 2024, the Tigers had an entrenched starter in Brady Cook; in 2023, it was a competition with Cook and Horn in name only. In 2022, Cook was the presumptive starter and was tabbed the guy in early summer; 2021 was Bazelak all the way. Not since Drink’s first season in 2020 have we actually had a competition for the first chair.
Maybe I’m wrong and Beau will have the job locked up within the first few practices, much like Cook in 2023. But I hope that is not the case, as honest to goodness competition will make all athletes better. Here’s to iron sharpening iron.
Defensive Depth
Last season, two things in particular plagued the Missouri defense. An injury-riddled front seven lost its effectiveness as bodies were sidelined, and some inexperienced defensive backs gave up too many explosive plays. The balm for both of these wounds was a tidal wave of veterans from the transfer portal. With a star addition at each level — DE Damon Wilson, LB Josiah Trotter, and DB Jaylon Catalon — the starting lineup should be improved, while a half-dozen other veterans improve the rotations. I am really excited to see this group come together, and I think the Tigers will have one of the most underrated defenses in the entire country.
Home schedule
The home schedule rocks this year. Yes, a lot of it stems from the reciprocal nature of the road game woes last season, but those are just opportunities for sweet, sweet revenge. Rematches with last season’s tormentors, Texas A&M and South Carolina, loom large. The rekindling of the Border War will be epic. The mighty Alabama Crimson Tide are coming to town, and that is arguably the fourth biggest home game of the season. What a run.
Around the SEC
Quarterback Depth
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The SEC has potential this fall to be as rich with quarterbacking talent than it ever has. Mizzou’s football roots may lie in the old Big 12, where teams sling it around, but in the southeast, stout defense and running the ball are doctrine. Sure, the league has modernized — Josh Heupel’s offense makes Steve Spurrier’s look downright Stone Age — but this year’s collection of playmakers could be new ground entirely for the league. LaNorris Sellers, Garrett Nussmeier, Diego Pavia and John Mateer are established among the brightest stars in the game. Dual threats like Taylen Green, Beau Pribula, and Marcel Reed can paper over their passing limitations with dynamic running. And the best of the bunch might be Arch Manning and DJ Lagway, two youngsters destined to ascend to the top of the sport — and to the top of the mock drafts. All this prime talent at the most important position in sports will make for a thrilling season in the SEC.
Coaching Carousel
The byproduct of such a QB-rich league will be high expectations for most teams. When some of these Sunday-bound signal callers inevitably spring upsets, a fanbase’s restlessness can reach a fever pitch. One year removed from a change-free offseason, there could be a whirlwind of churn in the conference. Sam Pittman, Brian Kelly, and Mark Stoops have seen their popularity wither, and Brent Venables, Hugh Freeze, and Billy Napier are in now-or-never seasons. Jeff Lebby and Kalen DeBoer had underwhelming debuts at opposite ends of the expectations spectrum. That’s half the league right there! After a season of peace, 2025 might be the year of the interim on the SEC calendar.
DJ Lagway
Okay, I know I just called out the overall depth of quarterbacks in the league, but one precocious young talent in particular has me very excited. Luckily, his Florida Gators are not on Mizzou’s docket this session, so I can be excited to watch him play without feeling personally devastated. Lagway was one of the bluest of blue chips as a recruit, and he got a cup of coffee keeping the Gators treading water last year. He finished just shy of 2,000 yards with 12 touchdowns to nine interceptions, which is pretty impressive for a teenager in God’s own conference. I’m excited to watch this talent passer blossom.
Around The Nation
This wideout group
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Perhaps no position in recruiting was more stacked than last year’s crop of freshman wide receivers. Ryan Williams of Alabama and Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State each put up phenomenal campaigns, while looking NFL ready as teenagers and making some of the most iconic plays of the season. Cam Coleman, Bryant Wesco, Ryan Wingo, and Nick Marsh all showed high-level chops. Take that class, now throw in a deep group of returning stars — Evan Stewart, KC Concepcion, Nic Anderson, Eric Singleton, Jordyn Tyson, Elijah Sarrat, Zachariah Branch, etc — and this position is loaded across the country. Watching a dominant, uncoverable pass catcher is one of college football’s great thrills, and I’m excited to see this group in action.
EA Sports
Initially I had not planned on picking up the second iteration of this game’s triumphant return. While I enjoyed last year’s title, two things were off-putting: Mizzou’s incomplete roster, and the lack of real coaches. Both problems are fixed for this season, which means I’m jonesing for my fix. Who else has dabbled in the new release of this iconic game?
Parity potential
When I mentioned early how deep the quarterback prospects are around the SEC, you know what schools I didn’t mention? Alabama and Georgia, who will both be breaking in new signal callers. Same for Oregon, Ohio State, USC, Miami, Florida State, Notre Dame, Michigan – schools that have recently been living in the top ten range. Of these usual suspects, only Penn State, LSU, and Clemson feel truly confident with proven veterans. (Texas feels great, but we need to see it from Arch.)
What happens if some of these typical mainstay programs don’t hit on QBs? They become vulnerable to upsets, struggle to put away teams, and are in danger of slipping to a – gasp – 8-4 type season and out of the playoff. And what happens when a school like South Carolina, Florida, Arizona State, Vanderbilt, or Baylor with a capital “D” Dude at the position springs the upsets and inserts themselves into the bracket? Baby, you got a chaos stew going. College football fans are both too quick and too scared to invoke the “2007” name, but this kind of elite quarterback distribution is how you end up with a season like that one.