Congratulations. We made it. The long and lonely offseason is over and there isn’t another weekend without college football for the rest of 2025. The upcoming season could be a banner year for the 13 FBS programs in the Lone Star State as four teams enter the year ranked inside the Top 25 in the AP and Coaches Poll. As many as eight could be considered conference championship contenders and at least 11 possess a legitimate path to a bowl game. 

With Week Zero upon us and Sam Houston days away from kicking off the CFB season, here are 10 storylines to watch during the 2025 season. 

10. Rice’s new look option attack 

Rice was looking for a new head coach with a unique offensive identity and a history of winning at elite academic institutions that lacked consistent success in football. Enter Scott Abell. He’s a former state champion high school coach from Virginia who won at Washington and Lee and Davidson once he moved up to the collegiate ranks. Abell runs a unique offense that he calls “Gun Choice.” In reductive terms, it is an option-based attack out of the shotgun. We’re not sure it’ll result in wins right away but we can’t wait to watch it at the FBS level. 

9. 5-star QB in El Paso

QB Malachi Nelson chose UTEP as his third stop after previous stints at USC and Boise State. He was the Gatorade Player of the Year twice during an illustrious prep career in California and was a five-star prospect who was supposed to return the Trojans to glory. Instead, he couldn’t hold down starting jobs at USC or Boise State. The Miners offer new life to Nelson, who is undoubtedly the most talented thrower in a crowded quarterback room. A starter isn’t yet named, but it is hard to believe Nelson’s upside doesn’t buy him the first crack at the position. 

8. North Texas’ defense 

The Mean Green defense ranked 119th nationally in scoring defense while allowing 34.2 points per game in 2024 and that was somehow a three-point improvement from 2023 when North Texas allowed 37.1 points per game and ranked 131st out of 133 teams in the statistic. Head coach Eric Morris made the most pivotal hire of his career in the offseason when he nabbed defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity from Sam Houston. 

Cassity led a Bearkats defense that ranked 21st in the FBS in scoring defense while allowing 20.5 points per game in his only season in Huntsville. That was a 43-spot jump and a six-point improvement on the defense he inherited. Those improvements defensively carried a Sam Houston program that miraculously won 10 games in Year 2 as an FBS program. North Texas was one of the more prolific offenses in America during Morris’ first two seasons in charge. If the defense improves right away, the Mean Green could be a dark horse AAC contender. 

7. Offensive evolution in Houston 

The only team to score fewer points than Houston’s 168 last season was Kent State at 167. No team in the FBS scored fewer touchdowns than the Cougars in Willie Fritz’s first season at the helm. He hired Slade Nagle at offensive coordinator in the offseason and added a ton through the portal, headlined by former five-star QB Conner Weigman. Nagle worked for Fritz at Tulane when the Green Wave became a G5 powerhouse. 

The offense will improve in 2025, if for no other reason than it can’t be worse. Weigman should thrive in the Big 12 if healthy. The running back stable added Dean Connors from Rice into a deep and talented room. The Cougars raved all offseason about its new additions at wide receiver and tight end. And the biggest improvement of all might be along the offensive line, which could have as many as four new starters added from the portal. 

6. UTSA, Texas State are the state’s G6 contenders

The state of Texas is home to six G6 programs and two of them enter 2025 as legitimate conference contenders – UTSA and Texas State. The Roadrunners are amongst the five best teams in the AAC entering the season because of QB Owen McCown and one of the most proven offensive rosters at the G6 level. Texas State lost a ton from last season’s team through the portal and to graduation but G.J. Kinne’s best skill as a head coach might be evaluation. He overhauled the roster heading into 2023 and elevated the Bobcats to new heights. He could pull that off again if his new crop of portal additions hit. 

5. Can Baylor, TCU, or Houston crash Big 12 party? 

Predicting the Big 12 is always fool’s gold. Baylor in 2021. TCU in 2022. Oklahoma State in 2023. Arizona State in 2024. There are always a few teams that emerge from nowhere to play for the Big 12 crown and a few expected favorites that fall to the bottom of the pack. We expect 2025 to be no different. The four teams with the most buzz to win the Big 12 are Kansas State, Texas Tech, Arizona State, and Utah. 

A trio of Texas teams occupy that next tier. Baylor was a popular offseason dark horse pick in media circles because of what the Bears return offensively, namely QB Sawyer Robertson and RB Bryson Washington. TCU also returns a prolific QB in Josh Hoover, who spurned Tennessee interest after setting the Horned Frog record for most passing yards in a season. And then there is Houston. Willie Fritz typically makes a jump in Year 2 at previous stops and the early season schedule sets up for the Cougars to build momentum into October. 

4. SMU’s second act in the Power Four 

Most programs jumping from G5 to P4 struggled prior to SMU’s arrival in the ACC. The Ponies reached the ACC championship game and the CFP in Year 1 at the big boy’s table. Repeating that success won’t be easy, however, because the road is much tougher. There is a chance that the Ponies are improved but the record doesn’t show it by the end of 2025. The non-conference includes Baylor and a trip to TCU. The ACC slate involves a trip to Clemson and home games against Miami and Louisville. 

SMU is recruiting better than ever and the raw talent and depth on the Hilltop is better than ever, but is all that talent ready to win this season? The defense lost a ton of experience, especially along the defensive line. The offense lost star running back Brashard Smith and most of its production at wide receiver. A slight step back might be expected.  

3. Marcel Reed’s evolution as a passer 

Texas A&M is entering 2025 with high aspirations. Many consider the Aggies dark horse SEC contenders and potential College Football Playoff debutants in Year 2 under Mike Elko. They should be one of the nation’s best rushing teams because of a deep and talented offensive line, a stacked stable of running backs, and the electric legs of quarterback Marcel Reed. The Wrecking Crew figures to take a large step forward in a second year in Elko’s system. On paper, it is easy to buy a 9- or 10-win season in College Station. 

The hesitancy by some to anoint Texas A&M as a legit contender in 2025 comes down to Reed’s throwing ability. The Aggies lost their last four games against Power Four opponents to end 2025 and that was with Reed as the starter. His best performances came in games or weeks in which the opponents didn’t spend all week preparing for him. All reports out of Aggieland are that Reed has evolved and that his targets were improved through the portal, but it’ll be those 12 Saturdays in the fall that tell the tale. 

2. Texas Tech’s quest for a Big 12 championship 

The ceiling is now the floor for Texas Tech thanks to hefty investments by donors such as Cody Campbell and John Sellers into the roster, the coaching staff, and the facilities. There is no hiding from the fact that it is Big 12 championship game or bust for the Red Raiders in 2025. Their roster costs more than any of their Big 12 peers and the schedule is relatively favorable outside the road trips to Utah, Arizona State, and Kansas State. Go 2-1 in those games and the ticket to Arlington is assuredly punched. 

But new money doesn’t always break old systems. At least not right away. Texas Tech added two new coordinators and potentially 11 new starters through the transfer portal. That’s a lot of new faces that need to gel in the ultimate team sport. An easy non-conference schedule does allow for a runway, but Florida State in 2024 is the ultimate example of how the wheels can fall off when adversity hits a team full of mercenaries. Joey McGuire is the ultimate culture guy and this season will test his acumen in that regard. 

1. Arch Manning. Arch Manning. Arch Manning.

The players typically aren’t the stars in college football. By the time someone becomes a household name, he’s off to the NFL draft. The recognizable faces and names in college football are typically the head coaches because they’re the constant. Players revolve in and out of programs in four or five years, and with the advent of the transfer portal, it is usually more often than that. 

There are few Tim Tebows and Johnny Manziels. Other factors, like the fact that the players wear helmets and the loss of the NCAA video game, also contribute to the lack of star power in America’s second most popular sport, trailing only the NFL. 

Manning is an outlier. He’s not just a college football star, he’s royalty. His famous last name means that the Longhorn quarterback will be discussed on national shows that rarely discuss college football like First Take, and when they do, it is typically about a Godfather figure like Nick Saban or a polarizing figure like Deion Sanders. 

Manning’s name will be everywhere. Every game a showcase. He’s been groomed for this his whole life, but it is still a big challenge for a young man entering his first full season as a starter. Win or lose, good or bad, he will be dissected and discussed in a way few college football players are on a national level.