NCAAF · 2 hours ago

5 College Football Programs That Should Be Worried After Week 12

TJ Inman

Host · Writer

5. Maryland Terrapins
The Maryland Terrapins began the 2025 campaign 4-0, but they have dropped six straight games and are now 4-6, in danger of missing a bowl game. This is an all too familiar feeling for Maryland fans: start hot, get your hopes up, hit the skids as you enter the meat of the schedule. The Terrapins have some promising young talent, notably on the defensive line and at quarterback. Still, they have not shown the ability to retain coveted players in the NIL era, and losing those good pieces is a genuine concern. This past weekend, the Maryland administration leaked that they would be keeping Mike Locksley for another season and there would be an "uptick" in financial commitment to the football program. Will that be enough to not only keep those young pieces but to surround them with enough talent to overcome the lack of adjustments and general malaise of the Locksley era? Maryland fans likely have their doubts about that.

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1. Alabama Crimson Tide
The Alabama Crimson Tide dominated the Oklahoma Sooners in Tuscaloosa, nearly doubling them in yardage and holding the Sooners to only 212 total yards. However, the Crimson Tide ran for just 2.4 yards per carry, turned the ball over three times, and were woeful on special teams as Oklahoma upset the Tide 23-21. Alabama had a 96% win probability post-game, but ultimately, all that matters is that the Tide are now 8-2 and have zero margin for error to make the College Football Playoff. Alabama will travel to Auburn for its final game and must win the Iron Bowl on the road. That, in itself, is a gigantic cause for concern. More concerning is that the offense continues to struggle to run the ball, and now they are having a hard time stretching the field with the vertical passing game. If the Tide can’t get that figured out, it will be a very short College Football Playoff run (if they make the field).

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2. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are 9-1 and in the driver’s seat to take on Virginia in the ACC Championship Game, but they have been far from impressive, and there is a distinctive lack of quality wins on the resume. The Yellow Jackets lost to North Carolina State, allowing 48 points, and needed a late rally to get past last-place Boston College, prevailing 36-34. If Georgia Tech is "for real," they’ll prove it in the next two weeks with a game against Pitt and then the rivalry contest with Georgia to close the regular season. Haynes King covers a lot of warts, but the defense is spiraling down, and the Yellow Jackets have now given up 186 points in ACC play. That includes 82 points in the past two games, 29 against Wake Forest and 20 against Virginia Tech.

Week 13: Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech (-2.5)
3. Texas Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns are 7-3 and still ranked in the top 20 after getting obliterated by the Georgia Bulldogs in the second half in Athens. Texas has the neutral-field win over Oklahoma with a banged-up quarterback, a three-point home victory over Vanderbilt, plus losses at Ohio State and Georgia, and an ugly road defeat to the Florida Gators. If the Longhorns beat Arkansas and Texas A&M, do they make the playoff field at 9-3? Maybe so, but it’d be hard to argue that this season has been anything other than a major disappointment for the preseason top two Longhorns. Steve Sarkisian is now drawing comparisons to James Franklin on Texas message boards as a coach who regularly fails to win big games. That doesn’t seem entirely fair to Sarkisian, but if that stigma sets in with a fan base, perception becomes reality very quickly.
4. Louisville Cardinals
Rewind two weeks, and the Louisville Cardinals were a hot pick to make the College Football Playoff, and they had home games against Cal and Clemson coming up to strengthen their record. The Cardinals were terrible on defense and lost to Cal, and then on Friday night, they had a handful of unsportsmanlike penalties and personal fouls and were incredibly poor in the kicking game, and fell to the Clemson Tigers to fall to 7-3 and disappear entirely from the top 25 and the College Football Playoff picture. Louisville has a very veteran team, and the Cardinals will rue this missed opportunity. Jeff Brohm flirted with some other jobs before signing an extension to stay in his hometown, so there’s at least a silver lining, but this season now feels like a huge missed opportunity.
5. Maryland Terrapins
The Maryland Terrapins began the 2025 campaign 4-0, but they have dropped six straight games and are now 4-6, in danger of missing a bowl game. This is an all too familiar feeling for Maryland fans: start hot, get your hopes up, hit the skids as you enter the meat of the schedule. The Terrapins have some promising young talent, notably on the defensive line and at quarterback. Still, they have not shown the ability to retain coveted players in the NIL era, and losing those good pieces is a genuine concern. This past weekend, the Maryland administration leaked that they would be keeping Mike Locksley for another season and there would be an "uptick" in financial commitment to the football program. Will that be enough to not only keep those young pieces but to surround them with enough talent to overcome the lack of adjustments and general malaise of the Locksley era? Maryland fans likely have their doubts about that.

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1. Alabama Crimson Tide
The Alabama Crimson Tide dominated the Oklahoma Sooners in Tuscaloosa, nearly doubling them in yardage and holding the Sooners to only 212 total yards. However, the Crimson Tide ran for just 2.4 yards per carry, turned the ball over three times, and were woeful on special teams as Oklahoma upset the Tide 23-21. Alabama had a 96% win probability post-game, but ultimately, all that matters is that the Tide are now 8-2 and have zero margin for error to make the College Football Playoff. Alabama will travel to Auburn for its final game and must win the Iron Bowl on the road. That, in itself, is a gigantic cause for concern. More concerning is that the offense continues to struggle to run the ball, and now they are having a hard time stretching the field with the vertical passing game. If the Tide can’t get that figured out, it will be a very short College Football Playoff run (if they make the field).

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5 College Football Programs That Should Be Worried After Week 12

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