5 College Football Programs That Should Be Worried After Week 13
TJ Inman
Host · Writer
The calendar has turned to November, the coaching carousel is spinning out of control, and college football season has reached the final week of the regular season! Which five teams should be worried as we enter the final week of the 2025 college football regular season?
1. Miami Hurricanes
The Miami Hurricanes comfortably dispatched the Virginia Tech Hokies, improving to 9-2 on the season and 5-2 in the ACC. There are two significant concerns as we turn our attention to the final week of the regular season: their chances of making the College Football Playoff and the weather in the finale against the Pittsburgh Panthers. Despite the head-to-head win over Notre Dame, the College Football Playoff Committee has made it clear that they view the Fighting Irish as the superior team. That means Miami needs help to move up, and the teams immediately around them did not provide any assistance this past weekend. This Saturday, the Hurricanes will face a dangerous Pittsburgh team, and the game is expected to kick off with temperatures in the low 30s, a historical problem for Mario Cristobal’s teams.
Miami (-6.5) at Pittsburgh
2. USC Trojans
USC fought hard but was outplayed in all three phases of the game, falling to the Oregon Ducks and all but ensuring it will be left out of the College Football Playoff. In Year 4 of the Lincoln Riley era, expectations are much higher than the product delivered thus far. Despite currently having the No. 1 recruiting class signed for the 2026 season, Riley’s agent has been shopping his client around, looking for a landing spot amid mounting pressure in Los Angeles. If Riley does stay, can he put it all together despite likely losing his best wide receivers to the NFL?
UCLA at USC (-20.5)
3. Nebraska Cornhuskers
This was supposed to be the year for Nebraska to break through and challenge for the College Football Playoff. It’s Matt Rhule’s third season in charge, something that has historically meant ten-win seasons. Rhule led his Huskers to State College and was thoroughly dismantled by the Penn State Nittany Lions under interim coach Terry Smith, losing 37-10. Despite missing Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State on this year’s schedule, the Huskers are 7-4 with a Big Ten record of just 4-4. For a team with a ton of veteran pieces and a schedule that set up so kindly, that is nowhere near good enough, and Nebraska fans have to be at least a little bit concerned about the contract extension that Rhule just signed.
Iowa (-6.5) at Nebraska
4. Louisville Cardinals
Rewind three 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 before a critical game against SMU. The Cardinals were terrible on defense and lost to Cal, and then on a 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. On Saturday, Louisville was waxed by the SMU Mustangs and showed no heart as they lost 38-6. 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 gigantic waste after threatening to break through and looking like a dangerous team as November began.
Kentucky at Louisville (-3.5)
5. Utah Utes
The Utah Utes are just outside of the College Football Playoff bracket. They need a loss by the BYU Cougars, plus they need to win out to make the Big 12 Championship Game, or they need a bit of help from teams around them in the rankings if they are to sneak into the playoff field. In addition, playing and winning impressively seem necessary. Utah took on a very average Kansas State team at home on Saturday and was anything but impressive. The Utes escaped with a win, but they surrendered 574 yards, including 472 on the ground, as the Wildcats averaged a shocking 11.2 yards per carry. No one around them in the rankings lost, and the defense of Utah has to cause concern for the College Football Playoff Committee. They close with Kansas this weekend.
Utah (-13.5) at Kansas
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