Welcome to the NHL rookie experience: How this season’s class has navigated life on and off the ice
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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporter
HOCKEY PLAYERS KNOW the power of a good video session.
It’s how they study an opponent. Critique their own game. And — thanks to years of recorded highlights available online — admire the exploits of superstars past and present.
Yes, video study is an integral part of an athlete’s day. So it’s no wonder that Columbus Blue Jackets rookie Adam Fantilli has leaned into that again in confronting a whole new life frontier.
“So I’m learning to cook. I’m working on it,” he told ESPN recently. “I have to watch the YouTube videos. I can do, like, a steak and veggies, potatoes; pasta and fish are easy. But when I get a little bit exotic with it? That definitely means watching. I can pretty much do it all, just takes more time to get creative.”
Welcome to the NHL rookie experience.
It’s more than just figuring out how to play in the toughest league on earth. Rookies are navigating extreme on-ice expectations while mastering how to live alone for the first time, finding work-life balance, keeping up with frenzied travel schedules and facing all the real-world pressures of growing up — and growing into their best selves as players and people.
“It’s pretty eye-opening, playing in this league,” Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies said. “It’s challenging to have juice and have energy every day to show up and just be prepared and be willing to sacrifice your body every day and get better. It’s challenging and it’s a lot of fun at the same time.”
Players have spent their rookie seasons searching for a secret sauce to keep them dialed in at home and the rink. Many have been guided by older teammates. Others count on family support. There’s a formula to it for everyone — with some common threads. Those ties that bind are revealed here by nearly a dozen of the NHL’s best freshmen.
“To be honest with you, the best part now is I just get to do what I love for a longer period of time throughout the day,” said Fantilli, the third pick in the 2023 draft. “It’s my job. I’m coming from college [at the University of Michigan] where I had to focus on school half the time and that was taking time away from hockey. But now I can just take all of that time and focus on opponents, focus on myself and just put all my efforts into hockey.”
ROOKIES CAN BECOME ENTHRALLED by the more grandiose parts of professional life.
Buffalo Sabres forward Zach Benson — going straight from the Western Hockey League to a top-six NHL slot — was mesmerized by one in particular.
“I mean, we’re riding on a plane instead of a bus up here? That is life-changing, for sure,” he said. “There’s definitely been some big, huge changes in my life and they’re definitely good changes.”
Case in point: Benson’s living situation. Just like that awe-inspiring upgrade in transportation, Benson’s head was spinning over his luxury five-star dwelling — until something even better than that came along.
“It was pretty crazy living in a hotel to start the season. It was so, so nice,” he said. “They make your room every day. It’s hard to complain. But I’m just moving out of there now and moving into [Sabres’ defenseman] Rasmus Dahlin‘s house. He just offered it, him and his girlfriend. It’s pretty hard to turn that down.”
Benson — who has scored six goals and 18 points through 54 games — isn’t the only one who got an assist from a teammate in that department. Fantilli became acclimated to Columbus while living with Patrik Laine for a few weeks (“he’s an awesome personality”) , and Knies spent all of two nights in a hotel after he landed in Toronto before Leafs captain John Tavares invited him to bunk at his place.
“John opened his doors and was like, ‘Hey, I want you to live with our family,'” Knies recalled. “I checked out with his wife, so that was good. I’d been staying there the whole time, and I actually just got a place of my own. That’s a first. At school [playing for the University of Minnesota], I had a roommate, so this will be the first space of my own. I haven’t really moved everything yet. It’s pretty hectic trying to get settled when we’re playing.”
Brock Faber can relate. The Minnesota Wild standout — who’s second behind Connor Bedard in rookie scoring, with 37 points through 65 games — spent the summer rooming with teammate Sam Walker before seeking out solo accommodations. Faber found a spot easily enough. Making it feel like home is a work in progress.
“I’m just in an apartment here all by myself, first time ever having no roommates,” he said. “I’m enjoying it. But, yeah, still trying to set up the place a little bit. The season started and I did a good job moving in before that, got a good chunk of things, but I’m still missing a few. It’s a busy season, so it’s tough to get it all done.”
Being by their lonesome may be uncharted waters for some rookies. It’s old hand for Anaheim Ducks first-year center Leo Carlsson. What’s not so familiar is being separated from his family by an ocean.
“I’ve been living on my own [in California], but I lived by myself for three years in Sweden before this [while playing in the Swedish Elite League],” he said. “But my parents were maybe one hour away from that place I was living then. I saw them all the time. And now it’s like a 12-hour flight for them. So that’s different. But at least I’m more used to the alone time.”
The same can’t be said for Ridly Greig. The Ottawa Senators rookie — a consistent contributor with nine goals and 21 points — is sharing space alongside teammates Jake Sanderson and Jacob Bernard-Docker, preferring their collective chaos to recharging by himself.
“It’s a lot of fun; it’s always nice having both of them around to hang out and chitchat or watch movies together or whatever you want to do,” he said. “I moved away from home when I was 16 [to play in the WHL] so I had those four years of experience away from my family and that helped to definitely make this a smooth transition. It’s still a bit different going from living with billets [local families who players live with] to on your own with teammates, though. It’s good to have those guys.”
Grieg may be used to not having his parents around physically, but they’re never far from his mind. There’s nothing simple about stepping into a full-time NHL role and Greig fell under a massive leaguewide spotlight in February when his slapshot into an empty net against Toronto drew a crosscheck to the face from Morgan Rielly. The play earned Rielly a five-game suspension and offered Greig new attention he didn’t anticipate.
Whatever the struggle is though, Grieg knows how best to handle it.
“I definitely lean on my dad. I call him a lot,” said Greig. “Whenever I want to pick his brain or whatever it is, he definitely helps me a lot. Not only with ideas for on the ice, but just the mental side of things too.”
FABER CAN SKATE CIRCLES around almost anyone.
But he’s entirely direct about the tough parts of professional life.
“There are positives [throughout the season], but there’s some bad, too,” he said. “It’s a hard league. You’re making mistakes. There’s a lot of travel and back-to-backs. Stuff like that can make things harder. There’s really both sides to the NHL for sure.”
Carlsson felt that, too. Anaheim picked their forward second overall in 2023, an investment immediately producing high expectations. The 19-year-old has responded with a respectable nine goals and 23 points through 40 games, in between missed time nursing a sprained right knee. Carlsson wasn’t fazed by the setbacks though; he’d never tried to predict how Year 1 would go.
“It’s hard to have expectations as a rookie,” he said. “It’s your first year going against the best players in the world. You don’t really know how good they’re going to be or how hard they’re going to hit. The first time I played against Nathan MacKinnon, you realize how good [the best players are] and how fast they are. You just learn so fast how good you’re going to have to be to play in this league.”
It’s a nightly battle for players adjusting to an 82-game schedule with excellence as a baseline. Failing to show up? Not an option.
“I’ve seen it’s a grind, and you’ve got to be ready to play every night and ready to go even when you’re not feeling it,” Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary said. “You’ve got to come in and try and play your best every night. It’s a mental test. So even if you normally do [certain things] to get ready, maybe you do them even longer and even more on those days you don’t feel good, to help the body move a little quicker and a little better on those back-to-backs and those tough games. When you can get your body feeling good, it helps mentally too.”
Another hurdle the rookies must clear is becoming monthly cross-country travelers. Yes, they’re ferried now via private planes instead of coach buses (much to Benson’s delight), but the constant time zone changes coupled with late night check-ins and early-morning wakeups can take their toll.
“Coming from college, I didn’t play that many games last year,” Fantilli said. “I had like Sunday to Thursday to kind of get my body right for the weekend, and we would only have one opponent for two games. So getting used to playing a bunch of different opponents in one week or two weeks and having a quick turnaround on flights and with playing time have been the biggest adjustments.”
“It’s been the biggest surprise,” Wild forward Marco Rossi noted. “Just the amount of games and all the travel is a lot. When you’re playing almost every day, the consistency is the most important thing and that’s what you learn in this league. When you play night in, night out, it’s got to always be at your best and sometimes it gets tiring.”
Teammates become invaluable resources there. Rookies have unencumbered access to veterans who’ve discovered their own hacks to maintain an edge regardless of the circumstance. All the rookies have to do is pay attention.
That is Knies’ strategy anyway. The forward — who’s spent time on Auston Matthews‘ wing while producing 11 goals and 26 points through 62 games — scoured the Leafs’ dressing room for intel on a stable routine that would also remove some of that draining day-to-day monotony.
“It gets repetitive,” he admits of the long NHL season. “I had to switch up [what I was doing]. You’re playing triple the number of games now. I had to find what works with me and I’ve been seeing what other guys do. I’m just picking up on them and seeing things I like and putting it in my game. It’s a lot of stealing things away from other players and just adding it to myself.”
Spoken like a true student of the game. But it’s not all work and no play, either. Balance is the key.
FANTILLI WON’T DENY he’s a rink rat.
When the time finally comes to head home though, there’s no shortage of activities to occupy his non-hockey focused hours.
“I’ll hang out with whatever teammates can hang out. I like to get dinner or lunch or do whatever,” he said. “I don’t get on the sticks too much. I don’t even own a console, to be honest with you. But I like to watch TV shows. A lot.”
Fantilli wholly embraced the habit while sidelined for eight weeks with a calf laceration. The 19-year-old was having a stellar rookie campaign before the injury as a top-line skater for the Blue Jackets, now with 12 goals and 27 points through 49 games.
When Fantilli couldn’t play he channeled his energy elsewhere.
“I’ve actually had a few [TV show binges], believe it or not,” he said. “I have been watching ‘Masters of the Air’ on Apple TV. I watched that ‘Griselda’ show that was on Netflix. It was really good. I watched the ‘Ted’ series. All these are like five episodes long and I’ve been injured, so don’t judge me. But, I’ve been making my way through ‘The Sopranos’ as well.”
Zary’s downtime is similarly filled with couch-sitting, something for which he’s likely had more time lately. The 22-year-old suffered an upper-body injury earlier this month that has held him out of game action; before that, Zary had been on a solid scoring pace with 12 goals and 29 points through 50 games.
“I’m a pretty big binge watcher. That’s my thing,” he said. “Whenever I have a night just to hang out and relax, especially when the schedule can get pretty busy, just spending a couple hours vegging out is something that’s always nice, especially when you’re really tired after a long week or after a lot of games.”
In Knies’ case there’s a best of both worlds, where one solo passion holds space with another more virtually immersive hobby enjoyed with others.
“I wasn’t big into video games but like so many teammates play that I don’t want to miss out on it,” he said. “It’s like peer pressure; it’s like I want to play just to honestly chat with the guys. But I actually got a guitar so I’m learning guitar. I picked it up this summer so I’ve got a good six, seven months in me now. Self-taught to now. I’ve been looking into a teacher but I think it feels more like an accomplishment to be self-taught.”
Given all the time players spend inside it’s a treat for some to recharge outdoors.
Carlsson, who has embraced the shift from frigid Swedish winters to semi-permanent sunshine in California, is an avid golfer (and has a 5 handicap).
Nature is healing for others too. Rossi — who’s third behind teammate Faber in rookie scoring, with 17 goals and 33 points through 65 games — doesn’t look to escape the real world outside the office; he wants to get lost in it. Preferably with company.
“I love to go for a walk,” he said. “Me and my girlfriend, we just bought a dog [a Pomeranian] earlier in the year and it brings you away a little bit from hockey when you think about different things [on the walks] and just turn your brain off a little bit about hockey.”
Benson’s a fan of walking, too. His walks just happen in a different venue. And inadvertently attract attention.
“I’ll search up the local malls,” he said. “You just drive around to find spots that you like. That’s what I’ve done. I actually went to the mall yesterday and a few people recognized me. I don’t mind that, it’s cool to see fans that enjoy watching you play hockey.”
He’s not the only rookie who’s been stopped in his tracks by well-wishers. Rossi said it happens to him in restaurants. Ditto for Fantilli. And they get it. The players are fans, too. And on most nights, guys they admire are directly across from them on the ice.
DMITRI VORONKOV USES words sparingly. But they’re highly effective.
Like when the Blue Jackets forward — who has 31 points through 58 games — dropped his initial takeaways after facing Edmonton captain Connor McDavid.
“It looked like he has arrived from a different planet,” Voronkov said, via a translator. “I don’t think I’ve seen somebody like that, ever.”
Faber recalls the “wild” (no pun intended) feeling of witnessing those iconic players of his youth still crushing the competition — right in front of him.
“You can’t believe you’ve playing against [Sidney] Crosby and [Alex] Ovechkin,” he said. “I watched them a ton growing up. When I was a young kid, they were the superstars of the league and they still are. That’s crazy.”
The trick is not to get distracted in the moment. Carlsson figured that out in a hurry against Pittsburgh.
“I had Sidney Crosby as an idol growing up, so the first time I played against him was really cool,” he said. “When I saw him on the opposite side of the faceoff dot, that was like, wow. It was so cool. But I think when I was out there against him after that first faceoff, I was just focused on playing hockey.”
There’s precious little time for chitchat once the puck gets dropped anyway. So some league veterans make sure to get their hellos in early.
“My first NHL game, Artemi Panarin off the draw kind of tapped me on the shin pads and was like, ‘Welcome to the NHL, kid,'” Benson said. “So that was pretty cool for me.”
Not every rookie gets an ideal NHL greeting, though. Knies points to another, more humbling experience that truly summarized where he was at. And of course, it’s something he’ll never forget.
“Last year at playoffs, I missed the first two power-play meetings,” he laughed. “I had no idea what time [they were] or what was going on. Guys kind of give it to me for that. That was probably my ‘welcome to the NHL moment;’ like, you need to show up, and you need to be ready.”
THERE ARE SOME THINGS for which a rookie can prepare himself. Some can’t be controlled.
Take Faber, for instance. He’s heard the outside chatter for months. It’s saying there’s a chance he’ll be more than just a Calder Trophy finalist. He’ll be a favorite to win.
Chicago’s Bedard looked like the runaway Rookie of the Year leader early in the season. Then Bedard missed six weeks with a fractured jaw and Faber’s increasingly excellent play separated him from the remaining freshman pack.
It’s a nice compliment to Faber that he’s been seen as award-worthy. It’s just not what drives him, especially now when Minnesota is on track to miss the playoffs.
“It’d be really cool and a tremendous honor [to be a finalist] considering how many great rookies there are this year,” he said. “It’s crazy to think that it’s maybe a possibility. But I think every guy in the league would say they’re more focused on the team’s success, and doing what they can for their teammates. Individually, it’s just a pretty cool thing on the side to be mentioned in.”
And there’s another bit of balance that rookies have to find. They might be teenagers and 20-somethings living a dream, but the NHL is a business, too. Winning matters in ways it sometimes hasn’t in the past, with real-world implications — and painful fallout — when players and teams fall short.
Confidence becomes more than just a buzzword: It’s a mantra. The rookies, after all, have to believe they belong — even among the future Hall of Famers.
“It’s not like the guys you’re playing against are not human, you know what I mean?” Carlsson said. “You realize you can be a good player here too, and you don’t have to be worried that you’re not going to make it. If you have confidence out there, you’re going to be fine.”
The trick for Zary has been remembering every skater — regardless of their status — is going through a season-long adventure that inevitably produces highs and lows. The rookies won’t be exempt from, or destroyed by, their struggles.
This is, after all, just the beginning.
“Bad games or a bad day, whatever it is, just let it go, and know the next day is a new day and you can go enjoy that,” he said. “Put a smile on your face and take a step back and realize, you know what, you might have had a bad day, maybe made a couple bad plays, but at the end of the day, you know where you are and you know how good you can be.
“Step back and tell yourself, ‘I’m in the NHL and that’s one of my lifelong goals,’ so you’ve got to kind of pinch yourself sometimes.”
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Kyle Bonagura
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Kyle Bonagura
ESPN Staff Writer
- Covers college football.
- Joined ESPN in 2014.
- Attended Washington State University.
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Mark Schlabach
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Mark Schlabach
ESPN Senior Writer
- Senior college football writer
- Author of seven books on college football
- Graduate of the University of Georgia
The 2025 college football season is nearly here, and while we all look forward to 16 weeks of excitement, upsets and general mayhem, there will be even more where that came from once we hit the postseason.
The highlight of that, of course, is the 12-team College Football Playoff, now in its second year. As in last season’s inaugural CFP, the five highest-ranked conference champions, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams, will make the field. Unlike last year, the four highest-ranked teams (not necessarily conference champions) will be awarded first-round byes. The other eight teams will meet in first-round games at the campus sites of seeds Nos. 5 through 8.
From there, the quarterfinals and semifinals will be played in what had been the New Year’s Six bowls, with this season’s national championship game scheduled for Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
All of that is just the tip of the iceberg, though. Apart from the playoff is the 35-game slate of bowl games, beginning with the Cricket Celebration Bowl on Dec. 13.
We’re here for all of it.
Although no games have yet been played, ESPN bowl gurus Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach are nonetheless projecting every postseason matchup, including their breakdowns of how the playoff will play out, just to whet your appetite for the fun ahead.
And we’ll be back every week of the season until the actual matchups are set.
Jump to a section:
Playoff picks | Quarterfinals
Semis, title game | Bowl season
College Football Playoff
First-round games (at campus sites)
Friday, Dec. 19/Saturday, Dec. 20
Times and networks TBD.
Bonagura: No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Georgia
Schlabach: No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Ohio State
Bonagura: No. 11 Miami at No. 6 Notre Dame
Schlabach: No. 11 Arizona State at No. 6 Alabama
Bonagura: No. 10 Arizona State at No. 7 Alabama
Schlabach: No. 10 LSU at No. 7 Notre Dame
Bonagura: No. 9 LSU at No. 8 Oregon
Schlabach: No. 9 Miami at No. 8 Oregon
First-round breakdown
Bonagura: There shouldn’t be any major surprises here, just as there shouldn’t be any confidence from anyone talking about what to expect in college football come December while we’re still in August. Here in the era of free agency, it has become even harder to have a good sense of what most teams will truly look like, and anyone who says otherwise is just faking it.
The old formula — last season’s success + returning starters (QB?) = projection — isn’t as reliable as it used to be. That said, the usual suspects have the money to remain at the top of the sport and that matters more than ever.
Schlabach: It’s a crapshoot when you’re picking the 12 best teams in mid-August, but I gave it my best shot. I went with Texas, Clemson, Penn State and Georgia as my top four seeds, even though the Longhorns and Bulldogs will be breaking in new starting quarterbacks (although Arch Manning and Gunner Stockton did get some playing time last year). Both teams had to replace a plethora of star players who were selected in the NFL draft, but few programs have recruited as well as Georgia and Texas in recent seasons. Honestly, I could see one of three teams –Texas, Georgia or Alabama — winning the SEC, and I think many people might be sleeping on the Crimson Tide after they lost four games in Kalen DeBoer’s first season as coach. It was never going to be easy for anyone to replace Nick Saban, and I still believe DeBoer is one of the best coaches in the sport.
I love what Clemson is bringing back on the defensive line, and I think Cade Klubnik is going to be a star. Penn State brings back many of its best players from a team that just missed reaching the CFP National Championship game last season. If Drew Allar takes the next step, the Nittany Lions might be the class of the Big Ten.
CFP quarterfinals
Wednesday, Dec. 31
CFP quarterfinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
7:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 1 Texas
Schlabach: No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 1 Texas
Thursday, Jan. 1
CFP quarterfinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida)
Noon, ESPN
Bonagura: No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 4 Clemson
Schlabach: No. 10 LSU vs. No. 2 Clemson
CFP quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential
Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California)
4 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 7 Alabama vs. No. 2 Penn State
Schlabach: No. 6 Alabama vs. No. 3 Penn State
CFP quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl
Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)
8 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 3 Ohio State
Schlabach: No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Georgia
Quarterfinals breakdown
Bonagura: After the 12-team playoff was introduced last year, there was one thing I hammered almost every week in this space: It was ridiculous to give the top four seeds to conference champions. It was a format that punished the No. 1 seed, when one of the main purposes of a seeding system is to reward the best team. (No. 1 Oregon was “rewarded” with a quarterfinal against eventual champion Ohio State.)
The intent was understandable, but good on the powers that be who reversed course after one year and installed the commonsense straight seeding format this year. It will likely mean multiple teams from the same conference will get byes — and that’s fine. In this case, I have two teams from the Big Ten (Penn State and Ohio State), while Mark has two from the SEC (Texas and Georgia).
Schlabach: I had Ohio State, Alabama, LSU and Oregon advancing out of the first-round games. I’m not quite as sold on the Ducks as the other three programs with unproven Dante Moore taking over at quarterback and star receiver Evan Stewart sidelined with a knee injury. Oregon’s defense needs to take another step after allowing 109 points in three games against Ohio State and Penn State (although the Ducks did win two of those games). The Ducks play the Nittany Lions on the road Sept. 27 and they don’t play Ohio State, Illinois or Michigan during the regular season.
If LSU’s defense is markedly better this season, the Tigers could be an SEC title contender. They should have one of the most explosive offenses in the FBS with quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and receiver Aaron Anderson returning, plus a handful of playmakers from the transfer portal.
CFP semifinals, national championship game
Thursday, Jan. 8
CFP semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona)
7:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 1 Texas
Schlabach: No. 4 Georgia vs. No. 1 Texas
Friday, Jan. 9
CFP semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
7:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Penn State
Schlabach: No. 3 Penn State vs. No. 2 Clemson
Monday, Jan. 19
CFP National Championship
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida)
7:45 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: No. 2 Penn State vs. No. 1 Texas
Schlabach: No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 1 Texas
National championship breakdown
Bonagura: According to ESPN BET, there are nine teams with odds of between +550 and +1,500 to win the national title. It’s not a perfect science, of course, but there is a high likelihood the eventual champion will come from that group: Ohio State (+550), Texas (+550), Penn State (+650), Georgia (+800), Clemson (+900), Alabama (+1,000), Notre Dame (+1,100), Oregon (+1,400) and LSU (+1,500). If you’re looking for semifinal teams, then this group is also a good place to start.
Schlabach: I have my top four seeds advancing to the semifinals and top two playing in the CFP National Championship game. As we witnessed last year, the 12-team CFP is much more unpredictable, given the long layoffs for the top seeds and teams getting hot at the right time of the season.
The Georgia-Texas matchup in the Fiesta Bowl would be a rematch of last year’s SEC championship game, which the Bulldogs won 22-19 in overtime. The Longhorns also lost to the Bulldogs at home during the regular season in 2024, and they might have to once again figure out a way to get past them to win the SEC. Texas plays at Georgia on Nov. 15 in one of the league’s most anticipated games. A Penn State-Clemson contest in the Peach Bowl would feature two of the game’s best quarterbacks. It would also be an intriguing chess match with former Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Tom Allen joining Dabo Swinney’s staff this season.
I have Clemson and Texas meeting in the national championship game, and I’ll go with the Longhorns to win it all. That’s putting a lot on Arch Manning in his first season as a starter, and the Texas offensive line is going to have to do a better job of protecting the quarterback than it did in big contests last season.
Complete bowl season schedule
Saturday, Dec. 13
Cricket Celebration Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
Noon, ABC
Bonagura: Southern vs. South Carolina State
Schlabach: Jackson State vs. South Carolina State
LA Bowl
SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, California)
9 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Colorado vs. UNLV
Schlabach: Oregon State vs. San José State
Tuesday, Dec. 16
IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl
Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama)
9 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Appalachian State vs. Western Kentucky
Schlabach: Eastern Michigan vs. Jacksonville State
Wednesday, Dec. 17
StaffDNA Cure Bowl
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
5 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: UConn vs. Florida Atlantic
Schlabach: Northern Illinois vs. Coastal Carolina
68 Ventures Bowl
Hancock Whitney Stadium (Mobile, Alabama)
8:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: James Madison vs. Florida International
Schlabach: Georgia Southern vs. Miami (Ohio)
Friday, Dec. 19
Myrtle Beach Bowl
Brooks Stadium (Conway, South Carolina)
Noon, ESPN
Bonagura: Jacksonville State vs. South Alabama
Schlabach: East Carolina vs. James Madison
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida)
3:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Auburn vs. Boston College
Schlabach: Vanderbilt vs. North Carolina
Monday, Dec. 22
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Albertsons Stadium (Boise, Idaho)
2 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Toledo vs. San José State
Schlabach: Buffalo vs. Air Force
Tuesday, Dec. 23
Boca Raton Bowl
Flagler Credit Union Stadium (Boca Raton, Florida)
2 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: East Carolina vs. Ohio
Schlabach: South Florida vs. Toledo
New Orleans Bowl
Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)
5:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Louisiana vs. Liberty
Schlabach: Louisiana vs. Western Kentucky
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl
Frisco, Texas
9 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Georgia Southern vs. Northern Illinois
Schlabach: North Texas vs. Sam Houston State
Wednesday, Dec. 24
Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl
Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex (Honolulu)
8 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Fresno State vs. Oregon State
Schlabach: UNLV vs. Navy
Friday, Dec. 26
GameAbove Sports Bowl
Ford Field (Detroit)
1 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Maryland vs. Miami (Ohio)
Schlabach: Michigan State vs. Ohio
Rate Bowl
Chase Field (Phoenix)
4:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Baylor vs. Iowa
Schlabach: TCU vs. Minnesota
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
Gerald J. Ford Stadium (Dallas)
8 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Cincinnati vs. Texas State
Schlabach: UTSA vs. Arkansas State
Saturday, Dec. 27
Go Bowling Military Bowl
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (Annapolis, Maryland)
11 a.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Duke vs. Army
Schlabach: Virginia Tech vs. Memphis
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl
Yankee Stadium (Bronx, New York)
Noon, ABC
Bonagura: North Carolina vs. Illinois
Schlabach: Pittsburgh vs. Iowa
Wasabi Fenway Bowl
Fenway Park (Boston)
2:15 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: NC State vs. Navy
Schlabach: NC State vs. Tulane
Pop-Tarts Bowl
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
3:30 p.m., ABC
Bonagura: SMU vs. Texas Tech
Schlabach: Louisville vs. Texas Tech
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl
Arizona Stadium (Tucson, Arizona)
4:30 p.m., CW Network
Bonagura: Bowling Green vs. Colorado State
Schlabach: Bowling Green vs. Fresno State
Isleta New Mexico Bowl
University Stadium (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
5:45 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Hawai’i vs. Cal
Schlabach: Colorado State vs. Texas State
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
EverBank Stadium (Jacksonville, Florida)
7:30 p.m. ABC
Bonagura: Virginia Tech vs. Missouri
Schlabach: Georgia Tech vs. Missouri
Kinder’s Texas Bowl
NRG Stadium (Houston)
9:15 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: BYU vs. Texas A&M
Schlabach: Iowa State vs. Tennessee
Monday, Dec. 29
Birmingham Bowl
Protective Stadium (Birmingham, Alabama)
2 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Arkansas vs. Tulane
Schlabach: Auburn vs. Boston College
Tuesday, Dec. 30
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl
Independence Stadium (Shreveport, Louisiana)
2 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Iowa State vs. Louisiana Tech
Schlabach: BYU vs. Liberty
Music City Bowl
Nissan Stadium (Nashville, Tennessee)
5:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Minnesota vs. Oklahoma
Schlabach: Michigan vs. Ole Miss
Valero Alamo Bowl
Alamodome (San Antonio)
9 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Kansas State vs. Washington
Schlabach: Kansas State vs. USC
Wednesday, Dec. 31
ReliaQuest Bowl
Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida)
Noon, ESPN
Bonagura: Indiana vs. Ole Miss
Schlabach: Indiana vs. South Carolina
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl
Sun Bowl Stadium (El Paso, Texas)
2 p.m., CBS
Bonagura: Virginia vs. UCLA
Schlabach: Florida State vs. Colorado
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl
Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)
3 p.m., ABC
Bonagura: Michigan vs. Tennessee
Schlabach: Illinois vs. Texas A&M
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)
3:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Nebraska vs. Utah
Schlabach: Nebraska vs. Utah
Friday, Jan. 2
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Amon G. Carter Stadium (Fort Worth, Texas)
1 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: TCU vs. Memphis
Schlabach: Kansas vs. Army
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (Memphis, Tennessee)
4:30 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Kansas vs. Florida
Schlabach: Baylor vs. Oklahoma
Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, North Carolina)
8 p.m., ESPN
Bonagura: Louisville vs. South Carolina
Schlabach: Duke vs. Florida
TBD
Holiday Bowl
Snapdragon Stadium (San Diego)
Time TBD, Fox
Bonagura: Georgia Tech vs. USC
Schlabach: SMU vs. Washington
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Max Olson
There’s no need to wait five months to find out the ending of this upcoming college football season. We can just ask EA Sports’ College Football 26.
We’ve simulated the 2025 season multiple times in Dynasty mode in search of answers to all the big questions. Who’s getting into the 12-team College Football Playoff? Who’s taking home the Heisman Trophy? Which programs can win it all and which ones are heading toward a coaching search?
Trying to gather as much data as possible, we simulated this season 25 times. We didn’t play any of the games, didn’t adjust rosters or ratings and didn’t alter default settings. We put our faith and trust in the game to forecast the future, and the results could be rather astounding. Here is CFB 26’s take on the season ahead.
Who gets into the College Football Playoff?
Over 25 simulations of this 2025 season, 52 different programs earned at least one College Football Playoff appearance. We love to see that chaos.
The teams that most frequently made the playoff probably won’t shock anyone: Georgia (19), Penn State (19), Miami (18), Oregon (17), Texas Tech (17) and Texas (15). Though that’s a lot of love for the Hurricanes, the game was also quite confident in Clemson (14) and Duke (14) earning CFP bids out of the ACC. Notre Dame earned an at-large spot in the CFP in 10 of the 25 seasons.
Some of the most successful programs of the College Football Playoff era had a tougher time consistently contending in these simulations. Defending national champ Ohio State appeared in 11 of the 25 brackets and reached the national championship game just three times. Alabama earned just five CFP bids and never played for a title.
The list of Power 4 teams that made multiple CFP appearances included Baylor, Auburn, Nebraska, Kansas State, Colorado, Mississippi State, Pitt, SMU and Utah. One rather stunning outcome: LSU’s loaded preseason top-10 team made it in only twice.
Every SEC program got into the CFP at least once — except Kentucky. Florida State, North Carolina, BYU, TCU, Iowa, UCLA and Wisconsin were also among the 23 Power 4 teams that made zero playoff appearances in 25 attempts.
Over all these simulations, the game generated multiple scenarios with 9-3 teams making the bracket. In fact, 50% of all at-large bids (35) went to teams with 9-3 records. In four of those seasons, a 9-3 squad — Georgia twice, Ohio State and Oregon once — won the national championship.
In four instances, the virtual committee put a 9-4 team in the bracket. During one extreme season, a CFP featured six SEC teams that included an 8-4 Auburn squad.
The Big Ten scored more CFP bids (87) than the SEC (83) over our 25 sims, put more teams in the semifinals and won more national titles. The ACC outpaced the Big 12 54-40 in CFP bids earned.
Georgia vs. Penn State title race
Fourteen programs won CFP national championships over the 25 simulations, and no one program was playing for national titles every time. But two clearly moved to the front of the pack: Georgia and Penn State.
The Bulldogs reached the semifinals in 12 of their 19 playoff seasons and delivered Kirby Smart’s third national championship in five of their seven national title games. James Franklin’s squad was just as impressive with 11 semifinals, nine trips to the title game and five championships.
Who else took home the trophy? Oregon (three) and Ohio State (two) won multiple national titles, but the mix of programs that won it all once was far more compelling: Clemson, Florida, Illinois, Miami, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and USC.
Just like in real life in 2024, earning a top-four seed and a first-round bye did not prove exceedingly beneficial in these 12-team CFP sims. Only seven top-four seeds won national championships.
Just one No. 1 seed went all the way in a simulation: Oklahoma. John Mateer and the Sooners rolled to a 12-1 season and an SEC title win over Georgia, dominated their first two playoff games and pulled off a 24-16 comeback win over Oregon in the championship.
The chaos brackets
Texas Tech has championship ambitions for 2025 and has invested a ton of money in its roster to construct a contender. In one of our simulations — let’s refer to these as Seasons A through Y, so this was Season O — the Red Raiders made Cody Campbell’s dreams come true with a 15-1 season and the program’s first national championship.
Clemson’s 13-0 season, led by Heisman Trophy winner Cade Klubnik, fell apart in the Orange Bowl with a 44-9 loss to Miami. That upset helped clear the path for the Big 12 champs to take down Indiana and Miami and advance to the title game, where they ran into … Nebraska!
The 10-2 Huskers earned a No. 6 seed, won their first-round home game against Iowa State, defeated old rival Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl and blew out Big Ten champ Penn State in the semifinals. In a showdown between Joey McGuire and his mentor Matt Rhule, the Red Raiders prevailed 35-13.
Season U also delivered an ending that would be deeply dissatisfying to SEC fans. Only three teams from the conference — SEC champ South Carolina, Texas A&M and Georgia — earned CFP bids, and all three were bounced quickly, with No. 12 seed Boise State taking down the Aggies and Gamecocks.
The resulting semifinal featured the Broncos, Penn State, Oregon and Illinois and set up a Big Ten title game rematch in the national championship. Penn State won 54-7 in Indianapolis, but Luke Altmyer and his three-loss Illini squad pulled off a stunner in the title game, a 34-31 victory for the program’s first national title since 1951.
In Season T, Florida started 2-2, with losses to South Florida and Miami, which undoubtedly put virtual Billy Napier’s job in jeopardy. The Gators then went on a 12-game win streak, with DJ Lagway putting up 4,736 total yards and 42 TDs and Jadan Baugh emerging as the nation’s leading rusher. They met 15-0 Clemson in the national title game and spoiled their perfect season with a 27-17 victory.
One more simulation that delivered a compelling finale: Season X had Miami quarterback Carson Beck leading the Hurricanes to a 16-0 season and a 47-26 rout of Georgia in a national championship home game at the Orange Bowl. How’s that for a redemptive arc?
Boise State still the G5 favorite
Even without superstar running back Ashton Jeanty, Boise State was still the clear No. 1 among the Group of 5 teams vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff. The Broncos earned CFP bids in 11 of our simulations, followed by Southern Miss and Tulane getting in four times each. We also saw Arkansas State, Jacksonville State, James Madison, Liberty, South Florida and UNLV nab the No. 12 seed in various seasons.
The G5 earned multiple College Football Playoff bids in just one of the 25 season sims, with Boise State (12-1) and Tulane (11-2) earning the No. 9 and No. 11 seeds, respectively. They nearly got three in that year, too, with Memphis finishing 13th in the final CFP rankings.
Sadly, no G5 teams pulled off a Cinderella run to a national championship. Boise State came close as a No. 12 seed in Season E, with a stunning 44-41 road win at Oregon in double overtime, followed by victories over Tennessee and Texas Tech. But the Broncos ran into an unstoppable USC team, losing 45-10 in the national title game.
Conference title scoreboard
Curious which teams the video game likes to win each conference race? Here’s the breakdown. The SEC race was arguably the most competitive, with nine programs winning the league over our 25 simulations. The biggest surprise was defending national champ Ohio State winning just one Big Ten title despite being one of the highest-rated teams in the game, and the same was true for Alabama and LSU.
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— EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) June 30, 2025
ACC: Miami (11), Clemson (6), Duke (5), Louisville (1), Pitt (1), SMU (1)
Big Ten: Oregon (10), Penn State (8), USC (3), Michigan (2), Indiana (1), Ohio State (1)
Big 12: Texas Tech (11), Arizona State (4), Baylor (2), Colorado (2), Iowa State (2), Kansas State (2), Utah (1), West Virginia (1)
SEC: Georgia (6), Texas (6), Texas A&M (4), Oklahoma (3), Florida (2), Alabama (1), LSU (1), South Carolina (1), Tennessee (1)
American: Tulane (11), Memphis (4), Navy (4), USF (4), North Texas (1), UTSA (1)
Conference USA: Liberty (7), Jacksonville State (5), Florida International (4), Sam Houston (4), Middle Tennessee (2), UTEP (2), Kennesaw State (1)
MAC: Toledo (10), Buffalo (8), Miami (Ohio) (5), Ball State (1), Western Michigan (1)
Mountain West: Boise State (15), UNLV (5), Colorado State (1), Hawaii (1), Nevada (1), San Jose State (1), Wyoming (1)
Sun Belt: Southern Miss (14), James Madison (6), Arkansas State (4), Old Dominion (1)
Who wins the Heisman?
Clemson’s Klubnik has the best chances of taking home the Heisman Trophy this season if these simulations are to be believed. Klubnik is tied for the highest-rated QB in the game and won six Heismans over these 25-season sims. The game has a lot of love for new Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch, too. The speedy USC transfer finished as the nation’s leading receiver in six of these seasons, including a school-record 1,799 receiving yards in one sim, and won the Heisman four times.
Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin, Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar and Oregon’s Makhi Hughes won Heisman Trophies in multiple seasons of our simulation. The list of one-time winners has an impressive variety: Colorado QB Kaidon Salter, Pitt QB Eli Holstein, USC QB Jayden Maiava, Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza, Louisville RB Isaac Brown and even Miami WR Tony Johnson.
Texas’ Arch Manning did not win the Heisman in any of these seasons and never finished in the top five in Heisman voting, even in the season in which the Longhorns won a national title. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier finished in the top five only once, and Penn State’s Drew Allar did so only twice.
South Florida QB Byrum Brown finished in the top five of Heisman voting in five sims. One season, his top receiver Chas Nimrod finished second for the Heisman. Miami (Ohio) veteran QB Dequan Finn also earned a second-place finish in another season.
The greatest season of all time
Ohio State phenom Jeremiah Smith was a Heisman finalist in 11 of our 25 simulations and won three times, which makes sense given he’s the highest-rated player in the video game. In several of these seasons, Smith put up ridiculous stats and set single-season program records.
In Season V, the sophomore playmaker put together the greatest season by a wide receiver in FBS history. Smith’s final stat line: 170 catches for 2,382 receiving yards and 28 touchdowns.
His quarterback, Sayin, also broke the FBS single-season passing record with 6,312 yards. Yes, they did it over 16 games. But how they did it was more dramatic than their title run in 2024. The Buckeyes went 9-3 with losses to Wisconsin, Penn State and Rutgers. They barely defeated Michigan 20-19 but still got the No. 8 seed in the CFP.
The Buckeyes had to beat Michigan again in a first-round rematch in Columbus, knocked out a 13-0 Oklahoma team in the Sugar Bowl quarterfinals, returned to the championship game and pulled off a 42-35 overtime win over Georgia for back-to-back national titles.
Stars hit the portal
The transfer portal in College Football 26 has expanded and now features thousands of players making moves every season. Huge names such as Texas’ Colin Simmons, Colorado’s Jordan Seaton, Louisville’s Isaac Brown and Minnesota’s Koi Perich, plus a bunch of big-time starting quarterbacks (Rocco Becht, Avery Johnson, Noah Fifita), consistently entered the portal at the end of the season in our 25 simulations. And on rare occasions, it got more improbable.
Texas quarterback Arch Manning hit the portal in three of our 25 simulations after coach Steve Sarkisian left for Michigan (more on that below). Manning stayed in the SEC each time, signing with Georgia in two of the seasons and landing at Alabama in one.
Florida’s Lagway entered the portal in five of our 25 sims with Alabama, Texas and USC emerging as his preferred destinations. In one season, Manning and Lagway made the bizarre decision to team up in Tuscaloosa and compete with Ty Simpson for the starting job.
Season N ended with Texas A&M going 15-1 and defeating Miami to win its first national championship since 1939. And then, for some bizarre reason, Aggies starting QB Marcel Reed entered the portal and transferred to Ole Miss. Oklahoma’s Michael Hawkins Jr. transferred in to replace him in College Station and try to lead a repeat.
Carousel craziness
The addition of real college football head coaches and coordinators makes the coaching carousel in Dynasty mode far more comical in College Football 26. In most of these 25 simulations, the game produced end-of-season coaching changes that would shake up the sport.
In 12 of the 25 seasons, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney replaced Kalen DeBoer at Alabama. It’s worth noting that the Crimson Tide earned just five CFP appearances and took home zero national titles in these simulations. Each time Swinney left, Clemson responded by hiring Shane Beamer from rival South Carolina or hiring Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss.
Michigan was another playoff-or-bust program in these simulations and moved on from Sherrone Moore at the end of 12 of 25 seasons. In 11 of those 12 scenarios, the Wolverines pulled off a stunner and hired Steve Sarkisian from Texas. The one time they didn’t get Sark, they grabbed Oregon’s Dan Lanning.
The Longhorns’ coaching searches typically focused on Kiffin but occasionally resulted in hiring Mike Norvell, Joey McGuire or Kyle Whittingham. In one simulation, they shocked the world and picked Lincoln Riley. In three other sims, Riley left USC and moved back to Norman, Oklahoma, to lead the Sooners.
If you’re rooting for an all-time crazy carousel cycle, Season U stood out. In that simulation, Alabama and Michigan had coaching vacancies after DeBoer and Moore went to the NFL. Michigan hiring Sarkisian led to Norvell at Texas, Jedd Fisch at Florida State, Kyle Whittingham at Washington and Justin Wilcox at Utah. Swinney went to Alabama, Kiffin went to Clemson and Rhett Lashlee replaced him at Ole Miss. Beamer didn’t get the Clemson job but landed at LSU. Matt Campbell filled the South Carolina opening in this scenario, and Brian Kelly landed on his feet at Auburn.
But there’s more! Oklahoma brought back Riley, Brent Venables took over rival Oklahoma State and the Trojans turned to Bret Bielema as their next head coach — right after he led the Illini to the national championship. Eastern Michigan’s Chris Creighton was the lucky coach who took over the defending national champs.
If any of these unthinkable outcomes occur in real life in 2025, just remember: You heard it here first.
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