From Ohtani’s two-way return to becoming the villains of baseball: Five questions facing Dodgers in spring training
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Alden Gonzalez
PECOTA, the popular projection system by Baseball Prospectus, released its estimated win totals for the 2025 season earlier this week. And though you probably won’t be surprised to learn which team sits on top, it’s important to note by how much.
The Los Angeles Dodgers project for a whopping 104 victories in 2025, according to PECOTA, 12 more than the second-place Atlanta Braves. In thousands of simulated seasons, the Dodgers made the playoffs 99.6% of the time. Their chances of winning the World Series — and becoming the first repeat champions in more than 20 years — sit at 21.5%, nearly three times more than anybody else’s. And if you’re waiting for this run of dominance to subside, have some patience — ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel has ranked the Dodgers’ farm system first in the industry heading into the season.
“It’s a great time to be a Dodger,” Mookie Betts said during the team’s annual fan event at Dodger Stadium last weekend, attended by a capacity crowd of 25,000.
It’s also a busy time.
The Dodgers played into late October while defeating the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series and will begin the season more than a week early, opening up against the Chicago Cubs in Japan on March 18. Their spring training is nigh. Dodgers pitchers and catchers will undergo their physical exams in Glendale, Arizona, on Monday. The first official workout will follow the next morning, at which point throngs of fans, both domestic and international, will crowd the backfields of Camelback Ranch to catch an up-close look at one of the most talented teams in baseball history.
The Dodgers, division champs 11 out of the past 12 years, are about as certain to make the playoffs as any team has ever been. But they face some fascinating questions heading into the start of camp.
Below is a look through the five most compelling.
1. What will Shohei Ohtani‘s return to hitting and pitching look like?
It’s important to remember what Ohtani is setting out to do this season. It’s not merely that he’ll return to being the second two-way star in baseball history — and the first since Babe Ruth, who didn’t juggle pitching and hitting for as long as Ohtani already has. It’s that he will be doing so coming off an entire season spent rehabbing a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament, and mere months removed from surgery to his non-throwing shoulder after sustaining a torn labrum during the World Series.
At a time when the sport is more specialized, more skilled and more difficult than ever, what Ohtani is attempting is virtually impossible for everybody on the planet except him. Trying to project how his 2025 season will play out, then, seems foolish. And yet Ohtani has defied expectations so often, the sentiment among his teammates is that he will be just as great as he always is.
“I think Shohei’s going to be Shohei,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said last weekend. “I just don’t see how he’s not.”
Freeman recalled the World Series workout at Yankee Stadium on the afternoon of Oct. 27. A day earlier, Ohtani had suffered a gruesome left shoulder injury while attempting to steal a base. And yet he was able to reach his ailing arm over his head, which Freeman never recalled someone having the strength to do after popping a shoulder out of place. “How is this man doing this?” Freeman thought.
Ohtani went on to play in the next three games, helping lead the Dodgers to their first full-season championship in four decades. Three weeks later, he won his third unanimous MVP in four years — after the first 50/50 season. Then he began preparing as both a pitcher and a hitter again.
Ohtani is already hitting, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has seen videos of him producing exit velocities in the triple digits. He has also been playing catch for the better part of two months, but the Dodgers won’t get a true sense for his pitching timeline until spring training begins and bullpen sessions follow.
Ohtani is expected to hit at the start of the season, but in all likelihood he won’t be part of the rotation until May. The Dodgers want him peaking as a pitcher by season’s end and don’t want to have to shut him down at midseason to get him there. So far, Ohtani said Saturday, “things are pretty smooth.” But there’s no telling how this will actually go. This is unprecedented territory, riddled with unique quirks (an example: Ohtani can’t venture out on a rehab assignment to face hitters in April, as any other rehabbing pitcher would, because he’s too valuable to the Dodgers’ lineup).
And yet greatness is expected nonetheless.
“I don’t know about 50/50 because I truly don’t know how he’s going to go about stealing bases while he’s pitching,” Freeman said. “But maybe he steals 50 bases before he starts pitching in May or whenever. I wouldn’t put anything past him.”
2. How will Betts handle shortstop?
Yes, the Dodgers are planning on Betts being their every-day shortstop this season. No, there really isn’t any precedent for something like this. Not for a player of this caliber. Not for moving to shortstop, the most demanding position outside of catcher, in the back half of one’s career. But Betts, like Ohtani, is an unprecedented athlete, and the Dodgers have expressed confidence that he can make an incredibly challenging transition if given an entire offseason to work at it.
And Betts sure has worked. He has communicated on a near-daily basis with Chris Woodward, the former Texas Rangers manager and new Dodgers infield coach, at times recruiting him to take ground balls on random fields throughout Los Angeles because Dodger Stadium is undergoing a major renovation. Shortly after the fan event last weekend, he reported to the team’s spring training facility, nearly two weeks before he was scheduled to arrive.
Said Betts: “I feel like I’m just a completely new person over there.”
Betts, a six-time Gold Glove Award winner in right field, has longed to return to his roots in the middle infield basically since he joined the Dodgers. Second base seemed like the natural fit, until Gavin Lux‘s throwing issues last spring prompted a last-minute pivot to shortstop. Betts started 61 games there before a broken wrist kept him out nearly two months and pushed him back to right field upon his return. At season’s end, Betts and the Dodgers sat down and determined he’d make another run at it.
Betts committed nine errors at shortstop last season, though eight were the result of errant throws. Dodgers coaches said he mastered aspects they believe to be the most difficult at the position — getting off the ball, exhibiting range and fielding tough hops. The problem was getting his elite arm to translate from the outfield to the infield, most of which is a matter of footwork and (basically) reps, of which he will now get plenty.
If Betts’ shortstop transition doesn’t go well, the Dodgers can pivot to Tommy Edman, Miguel Rojas or the newly signed Hyeseong Kim, moving Betts to second base. But they’re going to give him every chance to stick at the position, at least in 2025.
“He is very confident about it,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said earlier this offseason. “And I will happily take the side of betting on Mookie and let any fool that wants to take the other side.”
3. How will Roki Sasaki’s transition to MLB work?
Friedman referred to the dynamic with Sasaki, the pitching phenom he’d spent years chasing, as a “partnership.” The Dodgers have pledged to do whatever it takes to help Sasaki achieve his goal of becoming the first Japanese-born pitcher to win a Cy Young Award and, most importantly, stay healthy.
Sasaki, 23, is already an elite pitcher with an exceedingly high ceiling. But evaluators throughout baseball have expressed workload concerns, especially coming off a season in which his fastball exhibited a drop in velocity. Sasaki totaled just 202 innings with the Chiba Lotte Marines over the past two years. He is supremely athletic, but he is also wiry, and he has been throwing in the triple digits since high school. His right arm is special, but it is also vulnerable — a major test for a Dodgers team that has struggled mightily to keep young arms healthy in recent years.
The thought from several scouts during Sasaki’s posting process was that whichever team acquired him would start him late, given he might not throw more than about 150 innings in 2025. But the Dodgers won’t do that. Friedman said during Sasaki’s introductory press conference last month that he would “hit the ground running” in spring training and added that he will begin the season in the rotation if he’s ready, with no designated innings limit.
“Our goal is to start him,” Friedman said. “He’s going to go and start the season and we will continue to work with him in between starts.”
The Dodgers will spend a good portion of spring working with Sasaki to rekindle his four-seam-fastball velocity, part of which will consist of a more thorough examination of how his delivery might have been altered to account for prior injuries. They’ll also begin to tweak his pitch mix in an effort to play up his wipeout splitter, perhaps by helping Sasaki introduce more cutters and two-seamers.
But one of the Dodgers’ biggest tasks will be mapping out a rotation loaded with stars but riddled with injury concerns, including Sasaki, Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow (whose modest 134 innings total in 2024 was the most in his nine-year career), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (who missed three months with a strained rotator cuff last season), Tony Gonsolin (who is coming off Tommy John surgery), Dustin May (who made a combined 26 starts from 2021 to 2024) and Blake Snell (who has thrown less than 160 innings in four of his past five full seasons).
4. They’re done adding players … right?
Snell was the first impact player to join the Dodgers this offseason. He thought they were done adding with every subsequent move — after Michael Conforto, after Teoscar Hernández, after Kim, after Sasaki, after Tanner Scott, after Kirby Yates. At some point, Snell will be right — but perhaps not yet.
A “Kiké!” chant broke out at one point during DodgerFest, and the expectation is the Dodgers will eventually bring back Enrique Hernández, the effervescent, ever-popular super-utility player who has a knack for coming through in October. If they do — and they keep Chris Taylor, who’s in the last year of a four-year, $60 million deal — then only one position player spot will be up for grabs in spring training.
It would seemingly come down to a competition between Kim and two young-but-established outfielders in Andy Pages and James Outman, the winner essentially determining how much time Edman will spend between center field and second base.
At full strength, the rotation might not eventually have room for anybody. Not with Clayton Kershaw also expected back. Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said Saturday that they’ve been waiting for Kershaw, 36, to get into his throwing program and thus have a better feel for how his body is holding up in the wake of November surgery on his left foot and left knee.
Gomes added that he expects “more conversations at an in-depth level here shortly” with Kershaw. The same can be said about Hernández, though in that case the two sides still have a financial gap to bridge. The timing is worth considering here, too. The Dodgers’ 40-man roster is currently full, and the team doesn’t want to subject anyone on it to waivers. Starting Monday, they can place rehabbing pitchers such as Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Emmet Sheehan and Brusdar Graterol on the 60-day injured list, which opens space on the 40-man roster. Kershaw and Hernández might be added thereafter.
If they are, the roster will feature six MVP Awards, five Cy Youngs, 16 Silver Sluggers, nine Gold Gloves and 45 All-Star appearances.
“Incredible,” Glasnow said. “It’s like ‘The Avengers.'”
5. How will they handle being the villains of MLB?
Betts spoke at DodgerFest last year, near the end of an offseason that saw Ohtani and Yamamoto sign contracts totaling more than $1 billion, and said every game against the 2024 Dodgers would qualify as “the other team’s World Series.” His point was the Dodgers needed to be ready for a season in which basically the entire sport would be aiming for them. He wasn’t wrong.
But what about now?
The Dodgers have since won the World Series and signed practically every player they’ve wanted. Their luxury tax payroll projects to about $380 million, according to Spotrac, roughly $80 million more than the second-place Philadelphia Phillies. The only other teams to even reach $290 million are the New York Mets and Yankees. That doesn’t account for the fact that the Dodgers’ best and most popular player, Ohtani, deferred 97% of his contract. Or that arguably their biggest offseason acquisition, Sasaki, will make the major league minimum this season.
It has all worked to make the Dodgers the proverbial villains of their sport, a reality Roberts believes his team needs to “embrace.”
“Who wouldn’t want to be the focus and do what our organization is doing for the city, the fans?” said Roberts, who is entering the final year of his contract and still looking to sign an extension. “To be quite frank, we draw more than anyone as far as any venue in the world. And so when you’re drawing 4 million fans a year, the way you reciprocate is by investing in players. And that’s what we’ve done.”
Roberts noted that none of the new players the Dodgers brought in have won a championship. Their desire for one, he hopes, will help fuel a team that might otherwise be prone to stagnation. Most of all, it’s the outsized expectations that will help the Dodgers maintain their edge.
Alex Vesia, one of the Dodgers’ primary relievers, believes the heightened pressure will once again bring them closer as a team, a trait that helped them overcome the grind of last October. But that won’t play out until much later, when the games matter and the adversity hits.
At this point, the overwhelming sentiment around the Dodgers is simply gratitude.
“Fans come out here and support us,” Freeman said. “They spend their hard-earned money to come and watch us play. And for them to spend that much money, and for them to see ownership take the product and put it back into the team, it’s awesome. It’s awesome to be a part of that. It’s awesome to be a part of an organization that goes out there, year in and year out, to try and put the best team as possible to go out there and win the championship.”
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Alden Gonzalez
The Los Angeles Angels and third baseman Anthony Rendon are in talks about buying out the final year of his contract, potentially bringing a resolution to the seven-year, $245 million deal that did not come close to paying dividends for the team, a source told ESPN on Wednesday.
Rendon, who spent the entire 2025 season recovering from hip surgery, is expected to retire, a source said.
The 35-year-old is owed $38 million in 2026. A potential buyout of that remaining money has not been finalized, and situations like this can often get complicated, but the expectation is that Rendon will defer at least part of that money, giving the team more financial flexibility to address needs this offseason.
The Angels made Rendon the game’s highest-paid third baseman in December 2019, after watching him star for the then-World Series champion Washington Nationals. If the Angels and Rendon’s agent, Scott Boras, are able to finalize a buyout, he will end up playing in just a quarter of the Angels’ games over the life of that deal, compiling 3.7 FanGraphs wins above replacement (fWAR).
A first-round pick out of Rice University in 2011, Rendon established himself as one of the game’s best all-around players with an emerging corps in Washington. He was a hitting savant and a gifted defender, and from 2016 to 2019 only nine position players put up more fWAR.
Rendon slashed .299/.384/.528 in that four-year stretch. His last season with the Nationals saw him finish third in National League MVP voting after putting up a career-high 1.010 OPS along with 34 home runs and a major-league-leading 126 RBIs while making his star turn in a postseason run that ended with the franchise’s first title.
With the spotlight cast onto him, Rendon’s publicly stated limited interest in baseball — he admitted often that it’s not his foremost priority, that it’s merely a job, and that he doesn’t care about the accolades or attention — became an endearing part of his personality. As the years went on, it became a referendum on his lack of productivity.
Rendon looked very much like his usual self during a 2020 season that was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It proved to be the last time the Angels experienced anything close to Rendon’s prime. Over the next four years, he slashed just .231/.329/.336 while appearing in 205 of a potential 648 games. Injuries to his left groin, left knee, left hamstring, left shin, left oblique, lower back, both wrists and both hips sent him to the injured list.
The final blow came Feb. 12, 2025, when the Angels announced at the start of spring training that Rendon would undergo hip surgery and miss the season. Rendon spent the entire season away from the team, mostly rehabbing near his home in Houston. His last home run with the team occurred July 1, 2023. He never played in more than 58 games in a season.
Rendon’s albatross contract coincided with Mike Trout suffering a similar spate of bad injury luck. The unavailability of those two players — by far the team’s highest paid — coupled with an overall lack of depth throughout the roster, only furthered the Angels’ slide despite the emergence of Shohei Ohtani as a two-way phenomenon.
The Angels have not made the playoffs since 2014 and have not won a playoff game since 2009. The 2025 season marked their 10th in a row with a below-.500 record. Kurt Suzuki, Rendon’s teammate on the 2019 Nationals, has since been named the Angels’ manager — the team’s sixth in eight years.
Soon, at least, they can move on at third base.
Somehow, 13 weeks of college football have already come and gone, leaving us with one, last Saturday of regular-season action. It’s hard to believe that, a mere three months ago, we thought LSU, Clemson and Penn State were top-10 teams, that when Florida State beat Alabama, it meant times had changed in Tallahassee, and that when Miami beat Notre Dame, it meant that the Hurricanes would have a better shot at the playoff than the Irish. What fools we all were!
But the beauty of Week 14 — of Rivalry Week — is that the 13 weeks that preceded it are little more than periphery details.
Who cares if Ohio State has been the best team in the country, when all that matters is beating Michigan?
The massive disappointment felt by Clemson and South Carolina fans is of little consequence this weekend, when at least one fan base will earn some needed redemption after a lost season.
Florida fired its coach. Florida State is keeping theirs. None of that matters when the two face off Saturday.
Georgia Tech‘s defense has collapsed and so, too, the team’s playoff hopes, but a win over rival Georgia would make this a magical season nevertheless.
Alabama has largely proved its playoff pedigree, but there’s still the small matter of the Iron Bowl, where Auburn can get a head start on scripting a new story for a program still in search of its next head coach by not only beating its rival but by sending the Tide to the back of the playoff line.
Up and down the docket, the games are big — not because of the records or the postseason stakes, but because Rivalry Week means something different altogether. It’s bragging rights for a year, it’s talking smack to your neighbors, it’s a chance to right anything that has gone wrong in the past 13 weeks and finish the season with a defining moment. — David Hale
Jump to:
Stakes in key matchups
Title game scenarios
Quotes of the week
What’s at stake in these key matchups?
No. 1 Ohio State (11-0) at No. 15 Michigan (9-2)
(noon ET, Fox)
The stakes: The Wolverines are seeking a fifth straight win in the series, which would be their longest winning streak in the rivalry since the 1920s. With a victory — coupled with either an Oregon or Indiana loss — Michigan could also advance to the Big Ten championship game while entering the CFP at-large bid conversation. The Buckeyes probably have already clinched a playoff berth. But they’re still aiming for a first-round playoff bye and potentially the No. 1 seed. With a win over Michigan, Ohio State would also advance to the Big Ten title game for the first time in five years, while ending Michigan’s hold on the rivalry — the only blemish on Ryan Day’s otherwise sterling tenure as Ohio State’s head coach.
Ohio State wins if: The Buckeyes play up to their capability. Lately, they’ve inexplicably saved their worst performances for Michigan, including last season, when they stunningly lost at home as a three-touchdown favorite before bouncing back to win the national title. These Buckeyes have been even more dominant to this point. Ohio State ranks fourth in offensive efficiency, while its defense has given up only 84 points all season. Assuming wideouts Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate are ready to go after battling nagging lower-body injuries, the Buckeyes are college football’s most complete team with several future pros on both sides of the ball.
Michigan wins if: The Wolverines can hang around in the second half and intensify the pressure on the Buckeyes (9.5-point favorites), forcing Ohio State to play tightly yet again. Unlike last year, the Wolverines have the firepower on offense this time to test Ohio State, with dynamic freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, steady running back Jordan Marshall (who’s expected to return from a shoulder injury) and budding freshman receiver Andrew Marsh, who has emerged as Underwood’s go-to target in Big Ten play. If the Wolverines can land some big plays on offense and make the Big House crowd a factor, they have the defense (No. 5 nationally in EPA) to make this a fourth-quarter game, where, as this rivalry has proved over the years, anything can happen. — Jake Trotter
No. 3 Texas A&M (11-0) at No. 16 Texas (8-3)
(Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
The stakes: For Texas, its playoff hopes. For A&M, it’s history. The Longhorns, who have made the CFP semifinals the past two seasons, need an upset to stay alive. The 11-0 Aggies, who haven’t won a conference title since 1998, can tie the school record of 12 wins and earn a trip to the SEC championship game. It’s a rare high-stakes matchup for both programs; this will be only the 12th time both teams have been ranked coming into the game, which is being played for the 120th time. Texas has won eight of the previous 11 meetings under such circumstances.
Texas A&M wins if: If the Aggies’ offensive line controls the game. A&M QB Marcel Reed completes just 42% of his throws under pressure but has been pressured on just 25% of dropbacks. The Aggies average 5.3 yards per carry between the tackles, and the Longhorns give up only 3.5 up the middle. On defense, if A&M can get Texas into third downs, it will have a distinct advantage. The Aggies have the best third-down defense in the country, allowing conversions only 21.5% of the time, second best in the FBS in the past 20 years, while Texas converts 41% of opportunities, 11th best in the SEC.
Texas wins if: Arch Manning continues to be efficient running the offense. The Aggies average a sack on 10.6% of dropbacks, second best in the FBS, and Manning has been comfortable throwing quick strikes to Ryan Wingo and Emmett Mosley V, who have combined for 40 catches and 785 yards over the past four games. Defensively, it will have to limit big plays, something that has bedeviled the Longhorns of late: Reed has 43 passes of 20 or more yards, second to Alabama’s Ty Simpson (45). Texas has given up 37 such passes, second only to Arkansas (49). — Dave Wilson
No. 4 Georgia (10-1) at No. 23 Georgia Tech (9-2)
(Friday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
The stakes: For two teams who’ve spent the bulk of this season with playoff aspirations, there’s remarkably little postseason impact to be drawn from this one. Georgia Tech’s disaster against Pitt almost certainly means the Yellow Jackets are out, short of a miracle berth in the ACC championship game. Georgia’s win over Texas two weeks ago all but locked up a playoff bid for the Bulldogs. So, what’s at stake here? Look no further than last year’s eight-overtime thriller to understand. For Georgia, any postseason success would come tinged with regret if the Dawgs don’t take care of business here. For Tech, finally toppling the hated Bulldogs would be more than enough to ensure this season went down in the history books as one of the school’s best.
Georgia wins if: The Bulldogs’ defense can stop Haynes King. A year ago, the Georgia Tech QB tormented the Dawgs throughout the game, throwing for 303 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for another 110 yards and three scores in a 44-42 defeat. The Jackets’ offense is relentless, thanks in large part to King’s brilliance, and though he’s guaranteed at least one more game with Tech before his college career ends, this will be his true farewell performance, meaning a player renowned for his toughness will leave nothing left in the tank. That puts the burden squarely on the Dawgs’ defensive front, which has to manage to corral King in the pocket but also not let him burn them downfield.
Georgia Tech wins if: It can stop the run. Georgia’s rushing offense has taken strides lately, but it still averages just a tick over 4.5 yards per carry — solid, but hardly spectacular. But Georgia Tech’s defense has made a habit of turning middling rushing attacks into unstoppable forces. The Jackets have given up at least 150 rushing yards in eight of their past nine games, and have surrendered 10 rushing touchdowns in their past three contests — two of which were losses. Tech has to figure out a way to keep Georgia’s offense one-dimensional, and if November’s performances are any indication, that’s going to be a major undertaking. — Hale
No. 14 Vanderbilt (9-2) at No. 19 Tennessee (8-3)
(3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
The stakes: There’s more at stake for the Commodores, who can win 10 games in a season for the first time in school history and keep their CFP hopes alive. Depending on what happens elsewhere this weekend and next, Vandy could be in line for an at-large bid if it beats the Volunteers. Tennessee has won each of the past six games in the series (victories in 2019 and ’20 were later vacated because of NCAA rules violations) and most of the scores weren’t close. The Vols can win at least nine games for the fourth straight season and improve their standing in the SEC’s bowl pecking order.
Vanderbilt wins if: Quarterback Diego Pavia continues to carry the Commodores. He has played spectacularly this season and has the fourth-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy, per ESPN BET. Pavia has turned it up a notch down the stretch, throwing for more than 350 passing yards in each of his past three games with 14 touchdowns (three rushing) and one interception. In last week’s 45-17 win against Kentucky, Pavia threw for a school-record 484 yards with five touchdowns on 33-for-39 passing.
Tennessee wins if: If the Volunteers contain Pavia and play keep-away as they did last season. In Tennessee’s 36-23 victory in Nashville in 2024, it limited Pavia to 104 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception. He ran for 45 yards. The Volunteers ran for 281 yards and went 11-for-15 on third down, limiting the Commodores to only 11 offensive plays in the second half. This UT defense isn’t nearly as good as the one that led the Vols to the CFP last season. The Vols rank 14th in the SEC in scoring defense (27.2 points) and passing defense (247.1 yards), so they’re going to have to sustain drives on offense again. — Mark Schlabach
No. 10 Alabama (9-2) at Auburn (5-6)
(7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
The stakes: The stakes are fairly straightforward: Alabama clinches a spot in the SEC championship game with a win over its rival, and that would put it in position to get into the CFP. As it stands, Alabama is on the bubble. A win in Atlanta would guarantee the Crimson Tide a spot in the 12-team playoff; a loss and things might get dicier. As for Auburn, nothing would be more fitting than clinching bowl eligibility with a win over its hated rival as a massive underdog. This has been a disappointing season for the Tigers, but a victory would make its year.
Alabama wins if: The matchup plays right into what Alabama does well. Auburn has a good run defense, and Alabama has struggled to get the ground game going; Auburn has a shakier pass defense, and Ty Simpson and his receivers have excelled in the passing game. So if Simpson can make plays to his skill players, the way he has for most of the season, Alabama will be in good shape. The key, like any game, is to take care of the football. Auburn is one of the best teams in the country at forcing turnovers.
Auburn wins if: Jeremiah Cobb has been one of the bright spots on offense for the Tigers, ranking No. 4 in the SEC in rushing with 936 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Though Alabama has made big improvements with its run defense in the last month of the season, if Cobb can get going on the ground, that would certainly help the Tigers control the clock and the game. As the underdog at home, staying in the game early to keep the crowd into it also will be key. — Andrea Adelson
No. 12 Miami (9-2) at No. 22 Pitt (8-3)
(noon ET, ABC)
The stakes: Though neither team is a front-runner to make it to the ACC championship game, both could sneak in depending on a few different scenarios. For Miami to make it to Charlotte, the Hurricanes have to win and then get help from potentially three teams. The more likely scenario here is the Hurricanes have to win to keep any hopes of an at-large bid to the CFP alive. For Pitt, getting to Charlotte is much simpler: A victory, plus a loss by either Virginia or SMU gets the Panthers into the ACC title game with a CFP spot on the line. Easier said than done, of course.
Miami wins if: The Hurricanes have played at a championship level on defense for the bulk of the season, and they will have to do the same against freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel. Notre Dame proved that if he is under significant pressure, he could get flustered and make mistakes. Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor will be key. Carson Beck has nine interceptions on the season; six came in two losses. He has not thrown an interception since the loss to SMU, so continuing to play mistake-free in the passing game will be huge.
Pitt wins if: Pitt is known for its physical, aggressive defense, and that will be key to slowing Miami and forcing the Hurricanes into more passing situations than they want. That will ratchet up the chances that Beck makes a mistake. Last week against Georgia Tech, the Jackets intercepted Haynes King twice — including a 100-yard pick-six. The way to keep Miami from teeing off on Heintschel is to make sure the run game is a threat, the way it was against the Jackets. Without Desmond Reid, Pitt got 201 yards on the ground from Ja’Kyrian “Boosie” Turner. — Adelson
Conference championship scenarios
ACC
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Win, OR
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SMU loss + Pitt loss + clinch tiebreaker over Georgia Tech/Miami/Pitt/SMU
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Win, OR
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Pitt loss + Duke loss + clinch tiebreaker over Miami/Georgia Tech/SMU/Virginia
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Win + Virginia loss, OR
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Win + SMU loss
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Win + Pitt loss + SMU loss, OR
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Win + Pitt loss + Virginia loss + clinch tiebreaker versus Miami
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Win + Virginia loss + Duke loss + SMU win, OR
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Win + SMU loss + Duke loss + clinch tiebreaker over Virginia/Georgia Tech/SMU, OR
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Win + SMU loss + Virginia loss + clinch tiebreaker over Virginia/Georgia Tech/SMU, OR
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Win + SMU win + Duke win + Virginia loss + clinch tiebreaker over Duke
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Pitt win + Virginia loss + SMU loss, OR
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Miami win + SMU loss + Duke loss + clinch tiebreaker over Virginia/Miami/SMU
Big Ten
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Win, OR
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Ohio State loss
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Win, OR
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Indiana loss + Oregon loss
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Win + Indiana loss, OR
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Win + Oregon loss
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Win + Ohio State loss
Big 12
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Win, OR
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ASU loss, OR
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BYU loss + Utah win
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Win, OR
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ASU loss, OR
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Texas Tech loss + Utah loss
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Win + BYU loss, OR
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Win + Texas Tech loss + Utah loss
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Win + Texas Tech loss + BYU win + Arizona State win
SEC
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Alabama loss, OR
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Texas A&M loss
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Win
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Win, OR
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Alabama loss + Ole Miss loss
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Win + Texas A&M loss + Alabama loss
American
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Win, OR
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Loss by either North Texas or Navy if it has the highest composite computer average of the 6-2 teams
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Losses by both North Texas and Navy if it has the second-highest composite computer average of the 6-2 teams
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Win, OR
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Losses by either Tulane or Navy if it has the highest composite computer average of the 6-2 teams
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Losses by both Tulane and Navy if it has the second-highest composite computer average of the 6-2 teams
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Win, and loss by either Tulane or North Texas
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Loss by either Tulane or North Texas if it has the highest composite computer average of the 6-2 teams
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Losses by both Tulane and North Texas if it has the second-highest composite computer average of the 6-2 teams
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Win, and loss by two of Tulane/North Texas/Navy if it has the highest composite computer average of the 6-2 teams
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Win, and losses by all of Tulane/North Texas/Navy if it has the second-highest composite computer average of the 6-2 teams
-
Win, and loss by two of Tulane/North Texas/Navy if it has the highest composite computer average of the 6-2 teams
-
Win, and losses by all of Tulane/North Texas/Navy if it has the second-highest composite computer average of the 6-2 teams
Conference USA
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Win, OR
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Kennesaw State loss
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Win, OR
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Kennesaw State loss + finish ahead of Kennesaw State in computer metrics
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Win, OR
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Western Kentucky loss + finish ahead of Western Kentucky
MAC
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Win, OR
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Ohio win, OR
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Miami (Ohio) loss
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Win + Western Michigan win, OR
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Win + Miami (Ohio) loss
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Win + Western Michigan loss, OR
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Win + Central Michigan win
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Win + Northern Illinois win + Miami (Ohio) loss + Central Michigan win + Beat Central Michigan in team rating score metric
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Win + Ohio loss + Miami (Ohio) loss, OR
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Win + Western Michigan loss + Ohio loss + Miami (Ohio) win, OR
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Win + Kent State win + Miami (Ohio) loss, OR
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Win + Kent State loss + Miami (Ohio) loss + beat Ohio in team rating score metric
Mountain West
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Win, OR
-
Losses by Boise State and UNLV, OR
-
Finish in top two in computer metrics among 6-2 teams
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Win + San Diego State win, OR
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Win + finish in top two in computer metrics among 6-2 teams
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UNLV loss + New Mexico loss + finish with the top computer metrics among 5-3 teams
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Win + Boise State loss + New Mexico loss, OR
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Win + San Diego State loss + finish in top two in computer metrics among 6-2 teams, OR
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Boise State loss + New Mexico loss + finish with the top computer metrics among 5-3 teams
-
Win + Boise State loss, OR
-
Win + finish in top two in computer metrics among 6-2 teams, OR
-
Boise State loss + UNLV loss + finish with the top computer metrics among 5-3 teams
-
Win + Boise State loss + New Mexico loss + UNLV loss + finish with the top computer metrics among 5-3 teams
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Win + Boise State loss + New Mexico loss + UNLV loss + finish with the top computer metrics among 5-3 teams
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Win + New Mexico loss + UNLV loss + finish with the top computer metrics among 5-3 teams
Sun Belt
Quotes of the week
“Very important,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said Monday when asked about the importance of finishing the season with the Rebels amid speculation over his future entering Friday’s Egg Bowl. “I’ve never thought of anything different than that.”
Michigan coach Sherrone Moore on “The Game” and the Wolverines’ rivalry with Ohio State: “It’s a feeling that you can’t really describe. It’s an intensity. It’s just an aura about it that you just can’t describe until you get on the field. It’s awesome to be a part of. It’s the best rivalry in sports in my opinion. … It’s competitive and there’s nothing like it.”
Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer on the Iron Bowl: “I know what [it] means to the state here. A huge deal for us, as well. It’s a big game for a lot of reasons. We just focus on what it is, and it’s our big rivalry game. It’s an SEC game on the road. It’ll be an awesome environment. Just blessed to be a part of it, especially here on this Thanksgiving week, that’s what you think about it.”
“Beating them does a lot for me,” Washington‘s Jedd Fisch said ahead of Saturday’s visit from Oregon. “Knocking them out is just another part of it. We want to do everything we possibly can to get a win on Saturday. That is our plan to do everything possible to get that done. We will work exceptionally hard, knowing that we have a really, really good opponent coming into town.”
“I like that [for] this game that we get an opportunity to stand alone,” Texas’ Steve Sarkisian said of the Longhorns’ Friday night matchup with Texas A&M. “OK, so whether it’s Thanksgiving or Friday after Thanksgiving, I just think this game deserves the spotlight to stand alone. The fact that we’re playing on Friday night with all the eyes of college football on it — really the football world on this game — I think this game deserves that. So whatever that looks like [in the future]. Again, I’m not the decision-maker on that. But I do think this is a great opportunity for us.”
“Nothing matters, except a win on Saturday at noon,” Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi said of his Panthers, who are vying for a spot in the ACC title game as Miami visits in Week 14. “Nothing matters. We can’t control what other people do. We could have controlled it earlier in the year in one of our other ACC games, but all we can do is control and focus on one thing. We start worrying about other things out there, it doesn’t matter.”
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