Elms' Essentials: Championship Week 2025

A bit of an abridged version of Elms’ Essentials this week (just like around this time last season, you all know how it works by now!), but there was a ton of action around the college football world during championship week. For one, the College Football Playoff has officially been decided, and the bracket is officially set. This is what we’ve been waiting for! It’s time for the postseason and I couldn’t be more excited.

But we have a couple of weeks or so before the Playoff gets started. And this past weekend is, in a number of ways, the most important weekend in the college football regular season. So let’s jump into it! It’s a nice tune-up to get you ready for the CFP.

Texas Tech needs to be taken more seriously as a legitimate national title contender

I had a hunch this result might happen again, given what happened last time. For those unfamiliar, Texas Tech and BYU were facing off in the Big 12 Championship, and the last time these two teams played each other, the Red Raiders thoroughly dominated the Cougars at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock.

That first game was a 29-7 Texas Tech victory. And it wasn’t too far off from what happened this past Saturday at AT&T Stadium, as the Red Raiders recovered from a somewhat slow offensive start and suffocated BYU’s offense throughout the game en route to a 34-7 win.

Behren Morton had a solid outing, as although it took a little bit for the Red Raiders’ offense to kick into second gear, it eventually did that in the second half. Morton completed 20 of his 33 passes for 215 yards and a couple of touchdown passes. And Texas Tech’s offense also did pretty well on the ground, as they ran for 159 yards and a score as a team, especially in comparison to what BYU managed on the ground (just 63 total rushing yards and a touchdown).

J’Koby Williams had 80 yards on 15 carries, and Cameron Dickey had 72 yards and the aforementioned score on 17 carries. To be completely honest, there wasn’t too much that Texas Tech needed to do offensively because of how well their defense was playing.

BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier, hampered somewhat by an ankle injury, only managed 115 yards and threw two interceptions against a feisty and extremely opportunistic Red Raiders defense. Texas Tech linebacker Ben Roberts had a great performance, as he had five total tackles and two critical interceptions (and nearly had a third).

But Texas Tech is one of the most complete teams in the country on both sides of the ball. That defense strikes fear into the best offenses, and they are capable of playing with just about anyone when everything is clicking (which it oftentimes is). They don’t seem to be getting enough respect from the national media as a legitimate national championship contender, but I’d like to change that. Because that is precisely what they are at this point: a legitimate national title contender.

Alabama does not belong in the College Football Playoff

Yeah. I said it.

Their shellacking at the hands of bitter rival Georgia in the SEC Championship this past Saturday should have confirmed that, but instead, Alabama is now in the 2025 College Football Playoff bracket as the No. 9 seed despite having three losses on their resume.

The Crimson Tide looked quite out of sorts, particularly offensively, in their 28-7 loss to Georgia in the SEC title game. Ty Simpson, who was being looked at as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate going into the final week of the regular season, was…underwhelming, to put it lightly.

Simpson completed just 19 of his 39 passes for 212 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. On the surface, those statistics don’t seem too bad, but when you actually go back and watch the film, Simpson looked extremely uncomfortable in the pocket against a ferocious Georgia pass rush.

Simpson forced throws, missed some others, and threw a brutal interception late in the first quarter that really set the tone for how Georgia would dominate Alabama for the rest of the game.

And by the time the game was over, Alabama was staring at that third loss on their record, and their fate when it came to the College Football Playoff was very much in doubt. However, the CFP selection committee decided that their loss to the Bulldogs did not warrant any slide in the rankings, and the Crimson Tide found themselves safely in the College Football Playoff bracket.

That decision was…curious, to say the least. Perhaps I am the only one who feels this way, but I felt that Notre Dame should have gotten in over Alabama. Not just because of their record, but the Fighting Irish had generally done a good job of rebounding from their season-opening loss to Miami.

But when all was said and done, Alabama is in the College Football Playoff as the No. 9 seed. They will face the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners, and if the Tide can emerge victorious, they will head to the quarterfinals to face the top overall seed, the Indiana Hoosiers. More on them in a little bit!

Duke’s win over Virginia invoked chaos in the College Football Playoff bracket

Duke and Virginia? In the ACC Championship? Are we sure we’re talking about the right sport here?

This seems like it would be much more likely in basketball, but against all odds, the Blue Devils and the Cavaliers faced each other in the ACC title game this past Saturday in football. With a Virginia win, they would secure their spot in the College Football Playoff. But if Duke won…oh boy.

And considering how this season has played out, what do you think happened?

Duke won at the buzzer in overtime because the 2025 college football season wouldn’t have it any other way. The Blue Devils staved off a late Virginia comeback, as even though the Cavaliers tied the game with 22 seconds remaining in regulation, Duke took the game into overtime, where they scored a go-ahead touchdown and picked off Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris to officially secure the win.

And even though Duke themselves would not find their way into the 12-team bracket (the Blue Devils finished their season with a still-respectable 8-5 record), they caused a certain amount of chaos with their conference championship victory.

Virginia would be denied a spot in the College Football Playoff because of this game. And as a result, James Madison would qualify for the 12-team bracket. Not to mention, Tulane also secured themselves a spot in the CFP thanks to their C-USA Championship win over North Texas. But still, those two teams being the final two seeds means that there is just one ACC team in the bracket, that being Miami.

Did you get all that? Good.

But either way, Tulane and James Madison being the 11th and 12th seeds in the bracket., respectively, is a fair amount of chaos. And we all have Duke to thank for it. Who knew?

And last but not least…

Indiana is unquestionably the best team in college football

And they are the favorite to win the national championship, make no mistake about that.

There are not many doubters when it comes to this Indiana football program anymore. There was a widespread belief over the course of last season that Indiana had a nice, unexpected season with an appearance in the College Football Playoff, but that they would fall back down to earth in 2025. The loss in their aforementioned CFP appearance to Notre Dame seemed to provide signs of this.

Well, Curt Cignetti must have heard those opinions, and probably just laughed to himself. Because the team that he and his coaching staff have put together this season has taken that next step. What the 2025 Indiana Hoosiers have done is nothing short of remarkable, incredible, and straight-up unprecedented.

Indiana gutted its way to a 13-10 win over the previously-No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes in the Big 10 Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Both teams’ offenses were largely just okay (save for the final drive or two for the Hoosiers), but both teams’ defenses were spectacular throughout the game.

The key difference between the two is that Indiana’s defense showed up and made the stops when it mattered the absolute most. Ohio State…struggled a bit in that department.

What I mean by that is that Ohio State had an opportunity on Indiana’s final offensive drive to stop their offense and get the ball back with a chance to either 1) tie the game with a field goal and potentially send it to overtime, or 2) drive down the field for a touchdown to likely win the game and keep their undefeated record intact.

Neither of those things happened. Instead, this is what happened.

Fernando Mendoza likely won the Heisman Trophy with this throw. Mendoza more than likely won himself the Heisman by helping lead his team to this win. And Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers have taken another massive, giant, unprecedented step forward in the greatest turnaround in college football history and one of the greatest in sports history.

Indiana finished the regular season 13-0 and the Hoosiers are the number one seed in the 2025 College Football Playoff bracket. And they are now officially the most complete team in football, and are rightly considered by many to be the favorite to win the national championship. What a time to be alive for anyone affiliated with Indiana University-Bloomington.

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