The 2025 college football regular season didn’t end quietly; instead, it ended with the kind of drama that fans will be debating for years to come. The College Football Playoff bracket, the sport’s yearly source of controversy, was at the center of it all. It seemed as though everyone in the nation began analyzing every victory, every defeat, and every bit of “criteria” the selection committee might or might not care about as soon as the first CFP rankings were released on November 4. You didn’t receive any clarity if that was what you were hoping for. Instead, we received uncertainty, annoyance, and ultimately a postseason bracket that fueled the flames.
The sport was quickly rocked by the announcement of the final CFP field on Sunday, December 8. A few choices made sense. Others? Let’s just say that social media had a lot to say. The SEC Championship fallout raised the most eyebrows. Despite being thoroughly defeated by Georgia in the championship game a defeat that appeared to be disastrous in every aspect Alabama managed to make it into the playoffs. The Crimson Tide were joined on the biggest stage of the sport by Miami, Tulane, and James Madison, a trio that most fans didn’t anticipate seeing together.
However, the people who didn’t make it in were equally startling. Texas, BYU, and Notre Dame were all left on the outside looking in. Notre Dame was the most shocking of them all, and the Fighting Irish did not exactly accept the news with quiet dignity. Rather, they thoroughly disregarded the postseason. Notre Dame shocked almost everyone by announcing it would turn down any invitation to a bowl game within hours of finding out they wouldn’t be on the playoff field. There is no postseason. No appearance. No giving in. At that point, things started to go crazy.
Unlike anything we’ve seen in contemporary college football, Notre Dame’s decision had a cascading effect. Other programs started to follow the Irish’s lead after they completely abandoned bowl season. It initially appeared to be a singular choice, an emotional response from a powerful person who felt ignored. However, nine more schools chose not to participate in their own bowl games in a matter of days. One of those was Iowa State, a name familiar to Iowa supporters. The abrupt wave of program-wide withdrawals shocked and alarmed fans, administrators, and members of the media in a sport that views bowl season as a sacred tradition.
Over the past ten years, player opt-outs have become a feature of college football. In order to avoid injury, stars with NFL futures frequently choose to skip bowl games. Although this practice has generated controversy of its own, it has at least become commonplace. However, whole programs won’t play? That’s a different kind of worry. In the near future, the postseason as we know it may look very different if the trend continues. Despite all the uncertainty, one program has made it very clear that the Iowa Hawkeyes will not be joining that movement anytime soon.
Bowl games are still very important in Iowa City. The players embrace the program’s approach of viewing them as both an opportunity and a reward. Every coach and player is aware of the significance of these games, not only for themselves but also for the supporters who travel, cheer, and celebrate with them. Unlike many other programs, the Hawkeyes are bringing everyone to Tampa.
Chad Leistikow of the Des Moines Register reports that head coach Kirk Ferentz declared that he is unaware of any Iowa players who intend to miss postseason action. Not one. Ferentz even went so far as to tell supporters that “our entire roster is ready to roll.” It wasn’t shocking for a team that takes pride in toughness, loyalty, and consistency, but it was comforting in a year when so many programs abruptly decided to end.
We now have a postseason landscape that is changing in real time, a playoff bracket that raised more questions than answers, and one turbulent regular season behind us. One of the most contentious decisions of the year might be Notre Dame’s dramatic move, and the sport is still feeling the fallout. Hopefully, this is not the beginning of a long-term trend. Even without entire teams opting out of bowl games, college football is already chaotic. The sport deserves a postseason that still feels like college football, players deserve meaningful opportunities, and fans deserve better.
