Good morning, and welcome back to CFB Roundup from CFB Home – the first daily newsletter that’s all college football, all the time with no bias, no slant, and no fluff.

Postseason AP Top 25

The final AP Top 25 for the season has released, with Ohio State predictably sitting at the top of the college football world.

1. Ohio State (+5)

2. Notre Dame (+1)

3. Oregon (-2)

4. Texas (-)

5. Penn State (-)

6. Georgia (-4)

7. Arizona State (+3)

8. Boise State (-)

9. Tennessee (-2)

10. Indiana (-1)

11. Ole Miss (+5)

12. SMU (+1)

13. BYU (+4)

14. Clemson (-2)

15. Iowa State (+3)

16. Illinois (+5)

17. Alabama (-6)

18. Miami (-3)

19. South Carolina (-5)

20. Syracuse (+2)

21. Army (-2)

22. Missouri (+1)

23. UNLV (+1)

24. Memphis (+1)

25. Colorado (-5)

RV: NAVY (55), LSU (39), LOU (38), MICH (36), KSU (11), MARSH (8), OHIO (8), UF (7), TCU (2), TAMU (1)

SEC and Big Ten ADs Discussing CFP Format

According to a report from Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, the SEC and Big Ten ADs are further discussing key issues in a February 19th meeting in New Orleans.

On the agenda are the CFP format, NCAA governance, and prep ahead of the House v. NCAA settlement. This is the second time these ADs are getting together, as they gathered in Nashville back in October.

This meeting will come one week before the CFP Commissioners get together to continue the discussion from this week.

Nick Saban: Would Coach in NFL Before Dealing with NIL

Nick Saban recently went on The Pivot Podcast with Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder and shared his thoughts on the landscape of both college and the pros, and where Coach Saban would see himself if he were to come out of retirement and go back into coaching.

“I loved coaching pro ball, and if I was going to coach today, based on the circumstances in college and in the NFL, I would coach in the NFL, because all those things in college have changed. The whole idea of what college used to be is not there anymore. It used to be you went to college to develop value for your future. Now people are going to college to see how much money they can make. … You changed that whole dynamic.”

Thamel: Freeman Has Made Notre Dame Cool

Despite Notre Dame not winning the National Championship on Monday night, ESPN’s Pete Thamel shared that the future is bright for Notre Dame due to the perception of the program being so much brighter and cooler than it was.

“They have starts coming back. Their corners are young. Jeremiyah Love could be one of the faces of college football next year. They’re going to figure something out at quarterback. That’s going to be a little bit of a question, but their whole O-Line, essentially, is going to come back. They had a bunch of guys that played because of injuries like that’s going to be a really good college football team next year and for the foreseeable future. And I think this season and postseason, Marcus Freeman has established himself as one of the faces of the future. They will be title contenders. They will be consistent playoff contenders. And he’s made Notre Dame cool.”

Consensus 2026 4-Star LB Rodney Colton Decommits from South Carolina

Consensus 2026 4-star LB Rodney Colton decommitted from South Carolina yesterday after committing to the Gamecocks back on April 24th.

Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Florida State are all expected to be names linked to Colton.

Colton ranks as high as 94th nationally and 7th at the LB position according to On3, with the On3 industry composite ranking Colton 127th nationally and 9th at the LB position.

With the decommitment, South Carolina is now down to three 4-star commitments and 5 commitments overall, but still ranks 11th nationally and 5th in the SEC for a recruiting class that has nearly a year to still take shape.

Ohio State Transfer QB Devin Brown Signs with Cal

Ohio State transfer QB Devin Brown signed with Cal out of the transfer portal yesterday.

Brown was with the Buckeyes for the past 3 seasons, making appearances in 17 total games with Ohio State. In his time with the Buckeyes, Brown sat behind the likes of CJ Stroud, Kyle McCord, and Will Howard, but now he’s taking his talents to Cal for his final two seasons of college eligibility.

In his career, he is 27/48 for 331 yards, 3 passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown, and an interception.

Brown was a 5-star QB in the Class of 2022, ranking 31st nationally and 5th at the QB position. Now in the portal, he ranks 227th nationally and 24th at the QB position according to the On3 transfer portal rankings.

Montana State Transfer RB Scottre Humphrey Commits to New Mexico

New Mexico got a big win out of the transfer portal as the #9 ranked RB, Montana State transfer RB Scottre Humphrey, has committed to the Lobos out of the portal.

Humphrey was impressive at Montana State this past season, earning All-American and All-Big Sky first-team honors in 2024. Humphrey also received offers from the likes of Ole Miss, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia, among others.

Ultimately, it’s New Mexico who is getting the 109th ranked prospect nationally and the 9th ranked RB.

Matt Rhule Posts Tweet Teasing Paul Finebaum

Nebraska Coach Matt Rhule shared before the season that he believed the Big Ten should get four teams in the CFP for being the best conference, a sentiment, which Paul Finebaum had a very explosive pushback to.

Finebaum said about Coach Rhule: “man, stay in your lane! Job one: win enough games to get to some stupid bowl game. Don’t worry about the big boys, because you’re not one of them. We saw what you did in the NFL, you were a complete disaster in Carolina. You somehow got this job in Nebraska and you’re talking like you belong at the table with Ohio State and Georgia. You don’t! Just try to win maybe six games, quit choking big games on the final play and leave the punditry to the professionals. Thank you.”

Well, Finebaum was back on Get Up, and after Mike Greenberg asked Finebaum if the Big Ten now owned college football, much to everyone’s surprise, Finebaum relented and admitted the Big Ten did own college football for now. Based on the above tweet, Coach Rhule had some fun with that.

North Carolina Transfer QB Jacolby Criswell Signs with East Tennessee State

North Carolina transfer QB Jacolby Criswell signed with East Tennessee State, according to On3’s Pete Nakos.

Criswell spent 2020-22 and 2024 with North Carolina, while spending 2023 with Arkansas. As a result, Criswell has one season of eligibility remaining with the ETSU Buccaneers.

In his 5 seasons of college football, Criswell has thrown for 2806 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions, while also contributing 280 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns.

East Tennessee State also added Cade McNamara in the portal, so also being able to land Criswell, the 186th ranked portal player and 19th ranked portal QB, is a pretty solid pickup for ETSU.

Final Coaches Poll

The final Coaches Poll of the season has come out, following the National Championship:

1. Ohio State (+6)

2. Notre Dame (+1)

3. Texas (+1)

4. Oregon (-3)

5. Penn State

6. Georgia (-4)

7. Arizona State (+3)

8. Tennessee (-2)

9. Boise State (-1)

10. Indiana (-1)

11. SMU (+1)

12. Clemson (+2)

13. Ole Miss (+2)

14. BYU (+3)

15. Iowa State (+4)

16. Illinois (+5)

17. Alabama (-6)

18. Miami (-2)

19. South Carolina (-5)

20. Missouri

21. Army (-3)

22. Syracuse (+3)

23. Memphis

24. UNLV

25. Colorado (-3)

RV: LSU (44), NAVY (28), LOU (28), MICH (20), KSU (20), OHIO (6), TCU (5), MARSH (1)

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (87) QB Au’tori Newkirk commits to North Carolina

3-Star (85) WR Jaylin Carter commits to Southern Miss

3-Star (84) S Haydon Caston commits to Missouri State

3-Star (83) EDGE Andrew Marshall commits to Eastern Michigan

2-Star (78) QB Zayden Stevens commits to Hamline

2-Star (76) ATH Trey Sloothaak commits to Grand Valley State

2-Star (74) QB Jonathan Pittman commits to Hope

2-Star (72) WR Nico Downie commits to Valparaiso

Unrated K Guytano Bartolomeo commits to North Carolina

2026 Unrated DL Krush Johnson commits to Texas Tech

2026 Unrated EDGE Robert Ekins commits to UMass