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.

5-Star QB Ryder Lyons Visiting Sacramento State

5-Star QB Ryder Lyons is visiting Sacramento State this weekend for an unofficial visit.

The Spartans currently play in the FCS but are pushing to enter the FBS. Sacramento State also currently holds a Top 50 recruiting class for 2026 according to 247Sports, recently hired up-and-coming Brennan Marion as its Head Coach, and set program records for its best class ever in 2025.

Ole Miss WR commit Jameson Powell is also on campus for an unofficial visit with Lyons.

Lyons is currently trending by the experts to go to USC, with Oregon as another favorite, but the recognition for Sacramento State is a bit of a surprise.

Even though Lyons is in the Class of 2026, he is really seen as a 2027 in recruiting circles, as he plans to do a LDS mission for one year after he graduates high school.

Lyons ranks highest by Rivals, who has him 3rd nationally and 2nd at the QB position. The On3 industry composite has Lyons 10th nationally and 4th at the position.

Consensus 4-Star CB Jaelen Waters commits to Miami

Consensus 4-star CB Jaelen Waters committed to Miami yesterday after having previously committed to both Florida and Florida State.

His commitment aligns with Miami hiring former Florida DBs Coach Will Harris to the same position, a relationship that surely helped the Hurricanes win Waters’ commitment.

Waters ranks as high as 94th nationally and 9th at the CB position (Rivals), but the On3 industry composite has him 126th nationally and 15th at the CB position.

For Miami this is the 5th commitment of the 2026 class, a class which only has 4-stars (for now) and is ranked 12th nationally but 1st in the ACC.

QB Air Noland on Decision to Transfer to South Carolina with LaNorris Sellers Already on Roster

QB Air Noland surprised many when he decided to transfer to South Carolina back on December 23rd, which was surprising giving that QB LaNorris Sellers was already on the roster and the established starter.

Noland shared earlier this week why he made the decision: “the opportunity to be a play – it’s a play away. You never know what’s happening when it’s time for football. The opportunity that South Carolina presented is just a great opportunity for me. I feel like Coach Beamer and Coach Shula know that as well. It pushes you each and every day. It doesn’t let you be lackadaisical. It makes you a better quarterback. I feel like competition also brings the best out of you. With a quarterback like LaNorris Sellers, he’s a guy I can push and hopefully compete with and have fun with that.”

Nolan was a high 4-star in the Class of 2024 when he sat at Ohio State, never seeing the field. From the sounds of it, he’s not scared of a little competition with Sellers to try and get the best possible result for both of them.

4-Star OT Adam Guthrie Commits to Clemson

4-Star OT Adam Guthrie committed to Clemson yesterday over Ohio State, Penn State, and a few others.

Guthrie was wrapping up part of what was a huge recruiting weekend for Clemson, sharing, “it was a great time. I feel in love with the place. I loved it all, from the stadium, to the people, the facilities, the way they carry themselves, and how much Clemson fans love their team.”

Guthrie ranks as high as 146th nationally and 19th at the position (ESPN), with the On3 industry composite ranking him 229th nationally and 19th at the position.

For Clemson, this is the 2nd Blue Chip commitment and 6th commitment total for a class which currently ranks 22nd nationally and 3rd in the ACC.

Florida Football: Who is Sidelined For Spring

Billy Napier began a pre-Spring practice press conference recently with information on who will be sidelined or limited for the spring with injuries:

“DJ Lagway will be limited in terms of his participation in spring from a throwing component with the shoulder and then also the lower body. I think our intentions here are to be very smart. I do think he’ll be limited in throwing activities, but he’ll participate in practices otherwise. We’ve done a lot of homework here relative to the things he went through as a player.”

Some of the other limited players:

DL: Caleb Banks (Sr.), Jamari Lyons (Jr.), Stephon Shivers (Fr.)

DB: Cahron Rackley (Sr.), Sharif Denson (Jr.), Dijon Johnson (Jr.), Bryce Thornton (Jr.), Aaron Gates (So.), Jamroc Grimsley (Fr.)

LB: Grayson Howard (Jr).

RB: Treyaun Webb (So.), Chad Gasper Jr. (Fr.)

WR: Eugene Wilson III (So.)

QB: Paul Kessler (Fr.)

3-Star LB Karsten Busch Commits to Louisville

3-Star LB Karsten Busch committed to Louisville yesterday over offers from Kentucky, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, and others.

Busch, a Kentucky kid, is the third in-state commitment for Coach Brohm and the rest of the Cardinals staff for the Class of 2026.

Busch ranks as high as 282nd nationally and 21st at the position (On3), who rates him as a 4-star. But the On3 industry composite ranks him 467th nationally and 35th at the LB position. He is the #3 player from the state of Kentucky on the industry composite.

For Louisville, this is the 7th total commitment for the 2026 class, a class which currently sits 39th nationally and 8th in the ACC.

Big 12 Announces Friday Slate for 2025

The Big 12 announced its slate of Friday night games for the 2025 season, with some interesting matchups throughout the season:

• Aug. 29th, Georgia Tech @ Colorado

• Aug. 29th, Auburn @ Baylor

• Sep. 12th, Colorado @ Houston

• Sep. 12th, Kansas State @ Arizona

• Sep. 19th, Tulsa @ Oklahoma State

• Sep. 26th, TCU @ Arizona State

• Oct. 3rd, West Virginia @ BYU

• Nov. 7th, Houston @ UCF

• Nov. 28th, Arizona @ Arizona State

• Nov. 28th, Utah @ Kansas

3-Star S Markel Ford Decommits from Texas A&M

3-star safety Markel Ford decommitted from Texas A&M yesterday after committing back in late June.

Ford shared on Twitter gratitude for the staff and his family, but shared, “I believe it is in the best interest of my future to open up my recruitment once again.”

According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, SMU (29.4%), Oklahoma (25.7%), Texas (11.6), and LSU (9.6%) are the four programs with greater than a 1% chance to land the safety.

Ford is considered a 4-star by Rivals, with more modest ratings from On3 and 247. According to the On3 industry composite, Ford ranks 545th nationally and 49th at the safety position.

Texas A&M’s recruiting class still has 8 commitments and ranks 4th nationally, 2nd in the SEC.

Michigan AD Warde Manuel Pushes Back on “Schedule Easy to Make Playoff” Narrative

Michigan AD and former CFP Chairman Warde Manuel recently went on The Triple Option podcast. So, naturally, the CFP and strength of schedule was discussed.

Manuel disagreed with the sentiment that scheduling easy is the way to go moving forward:

“I don’t agree with some of my colleagues who think that not playing a tough non-conference opponent is the right way to go, that you’re better off. I think the Committee values those games. There’s no doubt about it that we understand when teams play tough opponents and they have a loss. If you look at it, Alabama was the highest ranked three-loss team because they had a very tough schedule and they won some tough games. But they were 11th in the last ranking because they also had some bad losses. So, there was a balance there.”

Manuel also shared that hypothetical conversations about what would happen if programs like SMU playing in a conference like the SEC are not, and should not, be part of the conversation:

“It’s hard to do, because it’s not going to happen. As the Chair, I’m trying to keep hypothetical situations out of the conversations. So, it’s hard, people want to go that way outside of the committee room. But all we can do is judge the resumes we see in front of us, and judge people by whom they play. We can’t say, ‘what would happen if Michigan had the same schedule as Indiana?’ We can’t go to those places because that’s not what exists in front of us. So, whether it’s a Boise or Utah compared to an Alabama or Michigan, you can’t reverse it and play them, and then say hypothetically in our mind how would that play out.”

3-Star LB Cord Nolan Commits to Texas Tech

3-Star LB Cord Nolan committed to Texas Tech yesterday over offers from Missouri, Baylor, Kansas State, Kansas, and others.

Nolan is one of the top defenders in the state of Oklahoma, ranking as the 8th ranked player in the entire state.

Nolan ranks 821st nationally and 66th at the LB position according to the On3 industry composite.

For Texas Tech, the recruiting class currently holds 6 commitments and ranks 38th nationally, 6th in the Big 12.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

Unrated LB Joey Kopec commits to Rutgers

Unrated RB Justin Compere commits to FIU

2027 Unrated RB Armand Hill commits to West Virginia