Every summer since 2007 I have created an intricate set of college football predictions for each upcoming season.  This year is no exception, as I will be using my blog over the next few days to publish my 19th annual college football preview guide which will contain 19 entries in all. The records below reflect each team’s predicted regular season overall record followed by their conference record.  These records include conference title games for the two division champions but exclude bowl games which will be previewed later on in a separate column on this blog.  The teams marked in bold font are the ones predicted to gain bowl eligibility.  Without further ado, here are my predictions for the two remaining independent teams in FBS for 2025 and the two remaining Pac-12 orphans, who technically are still apart of a conference in a financial sense, but for all intents and purposes, are independents until next year the Mountain West come over to give the conference life again.

Notre Dame (10-2)– CFP # 7 seed

Last Year’s Record: 14-2 (My 2024 prediction: 11-1)

Positional Strength: Running Back

Positional Weakness: Quarterback

Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: at Miami-FL (August 31)

Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: at Pittsburgh (November 15)- I am picking the Irish to get stunned in this road game against a Panther team who will have a bye week advantage over them.

Bottom Line: The Irish are one of the several traditional college football powerhouses that enter 2025 with major questions and uncertainly surrounding a new starting quarterback (see Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, etc.). If Notre Dame can get that position figured out with either C.J. Carr or Kenny Minchey, then they should be challenging for a national title all over again. There will be no time to ease one of these new starters into the position though, as the Irish’s first two games of the season are unquestionably their toughest (at Miami-FL, vs. Texas A & M).

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Uconn (8-4)

Last Year’s Record: 9-4 (My 2024 prediction: 4-8)- Jim Mora’s Huskies greatly exceeced my expectations for them.

Positional Strength: Running Back

Positional Weakness: Defensive Line

Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: vs. Air Force (November 15)

Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: at Delaware (September 13)- the Blue Hens have won their last 5 matchups against the Huskies!

Bottom Line: Jim Mora hasn’t gotten enough credit for the stellar job he has for bringing prosperity to this program for the first time since Randy Edsall departed for Maryland 15 years ago. He would have unquestionably been a coach of the year winner in any of the Group of Five conferences last season, but because the Huskies are independents, he is not eligble for these awards/accolades. This year, the Huskies boast an experienced offense and an inexperienced defense, but they have a schedule that will allow them to win a lot of games.

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Oregon State (6-6)

Last Year’s Record: 5-7 (My 2024 prediction: 9-3)- The Beavers undoubtedly disappoitned last season

Positional Strength: Running Back

Positional Weakness: Quarterback

Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: vs. Washington State (November 1)

Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: vs. Wake Forest (October 11)

Bottom Line: Trent Bray inherited a disastous situation last year, as Jonathan Smith left the program just as the Beavers dropped out of the ranks of the Power 4. Transfer quarterback Maalik Murphy had an up and down year at Duke in 2024, but thanks to a solid running game a talented defense, and a very favorable schedule, the Beavers should find their way back to a bowl game in 2025.

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Washington State (5-7)

Last Year’s Record: 8-5 (My 2024 prediction: 8-4)- another spot-on pick for me last season

Positional Strength: Running Back

Positional Weakness: Offensive Line

Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: vs. Oregon State (November 29)- yes you read that right, I am calling for both Oregon State and Washington State’s best wins this season to come against each other, as these two teams square off twice in the regular season.

Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: vs. San Diego State (Stepmber 6)

Bottom Line: New Coach Jimmy Rogers is basically starting over on both sides of the ball as this squad lost 39 out of 60 lettermen following the depature of Jake Dickert to Wake Forest. Wazzu’s schedule is also surprisingly difficult, as they play five teams coming off bye, including Oregon State twice, and have to to travel across the country five times for road games. Expect a rebuilding season in Pullman.

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