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Mandel’s Final Thoughts: Don’t blame Playoff committee for first round getting out of hand

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Mandel’s Final Thoughts: Don’t blame Playoff committee for first round getting out of hand

And now, 12 Final Thoughts from the first weekend of the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff.

1. The first on-campus Playoff game kicked off at 8:10 p.m. ET in front of 77,622 roaring fans at Notre Dame Stadium. You didn’t have to be in the 25-degree South Bend weather to get the chills. Anyone watching on TV could appreciate the magnitude of this moment for a sport that has only ever played its postseason at bowl games and neutral sites.

The honeymoon lasted about 40 minutes, until Indiana fell behind Notre Dame 14-0 and the first wave of complaints began. The wrong team(s) got in. The game(s) were boring. Twelve teams was too many. Or too few.

Twenty-seven hours later, Ohio State completed the fourth home blowout of the first round, an anticlimactic ending to such an anticipated weekend. Maybe the committee did a bad job. Maybe it was the weather. Or … maybe Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas and Ohio State are really good teams.

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2. The eighth-seeded Buckeyes were the biggest wild cards coming into the weekend. Who knew where their heads would be three weeks removed from their Michigan nightmare? Many of the fans who booed them off the field that day apparently stayed home for this one, as tens of thousands of orange-clad Tennessee fans infiltrated the Horseshoe.

Well, those concerns went out the window before the end of the first quarter. Ohio State raced to a 21-0 lead en route to a 42-17 demolition of the ninth-seeded Vols. The Buckeyes’ star-studded offense did whatever it wanted, starting with quarterback Will Howard’s best performance of the season: 24 of 29 for 311 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Tennessee’s cornerbacks had no answers for receivers Jeremiah Smith (six catches, 103 yards, two TDs) and Emeka Egbuka (five catches, 81 yards), and running back TreVeyon Henderson (14 touches, 134 yards, two TDs) was electrifying.

Only head coach Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly can say why Ohio State’s offense has so rarely played to its potential, or why it flat-out no-showed against Michigan. But this version could win a national championship.

3. How would you like to be No. 1 seed Oregon watching that game? The Ducks went undefeated, including beating Ohio State at home in a classic — and now they’ve got to go play the Buckeyes again in the quarterfinals? While Penn State gets Boise State? Seems like a bug.

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But it’s going to make for a fantastic Rose Bowl — and a classic Big Ten-Pac-12 matchup, no less. Dillon Gabriel and the Ducks get my benefit of the doubt because they’ve been more consistent all season and they’ll be well-rested. But remember, Ohio State was on the verge of winning their first meeting before that back-breaking offensive pass interference call on Smith. And Howard will be out for revenge after his last-second clock miscue cost the Buckeyes their last shot.


Texas racked up 292 rushing yards vs. Clemson. (Tim Warner / Getty Images)

4. No. 5 seed Texas has been at its best this season when the running game gets cranked up, and that’s exactly what happened in Saturday’s 38-24 win over No. 12 seed Clemson. Tailbacks Jaydon Blue (14 carries, 146 yards, two long touchdowns) and Quintrevion Wisner (15 carries, 110 yards, two TDs) became the first Longhorns tandem since 2022 to both go over 100 yards. Texas advances to the Peach Bowl, where it will meet Big 12 champion Arizona State and will be expected to win. The Sun Devils got much better as the season went on, and star running back Cam Skattebo finished fifth in the Heisman voting, but man, Texas’ defense is really good. And this time it’s not playing Georgia in Atlanta.

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5. Clemson finished with four losses for the second straight season, but quarterback Cade Klubnik gives the Tigers hope for 2025. After falling behind 31-10 in the third quarter, Klubnik got Clemson back within one score despite the Tigers being down their top two running backs. Klubnik finished 26 of 43 for 336 yards, three touchdowns and an interception and had more rushing attempts (13) than his teammates (11), but he got no help from Clemson’s defense. Two plays after Clemson cut it to 31-24, Texas’ Blue dashed 77 yards for the dagger touchdown.

Dabo Swinney recently signed his first-ever defensive player out of the transfer portal, Purdue end Will Heldt. Now he just needs a few more.

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6. Penn State’s 38-10 rout of SMU must have been cathartic for the 100,000-plus in Beaver Stadium, even if it meant becoming popsicles for four hours. Nittany Lions fans have spent much of the past eight years getting let down in big games, but this performance was emphatic. Two pick sixes in the first 17 minutes got the crowd roaring, and it soon became apparent that SMU’s offense stood no chance against Kobe King, Abdul Carter, Dominic DeLuca and Dani Dennis-Sutton. Penn State’s own offense was hardly overpowering (5 yards per play), but it didn’t need to be. Mustangs quarterback Kevin Jennings (20 of 36, 195 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions) struggled badly against the best defense he’s faced, while SMU managed just 58 rushing yards on 36 attempts.


Penn State’s defense overwhelmed SMU in a 38-10 rout. (Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

7. Penn State now heads to the Fiesta Bowl, where its rushing defense gets a next-level challenge in No. 3 seed Boise State and Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty, who has 2,497 yards and 29 TDs on the ground this season. James Franklin’s team will likely be a heavy favorite for a second straight game. (It opened as a 10.5-point favorite, per BetMGM.) Thanks to this tournament’s funky seeding, the Nittany Lions managed to draw the committee’s No. 9 (Boise) and No. 10 (SMU) teams in their first two games. Top seeds Oregon (against No. 6 Ohio State) and Georgia (against No. 5 Notre Dame) have tougher quarterfinal draws than Penn State, which has the second-best odds to make the title game (40 percent), according to The Athletic’s model.

It’s a golden opportunity for Franklin’s team in its biggest postseason game since the 2017 Rose Bowl against USC.

8. If you thought the bickering from three weeks ago over the final spots in the bracket would be rendered moot once the games started … you must be new here. Just like in the BCS and the four-team CFP, every lopsided postseason game becomes a retroactive rallying cry for the team(s) left out. Even Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, still miffed his 9-3 team didn’t get in (while pretending that home loss to 4-8 Kentucky never happened), took some shots at the committee during both the Notre Dame-Indiana and Penn State-SMU games. (He was noticeably silent during the Ohio State-Tennessee game.)

Look, SMU got embarrassed. But the committee boxed itself in when chairman Warde Manuel declared after their penultimate rankings that teams whose seasons had ended would not be reevaluated after the conference championship games. At that point, the story became whether SMU would get “punished” if it lost to Clemson (which it did). Given a truly blank slate, maybe the committee would have given someone like 10-2 BYU a second look. As it was, it faced considerable pressure to avoid “knocking SMU out” for playing a 13th game. And then the Mustangs lost on a 56-yard field goal. They had to be in.

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9. No. 7 seed Notre Dame finally got its first BCS/CFP win, dominating No. 10 seed Indiana (the final score was 27-17, but it was 27-3 with two minutes to go) to set up a fascinating Sugar Bowl quarterfinal against No. 2 seed Georgia. In some ways the Irish and Bulldogs are mirror images: Both teams are physical on offense but with the ability to be explosive (see Jeremiyah Love’s 98-yard touchdown run Friday), and both have filthy defenses. Adding to the intrigue, Georgia is expected to be without injured quarterback Carson Beck, meaning backup Gunner Stockton will make his first career start against the nation’s top-rated pass defense.

But we may find out just how important those first-round byes can be. Whereas Georgia will have had 24 days of rest come Jan. 1, Notre Dame saw several key players suffer injuries 11 days out. Standout defensive tackle Rylie Mills went down clutching his knee after a sack and did not return. And starting right guard Rocco Spindler spent the second half in street clothes. The severity of those injuries is not yet known, though Marcus Freeman told ESPN that Mills’ injury was “not season-ending.”

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10. Curt Cignetti’s Indiana was one of the best stories of the 2024 season, but boy did it end with a dud. It wasn’t just that the Hoosiers got blown out. The brash Cignetti, who just hours earlier on “College GameDay” proclaimed, “We don’t just beat Top 25 teams, we beat the s— out of them,” could not have coached more conservatively as IU punted from the Notre Dame 37 in the first quarter, settled for a field goal from the Irish 16 already down 14-0 and bafflingly punted down 20-3 in the fourth quarter.

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Just like against Ohio State on Nov. 23, Indiana (11-2) was completely overmatched in the trenches, and quarterback Kurtis Rourke (20 of 33, 215 yards, two TDs, one interception) misfired to several open receivers. A disappointing ending to the program’s best season in a half-century.


Notre Dame beat Indiana in their first matchup since 1991. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

11. With the game out of reach in the final minutes, ESPN’s Sean McDonough was not shy about questioning why Indiana, with its weak schedule, was included in the CFP in the first place. Kirk Herbstreit went in for more the next morning. In general, I agree with them that the committee needs to be more discerning about schedule strength in this age of 16/17/18-team conferences. Indiana will not be the last Big Ten or SEC team to win 11 games against empty calories.

But there was nobody else worth going to the mat for this season instead. The alternatives either lacked their own big wins (Miami), lost to bad teams (Alabama and Ole Miss) or lost to multiple other teams on the bubble (South Carolina).

It was only a few years ago people were complaining that the four-team CFP was mostly the same teams every year. I personally enjoyed the novelty of watching Indiana in a Playoff game. At least until that punt.

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12. That’s not to say I have no beefs with the new format. Reserving the first-round byes for conference champions was well-intended, but it had a profoundly unfair effect on the seeding this first year. The No. 3 (Boise State) and No. 4 (Arizona State) seeds, both champions, are double-digit underdogs in their quarterfinals to the Big Ten (Penn State) and SEC (Texas) runners-up. That’s not how a bracket is supposed to work.

And there’s one other flaw worth considering, now that we’ve experienced our first on-campus games: The top four seeds don’t get to hold their own. I myself love a trip to Pasadena, but I bet even Oregon fans would trade their Disneyland trip in exchange for Ohio State having to come back to Autzen Stadium.

But that’s not going to change in the next 10 days.

(Photo: Jason Miller / Getty Images)

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NFL Week 7 scores: Eagles, Broncos get impressive victories

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NFL Week 7 scores: Eagles, Broncos get impressive victories

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The dust has nearly settled in the seventh week of the 2025 NFL season and there were some massive games on the docket that saw Super Bowl contenders pick up huge victories.

Two teams that came to mind were the Philadelphia Eagles and the Denver Broncos. The two matched up a couple of weeks ago but entered Week 7 with victory on the mind.

The Eagles saw Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown on the right page as they hooked up for two touchdowns in their win over the Minnesota Vikings. The Broncos needed to score 33 points in the fourth quarter but somehow pulled off a victory against the New York Giants.

Read below for the rest of the scoreboard for this week.

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Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco (16) celebrate a touchdown with tight end Cincinnati Bengals tight end Noah Fant (86) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Cincinnati Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025.  (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

  • Cincinnati Bengals 33, Pittsburgh Steelers 31

Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025

  • Los Angeles Rams 35, Jacksonville Jaguars 7
  • Chicago Bears 26, New Orleans Saints 14
  • Cleveland Browns 31, Miami Dolphins 6
  • New England Patriots 31, Tennessee Titans 13
  • Kansas City Chiefs 31, Las Vegas Raiders 0
Jalen Hurts stiff arms a defender

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) tries to avoid a tackle from Minnesota Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson (55) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Minneapolis.  (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

PATRIOTS’ DRAKE MAYE MATCHES TOM BRADY FEAT IN WIN OVER TITANS

  • Philadelphia Eagles 28, Minnesota Vikings 22
  • Carolina Panthers 13, New York Jets 6
  • Denver Broncos 33, New York Giants 32
  • Indianapolis Colts 38, Los Angeles Chargers 24
  • Dallas Cowboys 44, Washington Commanders 22
  • Green Bay Packers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23
  • San Francisco 49ers 20, Atlanta Falcons 10
Will Lutz celebrates a victory

Denver Broncos kicker Wil Lutz (3) celebrates after kicking the game winning field goal during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants in Denver, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025.  (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Monday, Oct. 20, 2025

  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Detroit Lions
  • Houston Texans @ Seattle Seahawks

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Justin Herbert and Chargers can’t catch up to Jonathan Taylor and Colts in loss

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Justin Herbert and Chargers can’t catch up to Jonathan Taylor and Colts in loss

The Chargers had the look. All-gold uniforms. Retro logos. Powder-blue end zones with script from the nostalgic days of Dan Fouts and Don Coryell.

But their defense?

As dead as disco when it counted most.

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, the NFL’s leading rusher, trampled the Chargers on Sunday with touchdowns of 23, eight and 19 yards in a 38-24 victory at SoFi Stadium.

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Sam Farmer breaks down what went wrong for the Chargers in their 38-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

“Until we get it fixed, until we put that fire out…” Chargers All-Pro safety Derwin James Jr. said. “The last two, three games, we haven’t been ourselves on defense.”

The Chargers have lost three of their past four games and need some quick-drying cement to patch the holes with Minnesota coming to town for a Thursday night game.

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“Short week,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “We didn’t play our best in any phase, but now it’s time to regroup, refit and get ready.”

If Harbaugh has any answers, he wasn’t sharing them outside the locker room Sunday. He stood in front of the media, gripped the lectern and stared into the distance.

“It wasn’t our best day, but do I have confidence in my team? Yes,” he said. “Do I believe they’re fighting? Yeah. And that’s all you can really ask for as a coach.”

It was just another Sunday for Taylor who came into Week 7 leading the league in rushing yards and touchdowns, and averaged 5.9 yards per carry against a Chargers defense that had been respectable to this point. That defense allowed an average of 20.8 points in the six previous games.

That helped open the passing lanes for Colts quarterback Daniel Jones, who threw a pair of touchdowns and again made an early-season case for Comeback Player of the Year after his career had seemingly flamed out with the New York Giants.

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Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is tackled by Chargers linebacker Odafe Oweh.

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is tackled by Chargers linebacker Odafe Oweh during the first half of the Chargers’ 38-24 loss Sunday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

It was the second trip to Los Angeles in four weeks for the Colts, who lost to the Rams here in Week 4.

The Chargers, whose distinctive look was a nod to the 1970s, were sleepwalking in the first half before coming to life in the second.

Justin Herbert kept the home team somewhat in the game with three touchdown passes after halftime but found himself trying to dig out of a deep hole all day.

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The Chargers actually outgained the Colts, 445 yards to 401, and held the ball for nine minutes longer, but Indianapolis was more efficient with its possessions, better in the red zone, and took advantage of its opportunities.

He saw two of his passes intercepted in the first half. The first was batted high in the air at the line of scrimmage and plucked by 314-pound defensive tackle Grover Stewart. The second pick came in the red zone, when safety Nick Cross slipped in front of Quentin Johnston in the end zone to intercept an eight-yard pass.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert slides while scrambling during the second half Sunday.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert slides while scrambling during the second half Sunday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

The Chargers, who trailed at halftime, 23-3, clawed their way back into the game with touchdown passes to Johnston, Keenan Allen and Oronde Gadsden II.

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It has been a rollercoaster of a season for the Chargers, who ran the table against the AFC West in the first three weeks, then lost back-to-back games to the Giants and Washington Commanders, before rebounding with a come-from-behind win at Miami.

Denver came from behind Sunday to beat the Giants, 33-32, knocking the Chargers out of the top spot in the division. Meanwhile, Kansas City stomped Las Vegas, 31-0, and could be gathering some of that familiar momentum. It isn’t getting any easier for the Chargers.

Herbert was hit 15 times by the Colts — three times more than the Chargers hit Jones — and sacked three times. More punishment for a quarterback who has been under intense pressure all season.

“That’s football,” he said. “That’s part of the job. We threw the ball a lot today and that’s going to happen. The offensive line is doing an incredible job battling and I can always get the ball out quicker.”

Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin breaks up a pass intended for Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey in the end zone.

Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin breaks up a pass intended for Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey in the end zone during the fourth quarter Sunday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

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Against the Colts, the troubles began early for the Chargers. After the home team’s first snap, Chargers left tackle Austin Deculus lay face down on the turf. He was the team’s fourth player to line up as Herbert’s blindside protector.

It was an ankle injury that felled Deculus — he wound up returning in the second quarter with a bulky brace — and the Chargers turned to the lightly experienced Foster Sarell, who suddenly held one of the most important positions on the field.

Just more offensive line insanity for the Chargers, who have cycled through six tackles so far. Their line was once considered an area of strength.

The Chargers are shedding the “university gold” uniforms and replacing them Thursday with familiar navy ones. They need to make more than superficial changes, however.

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James, for one, is happy the next game is coming so soon.

“Yes, sir,” he said with the slightest glint of optimism. “I can’t wait to get this taste out of my mouth.”

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WNBA star Angel Reese says she’d rather pay a fine than speak to reporters sometimes

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WNBA star Angel Reese says she’d rather pay a fine than speak to reporters sometimes

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WNBA star Angel Reese opened up on her fear of the media and claimed she would rather just pay a fine than speak with reporters. 

The Chicago Sky player and archrival of Caitlin Clark spoke about her thoughts on interacting with the media in the latest episode of her podcast “Unapologetically Angel,” this week. 

“Even before the game, I’m terrified of what the media is about to ask. Because it could be the nicest question, but it’s going to get flipped or put into a different light or a different perspective. It’s like, ‘Are you here intentionally to start a mess, or are you intentionally here to ask a question?’ And it’s really tough for me in the media. Like, I don’t want to do an interview with anybody,” Reese said.

“Seriously, I’d rather take the fine sometimes than talking to the media because it always gets flipped. And I think that’s where media has gotten these days. You could literally post ‘the sky is blue,’ and Angel said, ‘It’s too dark.’ Stuff like that, you know. So, I think, it’s just, for me, the media is really scary.” 

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The Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese heads to the locker room after being ejected from a game against the New York Liberty June 4, 2024, in Chicago.  (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Reese has been the subject of intense media attention dating back to the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball national championship game, when her LSU Tigers beat Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes, and Reese taunted Clark by pointing to her ring finger at the end of the game. 

Reese has become arguably the most controversial figure in women’s basketball since then. Many of Reese’s quotes and statements have often been at the center of controversy in the sport. 

Toward the end of the 2025 WNBA season in September, Reese prompted backlash for comments made to a Chicago Tribune reporter, in which the star called out her team for a last-place finish and 10-34 record. 

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“I’m not settling for the same s— we did this year,” Reese told The Chicago Tribune. “We have to get good players. We have to get great players. That’s a non-negotiable for me. I’m willing and wanting to play with the best. And however I can help to get the best here, that’s what I’m going to do this offseason. So, it’s going to be very, very important this offseason to make sure we attract the best of the best because we can’t settle for what we have this year.

“I am very vocal about what we need and what I want. I’d like to be here for my career, but if things don’t pan out, obviously I might have to move in a different direction and do what’s best for me. But while I am here, I’m going to try to stay open-minded about what I have here and maximize that as much as I can.”

Reese later apologized for the comments but claims the quotes were taken out of context. 

INSIDE CAITLIN CLARK AND ANGEL REESE’S IMPACT ON MEN’S BASKETBALL

“I probably am frustrated [with] myself right now,” Reese said at a postgame news conference Sept. 4. “I think the language is taken out of context. I really didn’t intentionally mean to put down my teammates because they’ve been through this with me throughout the whole year. They’ve busted their ass, just like I’ve busted my ass. They’ve showed up for me through thick and thin and in the locker room when nobody could see anything.

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“So, I want to apologize to my teammates, which I already have about the article and how it was misconstrued about what was said. And I just have to be better with my language. Because I know it’s not the message, it’s the messenger. And understanding what I say can be taken any kind of way. So, I just have to really be better and grow from this.”

Reese was then suspended for the first half of a game later that week for “statements detrimental to the team.”

In May, Reese was at the center of a WNBA investigation into “hateful” comments made against her during the Sky’s season opener against Clark’s Connecticut Fever. 

Reese was asked if she was able to provide the WNBA with details about the incident. She did not offer specifics on whether she had done so, saying, “That’s not a me question.” She also did not reveal what type of comments were made or any other specifics about what prompted the investigation.

However, moments earlier, in that same news conference with reporters, Reese said she was receiving widespread support from across the league because of the alleged incident.

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“Obviously, there’s no place in this league for that,” Reese said at that time. “I think the WNBA and our team and our organization has done a great job supporting me. … Going through this whole process, if it can happen to me. It can happen to anyone.”

Then, after the investigation ended the following week, the league did not find sufficient evidence to validate the allegations. 

Reese has previously accused Clark’s fans of racism and even alleged they created explicit AI-generated images of the Sky star and sent them to her family members. 

Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) dribbles against the Minnesota Lynx in the first quarter at Target Center.

Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese dribbles against the Minnesota Lynx in the first quarter at Target Center.  (Brad Rempel/Imagn Images)

“I think it’s really just the fans, her fans, the Iowa fans, now the Indiana fans, that are really just, they ride for her, and I respect that, respectfully. But sometimes it’s very disrespectful. I think there’s a lot of racism when it comes to it,” Reese said in the first episode of her podcast in early September. 

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“Multiple occasions, people have made AI images of me naked. They have sent it to my family members. My family members are like uncles, sending it to me like, ‘Are you naked on Instagram?’

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