And now, 20 Final Thoughts from Week 13, when four of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s top 16 teams lost to opponents with 5-5 or 4-6 records.

1. No. 5 Indiana finally played its big game against No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday and lost by 23 points. Yet, by night’s end, the Hoosiers found themselves in much better shape to make the Playoff than … Alabama.

2. Don’t let SEC flacks tell you after Saturday, “This just goes to show you how tough it is to win in this conference.” Not this year. No. 7 Alabama (8-3, 4-3 SEC) lost 24-3 at Oklahoma (6-5, 2-5), a team that has spent much of the season struggling to find the end zone. No. 9 Ole Miss (8-3, 4-3) lost 24-17 at Florida (6-5, 4-4), which until recently wasn’t sure its coach would make it to 2025. And No. 15 Texas A&M (8-3, 5-2) went down 43-41 in four overtimes at Auburn (5-6, 2-5), even though its distinguishing trait this season has been its ability to cough up turnovers.

Even after all that, the Aggies can still reach the SEC Championship Game if they knock off No. 3 Texas (10-1, 6-1) next week. They’d face No. 10 Georgia (9-2, 6-2), which clinched its berth on a day when it faced UMass. If that matchup happens, it would be the most combined losses in an SEC title game (five) since 2007.

A conference that assumed it would be getting at least four, if not five berths to the first 12-team Playoff may now find itself with a maximum of three.

3. Alabama’s loss — the first game since 2011 in which it did not score a touchdown — was unspeakably bad for first-year coach Kalen DeBoer, who has overseen the program’s first three-loss regular season in 14 years. The Tide finally had cleansed the stench of October losses at Vanderbilt and Tennessee and could write their ticket to Atlanta. Instead, a swarming Oklahoma defense pressured Jalen Milroe (11 of 26 for 164 yards) into a three-interception night, while the Sooners’ 127th-ranked offense saw freshman running back Xavier Robinson (18 carries, 107 yards, two touchdowns) and quarterback Jackson Arnold (25 carries, 131 yards) run all over the Tide.

This was a seminal win for third-year Oklahoma coach Brent Venables, whose midseason switch to Joe Jon Finley as offensive coordinator paid off. But unless Alabama still backdoors into the CFP, the first season of the post-Saban era officially will go down as a disaster.

4. Since losing 32-31 at current No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) has answered its biggest questions. They were all on display in the Buckeyes’ 38-15 drubbing of No. 5 Indiana (10-1, 7-1). Quarterback Will Howard, whose late clock-management gaffe doomed the Buckeyes in Eugene, has been impressive since. He finished 22 of 26 for 201 yards and two TDs with one tipped pick Saturday. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was criticized for his defense’s inability to get to the quarterback against Oregon, but it has had 18 sacks in the five games since, including five Saturday. And, of course, popular punching bag Ryan Day emerged from that Oregon game with a 2-6 record against top-five foes. He has doubled his top-five wins since (Penn State and Indiana).

Ohio State’s biggest question remains its offensive line, though the Buckeyes did not miss injured center Seth McLaughlin in this one. Even so, Ohio State will be a popular national title pick come Selection Sunday.

5. The Hoosiers, who close with 1-10 Purdue next week, present one heck of a riddle for the committee. On the one hand, they likely will finish 11-1, with 10 blowout victories, while playing in a major conference. On the other hand, at most three of Indiana’s 11 wins will have come against bowl-eligible teams, and even those three likely will be 6-6. And then, in the one chance the Hoosiers had to prove themselves against an elite opponent, they lost big.

Still, they’ve only lost once, and we’re down to eight Power 4 teams that can say that. The best guess is the committee will drop Indiana to No. 10, below 9-2 Tennessee and Georgia and just behind 10-1 SMU.

Safe for now, with almost no breathing room.

GO DEEPER

Curt Cignetti thinks Indiana is still Playoff worthy. In 12-team format, we get to debate

Advertisement

6. The good news for Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is he no longer has to worry about his team reaching the SEC Championship Game, losing and getting knocked out of the Playoff. The Rebels just skipped right to the last part.

Ole Miss committed every self-inflicted wound imaginable in Gainesville. Twice on fourth-and-1 deep in Gators territory, Kiffin called a direct snap to 325-pound defensive tackle JJ Pegues. He was stuffed on both. And given two chances in the last 3:58 to send the game to overtime, quarterback Jaxson Dart threw two inexcusable interceptions.

Barring a miracle, the most hyped Ole Miss team in a generation will spend the holidays at the Citrus/Gator/Las Vegas bowl. Florida will, too, but that’s a big victory given Billy Napier’s job status only a few weeks ago.

7. When the Big 12 opted to expand from eight teams (after Texas and Oklahoma left) to 16, it inadvertently created possibly the flattest conference ever assembled. There are no alphas and no doormats, just 16 programs that can beat any of the others in a given week. And now, those teams have produced a perfectly fitting stretch run. Four teams — Arizona State, BYU, Colorado and Iowa State — sit tied atop the standings at 6-2 in league play. And none of them play each other next weekend.

If all four win their last game, the Sun Devils and Cyclones will meet in Arlington. But what chance do you give that happening?

8. Kansas (5-6, 4-4 Big 12) is the living embodiment of Big 12 parity. Ranked in the preseason Top 25, the Jayhawks limped to a 2-6 start before upsetting 7-1 Iowa State. And then upsetting 9-0 BYU. And then, on Saturday, likely ending the Playoff hopes of No. 16 Colorado (8-3, 6-2) in a 37-21 rout. Kansas, led by veteran tailback Devin Neal (37 carries, 207 yards, three TDs), played bully ball, running for 331 yards against the Big 12’s third-best rushing defense entering the weekend.

It’s an abrupt turn of events for Deion Sanders’ team, which entered that game on a four-game winning streak with its eyes on a Big 12 title. Barring everything breaking their way next week, stars Shedeur Sanders (23 of 29 for 266 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions) and Travis Hunter (eight catches, 125 yards, two touchdowns) may be playing their last college games Friday against Oklahoma State (3-8, 0-8).

9. Arizona State has had a hard time through the years building fan loyalty in its pro sports market, but second-year coach and alum Kenny Dillingham is doing everything possible to change that. Led by star running back Cam Skattebo (28 carries, 147 yards, three touchdowns), the No. 21 Sun Devils (9-2, 6-2) jumped to a 21-3 halftime lead against No. 14 BYU (9-2, 6-2) before hanging on for dear life. They prevailed 28-23 only after a premature field storming and a BYU Hail Mary attempt that was caught just short of the end zone.

Arizona State, 3-9 a year ago, was picked to finish last in the conference. It may beat that by 15 spots.

GO DEEPER

Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham has proved himself a great coach — with room to improve

Advertisement

10. No. 22 Iowa State (9-2, 6-2) has gone 112 years since its last conference championship, and for a brief moment against Utah (4-7, 1-7), it looked like the drought might continue. The Utes, down to fifth-string quarterback Luke Bottari, drove 91 yards to take a 28-24 lead with 5:51 left. But Cyclones counterpart Rocco Becht is no stranger to late-game drives. Iowa State went up 31-28 with 1:31 left, then Utah’s Cole Becker missed a 54-yard field goal attempt to tie.

Iowa State is in the Big 12 Championship Game with a win next week, but it has the toughest remaining game of the four contenders, against 8-3 Kansas State. “Farmageddon” does not usually have such high stakes.

11. Any hopes of a service academy crashing the CFP likely ended Saturday when No. 6 Notre Dame (10-1) humbled No. 19 Army (9-1) 49-14, ending the nation’s longest winning streak at 13. The Irish defense was just too good. Army was averaging an FBS-best 334.9 rushing yards but had 207, including 71 on its last garbage-time drive. Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love needed just seven carries to rack up 130 yards and two scores (he also caught a touchdown pass). And so, it’s down to 6-5 USC standing between the Irish and a CFP first-round home game.

The Black Knights still have plenty ahead of them: They’ll play for the AAC championship on Dec. 6 against Tulane and then, of course, face Navy. But even were Army to knock off the Green Wave, it’s doubtful it would finish ranked higher than the Mountain West champion.

12. Seeing all those SEC road teams go down Saturday should elicit some appreciation for No. 4 Penn State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten), which survived 26-25 at Minnesota (6-5, 4-4) despite digging itself an early 10-0 hole. The Nittany Lions ran out the clock with a six-minute drive in which they converted three fourth-and-one situations, including a daring James Franklin call. Penn State faked a punt from its 34-yard line with freshman tight end Luke Reynolds breaking off a 32-yard run.

Speaking of tight ends, I’ve been including Penn State’s Tyler Warren on my Heisman Trophy straw poll ballot for the past few weeks. That won’t change after he caught eight passes for 102 yards.

13. Seven programs have moved up from a Group of 5 league to a Power 5 league since 2011. The first six all finished below .500 in conference play in their first year. The seventh, No. 13 SMU, has yet to lose in conference play. The Mustangs (10-1, 7-0 ACC) clinched a spot in the ACC championship game with a 33-7 win at Virginia (5-6, 3-4). SMU has won eight straight games, including its last three by double digits, and it looks like a more complete team with each week. The committee has not been impressed with the Mustangs, but with teams above them losing, they’re moving into potential at-large territory, win or lose the conference.

14. SMU’s opponent in Charlotte will be No. 8 Miami (10-1, 6-1) if the Canes win at Syracuse (8-3, 4-3) next week or No. 17 Clemson (9-2, 7-1) if Miami loses. The Canes broke open a close game in the fourth quarter to run away from Wake Forest 42-14, holding the Demon Deacons (4-7, 2-5) without an offensive touchdown after the first quarter. This season has been a long time coming for Miami fans, who’ve spent most of the past 20 years in purgatory. This is the program’s first 10-win season since 2017, and even that team lost three in a row to end the season. The 2024 edition is aiming for a more satisfying ending.

15. All those SEC teams losing Saturday introduces the possibility of the ACC getting a second CFP berth. If Miami and SMU both go into the conference title game at 11-1, it would be surprising if the loser fell out of the field.

And then there’s Clemson.

Dabo Swinney’s team, which handled The Citadel 51-14, should move to the cusp of the top 12 on Tuesday heading into a home showdown with current No. 18 South Carolina (8-3). Should the Gamecocks win, they could get blocked out by their losses to Alabama and Ole Miss, but Clemson could have a shot if someone takes an unexpected second loss next weekend.

16. No. 12 Boise State (10-1, 7-0 Mountain West) clinched a berth in the Mountain West Championship Game, which it will host, with a harder-than-expected 17-13 win at Wyoming (2-9, 2-5). Heisman hopeful Ashton Jeanty briefly left with an injury but came back out to finish with 169 yards on 19 carries, becoming the first FBS 2,000-yard rusher in five years. (He’s now at 2,062.) Jeanty will be playing on championship weekend, but with Colorado losing, his top Heisman competition, Colorado’s Hunter, might not be.

Boise State now seems to have a real chance to finish above the Big 12 champion and earn the No. 4 seed and the accompanying first-round bye. Keep an eye on how high No. 21 Arizona State moves up on Tuesday.

17. Well folks, they did it. The Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-5, 3-5 Big Ten) are going to a bowl game for the first time since 2016, ending the longest drought of any Power 4 team.

Nebraska, which entered Saturday having lost four straight games, avoided one of its patented last-minute losses by hammering Wisconsin (5-6, 3-5) 44-25, ending a 10-game losing streak to the Badgers. A whole lot of demons slayed in one afternoon. Now, Wisconsin has its own streak on the line. Luke Fickell’s team needs to beat Minnesota next week to avoid the program’s first losing season since 2001.

18. USC (6-5, 4-5 Big Ten) did its best to salvage an otherwise miserable season with a 19-13 win over rival UCLA (4-7, 3-6) at a half-full (half-empty?) Rose Bowl. Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava has not been spectacular since taking over the starting job two weeks ago, but he has made plays when needed. USC’s go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter came when Maiava was flushed nearly to the sideline but found his footing and hit Ja’Kobi Lane in the end zone. Next week, the Trojans have a heck of a step up in competition: No. 6 Notre Dame heads to L.A. with a CFP berth in its sights.

19. The first Pac-2 Championship Game ended dramatically, with Oregon State’s Everett Hayes kicking a 55-yard field goal with 20 seconds left to lift the Beavers (5-6) to a surprising 41-38 win over Washington State (8-3). Oregon State had lost five straight games, most recently a 28-0 head-scratcher against Air Force. Now it has a chance to go bowling, but it would have to win Friday at Boise State. Wazzu’s season has taken a disappointing turn since getting to 8-1 and No. 18 in the CFP rankings. First, it lost a heartbreaker at New Mexico and now this, despite the continued heroics of quarterback John Mateer (250 yards passing, 75 yards rushing, four TDs).

20. Finally, Cal (6-5, 2-5 ACC) won its fourth consecutive Big Game, 24-21 over rival Stanford (3-8, 2-6). The Bears had been trailing all game until engineering a 98-yard touchdown drive to take the lead with 2:40 left.

On one hand, these were two programs far from national relevance, marginalized by realignment, playing a game on ACC Network that likely no one outside of their fans watched. On the other hand, this was a season- and career-defining game for those involved, as evidenced by Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s extremely emotional and eloquent postgame interview.

Highly recommend.

The full Fernando Mendoza post game interview after defeating Stanford

I’m not crying, you are#CALGORITHM #GOBEARS pic.twitter.com/5EPIiq7uwM

— c (@calgoldnbears) November 23, 2024

(Photo: Brian Bahr / Getty Images)

Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler is the latest NFL player to perform President-elect Donald Trump’s famous dance move after he made a big play against the New England Patriots.

Sieler helped thwart a Patriots drive in the third quarter with the team already up big. He did the celebration with teammates Calais Campbell and Emmanuel Ogbah looking on. 

Miami won the game 34-15 to improve to 5-6 on the season and with their playoff hopes still intact. Sieler had four tackles in the game, including two sacks and one tackle for a loss.

Even Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was impressed with the defensive tackle.

“Up early thinking about how good Zach sieler is,” Hill wrote on X early Monday.

Sieler is the latest NFL player to perform the Trump dance move. He followed Calvin Ridley, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Brock Bowers and Nick Bosa to do it in the NFL.

UFC star Jon Jones, soccer star Christian Pulisic and LPGA Tour star Charley Hull have also done the move as well.

Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler, #92, sacks New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, #10, during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Nov. 24, 2024. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

EAGLES’ SAQUON BARKLEY SETS FRANCHISE SINGLE-GAME RUSHING RECORD IN STATEMENT WIN OVER RAMS

The NFL confirmed to Fox News Digital last week that the league had “no issue” with it, and players would not be fined for doing the celebration.

Former soccer goalkeeper Tim Howard slammed Pulisic for doing the Trump dance and for “glorifying” him. However, Howard has been one of the few criticizing athletes, in any sport, for doing the Trump dance.

NFL great Brian Urlacher shared on “Jesse Watters Primetime” why he thought players were doing the dance now.

“People were scared for a while. You don’t want people to talk bad about you, how we’ve been talked about the last four years if you’re a Donald Trump supporter,” Urlacher said.

Former President Donald Trump waves to the crowd on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 18, 2024 in Milwaukee. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“I think now, no one’s scared anymore. It’s nice to see these guys coming out and everyone who’s a silent Trump supporter – he under polls always. … I think they’re just excited now that he got the job done, and he’s gonna get the job done the next four years.”

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

LAS VEGAS — Max Verstappen’s fourth world championship, secured under the neon lights of Las Vegas Boulevard on Saturday night, has cemented his place among Formula One’s all-time greats.

This was a championship victory unlike his previous three. In 2021, he went toe-to-toe with Lewis Hamilton over the course of the season, the pair scrapping in a direct fight. 2022 and 2023 were years of domination for Verstappen, any threats to his supremacy proving fleeting at best.

2024 has been different, even though the year started as 2023 ended. Verstappen dominated early on, only for Red Bull to lose its position as the pace-setter. Not just one, but three teams — McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes — emerged as persistent threats. Red Bull’s slump, particularly its impact on Sergio Pérez’s form, is poised to cost it the constructors’ championship for the first time since 2021.

Seven different drivers have scored wins this year. While Verstappen’s immense ability has got him across the line to secure the championship, the stiffer competition foreshadows what he can expect in 2025. Given the regulations’ stability and the need for teams to put as much time and effort as possible into the complete rule overhaul for 2026, most anticipate the pecking order will remain largely the same: McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes — then everyone else.

As title defenses go, 2025 is already shaping up to be an even greater test for Verstappen.

Is Lando Norris the (way too) early favorite?

F1 has long craved this kind of open, close competition at the front of the pack. The cost cap, introduced in 2021 to foster financial stability, has made it harder for teams to spend their way out of trouble. Upgrades and car development must be carefully planned.

McLaren’s rise over the past two seasons, which could culminate in its first constructors’ title in 26 years, proves how to get things right. Every update added to the MCL38 car throughout 2024 has offered a step forward in performance, giving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri the chance to fight at the very front regularly.

Norris took advantage of that to mount the most serious threat to Verstappen. Norris’s first chance to properly get in a title fight brought hard lessons to learn. Often his own harshest critic, the Briton took full accountability — maybe even too much — for mistakes at points through the year that temporarily lessened the pressure on Verstappen.

Norris will likely enter 2025 as the championship favorite based on his form after McLaren took a major step forward with its car around Miami. Since the start of the second half of the season in Hungary, he has outscored Verstappen, delivering dominant victories at Zandvoort and in Singapore in a fashion reminiscent of Verstappen in the past two years.

It has proved to Norris that, in his words, “I have what it takes” to fight for a championship. He admitted on Wednesday in Las Vegas that he was “definitely not at the level I needed to be at the beginning of the year,” only to produce “by far some of my best performances that I’ve done” through the second half of the season.

Norris explained that it would also lead to a very different approach from all of McLaren in 2025. No longer chasing, it would be “going into a season with a mindset of let’s try and win it,” he said. “It’s a very different mindset to what we had this year.” The reset of a new season could be big for Norris.

But he isn’t the only McLaren driver who’ll be considering a title bid.

In only his second season, Piastri justified McLaren fighting so hard for his services back in 2022.. While his maiden victory in Hungary came in strange circumstances as McLaren stressed over its team orders, the fashion in which he controlled proceedings in Baku proved his star quality. There needs to be another step in form — Norris leads the qualifying head-to-head 18-4 — to really match Norris, but the positive signs are there.

Much as he’s done in recent months, Verstappen may have to fend off a two-pronged McLaren threat in 2025.

Hamilton and Leclerc should make for a potent duo at Ferrari next season. (GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Hamilton’s pursuit of an eighth title renews at Ferrari

Hamilton’s long, successful Mercedes career has been inching toward an underwhelming end. Months removed from the emotional high of ending his win drought at Silverstone and the inherited victory at Spa, he admitted on Sky after the race in Brazil, where he struggled to P10, that he “could happily go and take a holiday.”

The upcoming switch to Ferrari for 2025 is one that, a few months ago, might have looked ill-judged. Mercedes was on the rise through the summer European races, and Ferrari sustained a dip in form. Those roles have reversed since the August break to the extent Ferrari is now chasing McLaren for the constructors’ title. Mercedes is 175 points back of Hamilton’s future team.

Hamilton recently admitted he’s keeping a close eye on Ferrari’s progress, even though his focus remains on finishing in fashion with Mercedes. Regardless of the constructors’ battle outcome, Ferrari should be a threat from the start of next year to win races, giving Hamilton hope that he could mount a challenge for a record-breaking eighth drivers’ title.

The other dynamic of interest in Hamilton’s Ferrari move is how he will stack up against Charles Leclerc, a driver regarded as having championship-winning caliber when given the right car.

Leclerc has been the leader at Ferrari for some time and is on a long-term contract for a reason. Wins in Monaco, Monza and Austin have made this his most successful season to date, and without Ferrari’s mid-season slump in form, there’s good reason to think Leclerc would have been as much if not more of a threat to Verstappen as Norris.

Much of the focus will be on Hamilton when he switches to Ferrari at the start of next year and whether it could be the turning point that gives him a final run of success to close out his trophy-laden F1 career. But Leclerc is also ready to fight for a championship. Amid inevitable discussion over Hamilton’s level of performance toward the end of this year as he nears his 40th birthday, comparing the two Ferrari drivers will be enlightening.

Either way, Verstappen will need to keep an eye on the red cars in his mirrors next year.

And what of Mercedes?

Hamilton’s recent disappointing form has not been felt across the Mercedes team. George Russell felt he could have won in the rainy Brazil race without pitting before the red flag, and he took pole in Las Vegas after the team swept practice.

George Russell has proven more than capable of carrying Mercedes in 2025. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

It was a reminder that when Mercedes gets everything right, it can still threaten Ferrari and McLaren. Russell will head into 2025 as a team leader for the first time when 18-year-old Mercedes protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli joins him. Despite the hype around Antonelli, the expectations for his rookie season will understandably need to be managed, meaning Russell will naturally be expected to spearhead its efforts.

The challenge for Mercedes will be to finally remedy its struggles with its car under this generation of regulations. Since 2022, it has failed to fight at the front consistently, its form blowing from hot to cold, sometimes session to session.

Finally understanding that in the last year of the regulation cycle would be too little, too late, but it could at least give some hope of getting back in the title mix again.

Verstappen will remain very tough to beat

The potential of all three teams to take the fight to Red Bull in 2025 is tantalizing. But we should factor in how strong Verstappen will be regardless next year.

He proved through the second half of 2024 that even without the quickest car, he is still capable of getting big results and fighting against the likes of Leclerc, Norris and Russell. Red Bull worked to understand the balance issues that emerged midway through the season with its Austin update package, offering some encouragement. If it can fully resolve that for next year and restore Verstappen’s confidence in the car, he may go a step ahead again.

To Norris, that remained the biggest challenge. Regardless of the relative car performance, anyone wanting to dethrone Verstappen would still have to defeat him.

Max Verstappen will chase his fifth career championship in 2025. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

“I don’t think you’ll probably get a much better driver than Max ever in Formula One ever again,” Norris said. “That’s my opinion but that’s what I believe in and for me to go up against that belief, to fight against that person that I know is so good, it takes a bit more than what I probably achieved this season.

“But I think what I’ve done since the summer break is closer to what I need to be, and I think that is close to being good enough to be fighting for it next year.”

Carlos Sainz, the outgoing Ferrari driver, will likely be left to watch the lead fight from afar in 2025 upon his move to Williams. But he was excited by how this season was ending.

“It just shows that it could go anywhere,” Sainz said. “When you have four teams within two-tenths and they have a whole winter to work on the car and improve the car, those two-tenths could quickly switch around and create a different favorite. So all four teams, for me, could be in the fight.”

Speaking to the broadcast after the race, with Las Vegas’ iconic Fountains of Bellagio cascading behind him, F1’s four-time reigning champion acknowledged the challenge ahead to defend his throne.

“If you look at it to next year right now, I think it’s going to be a proper battle between a lot of cars,” Verstappen said.

Top photo: Getty Images; Design: Kelsea Petersen/The Athletic