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College Football Recruiting, Opinion, and Analysis

Miami, Missouri, and Teams with Easier Roads to the CFP in 2025

Do these four teams all make the CFP in 2025? And do they get criticism like Indiana received in 2024 for an easier schedule?

Michael Germanese
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By Micheal Germanese

In this new era of college football, more teams now have a chance to make the College Football Playoff than ever before. The playoff over its first 10 years was dominated by mostly the same teams Clemson (7), Alabama (8), and Ohio State (6). and Georgia (4). In past years perfection was almost needed to get in, and that wasn’t enough always after a 12-0 Florida State team was left out. But after Ohio State took home the sport’s biggest prize despite not playing for a conference championship and losing two games, the door is wide open for teams to make a run even if they lose a few games.

The 12-team playoff in year one had several flaws but the one thing it did do was keep more teams involved and fans engaged even after their teams lost. Teams like Arizona State, Boise State, Indiana, SMU, Penn State, and Tennessee all got a chance to compete even after losing games in the regular season. Now thanks to favorable schedules in 2025 will four new teams punch their ticket to the playoff for the first time.

Missouri

Non-Conference: Home Central Arkansas, Home Kansas, Home Louisiana, Home UMass

Home: South Carolina, Alabama, Texas A&M, Mississippi State

Away: Auburn, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Arkansas

The Tigers last season finished the season 10-3 and were in the playoff mix late. But after a 30-34 loss to South Carolina on Nov. 16, playoff hopes were officially dashed. Missouri now will look to Penn State transfer Beau Pribula to lead them to their first appearance in the college football playoff.

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The Tigers lucked out with a favorable schedule again in 2025, considering their first six games all come at Memorial Stadium. The first time they leave the comfort of Columbia, MO. is on Oct 18 for a road contest against Auburn. Notable teams missing are LSU and Ole Miss along with Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee the three teams that represented the SEC in the playoff in 2024.

Missouri’s non-conference is nothing to write home about, they play the usual three non-power 5 teams and Kansas. In the Big 12 last season, Kansas finished 5-7, 4-5, and 10th in their conference.

In 2024 all three of their losses came on the road to Texas A&M, Alabama, and South Carolina, some of the worst road environments to play in. Missouri will play all three again in 2025 but this time at home. And as long as Missouri takes care of business in their more winnable games they should be able to go 1-3 against those three teams and still make the playoffs.

The Tiger’s road schedule looks nothing like it did a year ago, and won’t play against any team vying for the playoffs in 2025. Their most dominating road game looks to be on Nov. 22 in Norman, OK. Unlike Missouri, Oklahoma drew one of the hardest schedules in the SEC and could have an interim head coach by the time the two teams play.

Miami

Non-Conference: Home Notre Dame, Home Bethune-Cookman, Home USF, Home Florida

Home: Louisville, Stanford, Syracuse, NC State

Road: Florida State, SMU, Virginia Tech, Pitt

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal is known for not taking a knee to win games but instead running one more play to lose it. But despite this, Miami’s record improved each year under Cristobal going 5-7, 7-6, and 10-3 this past year. Now with a schedule where eight of their first 10 games come at home and they don’t leave the state of Florida until Nov. 1, does Cristobal finally get Miami their first playoff appearance?

Miami’s non-conference schedule features Notre Dame at home, Bethune-Cookman at Home, USF at home, and Florida at Home. Notre Dame comes to Miami to open the season and with CJ Carr, who’s never played a college game looking like the starter, this is the perfect time to play the Irish. Florida is a game that could go either way after the Gators had a better season than many expected and look like a top-25 team.

Miami is missing Clemson but playing SMU on Nov. 1, so it will only face one of the two ACC teams that played in the CFP last season. Miami’s hardest stretch of the season looks to be back-to-back rivalry games against Florida and Florida State but with the bye in-between it’s manageable.

Ole Miss

Non-Conferences: Home Georgia State, Home Tulane, Home Washington State, Home The Citadel

Home: Arkansas, LSU, South Carolina, Florida

Away: Kentucky, Georgia, Oklahoma, Mississippi State

Lane Kiffin is entering year six and has yet to make the SEC championship or CFP at Ole Miss but will 2025 change that? When you’re the 10th highest-paid coach in college football the expectation should be to play in both at least once in five years.

Kiffin loves to point out just how difficult it is to play in the SEC, but that must have been before he saw Ole Miss’s schedule for 2025. Notable SEC teams missing include Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas A&M. Not to mention Ole Miss only leaves home one time in their first six games. They also play weak non-conference games and have the two worst SEC teams on their schedule from last season.

The non-conference schedule features four home games against Georgia State, Tulane, The Citadel, and Washington State. It’s hard to criticize other teams when your non-conference schedule doesn’t have one Power 4 team even though you play four non-conference games.

Ole Miss’ entire season will come down to a 3-game starch from Oct. 18 to Nov. 1 when they play at Georgia, at Oklahoma, and home to South Carolina. Oklahoma is coming off a 6-7 year while South Carolina finished 9-4 and as people argued for them to be in the playoff before they would go on and lose to Illinois in the Cheez-It Bowl.

Nebraska

Non-Conference: Neutral Cincinnati, Home Akron, Home Houston Christian

Home: Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, USC, Iowa

Away: Maryland, Minnesota, UCLA, Penn State

Nebraska is heading into the 2025 season with momentum after making their first bowl game since 2016. Matt Rhule possibly canceling the spring game because of players being tampered with after the game has recently made headlines. After looking at Nebraska’s schedule for 2025 who needs a spring game?

Ohio State, Oregon, and Indiana are all missing from the schedule in 2025. That is 75 percent of the teams that made the playoffs from the Big Ten Last season. Nebraska plays on the road at Penn State on Nov. 22, going to Happy Valley is always tough. But being so late in the year, they should avoid being the whiteout game.

Nebraska’s home schedule has Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, USC, and Iowa. The Michigan game is hard to tell considering we don’t know if they will have a QB and have to see what happens with the sign-stealing investigation and what the punishment is handed out. USC looks like a tough game but Lincoln Riley has yet to put it together at Southern California. The Trojans should be a lot better than 2024 but it’s going to take seeing it to believe it.

The Cornhuskers non-conference doesn’t look challenging with games against Cincinnati in Kansas City, home against Akron and Houston Christian. Cincinnati went 5-7 last season and finished 11th in the Big 12.

Can Rhule finally give Nebraska fans what they want more than anything to finally be relevant again? Nebraska has improved each year under Rhule is 2025 the year they finally get to the CFP for the first time. 

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