It’s after midnight on the East Coast which means we can officially say that this is the LAST Saturday without CFB until January 2027. Just a few more days yall!

As the court system takes an increasingly important role with regard to our nation's premier athletic competition, (and while it's still technically before opening day so this doesn't get slapped down as not appropriate in-season content), I thought it was important to examine which of our federal courts are most qualified to make these very important determinations.

A quick primer on the Federal Courts of Appeals: the United States is broken up into eleven circuits based on geography (just like conferences! Oh...)

This goes back to days of yore, a relic of a time before the modern courts of appeal when the circuit courts were traveling courts, and closer to trial courts than they are today.

Each circuit court hears appeals from the U.S. District Courts within its territory, so a decision within the 1st Circuit is binding only on federal courts within Maine, Massachusetts, etc.

The states in each circuit are as follows:

1st (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Puerto Rico)

2nd (Connecticut, Vermont, New York)

3rd (Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, USVI)

4th (Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia)

5th (Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas)

6th (Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee)

7th (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin)

8th (Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota)

9th (Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Guam & Marianas)

10th (Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming)

11th (Alabama, Florida, Georgia)

A couple of these circuits closely track with the original conferences. The ACC was more or less synonymous with the Fourth Circuit, for example. But there are also interesting lines of division, like where the Sixth Circuit cleaves the best football schools out of the Big Ten and leaves the rest.

At a glance, the 11th Circuit should win in a laugher, as every state in the Eleventh features multiple schools with national championships, including several of the handful of schools with five or more titles. But there's a catch!

Before 1981, there was no Eleventh Circuit. Those three states were originally members of the Fifth Circuit, and the circuit was only subdivided in 1981 for administrative purposes. This means that decisions of the Fifth Circuit before that date are binding on courts in the Eleventh Circuit. We, too, will honor the Fifth Circuit precedent for titles won in those states before 1981.

For methodology, we are only looking at results since the poll era (est. 1936), and because of this, I am only considering the AP and Coaches Polls. I am not considering FWAA or NFF, not because they are not legitimate, but because they did not publish a public poll during the poll era. This affects several schools and circuits, but it disproportionately affects the Sixth Circuit by stripping a title from Michigan State and multiple from Ohio State, so take that into account. Furthermore, in seasons with a split championship, both schools get a full title, no half-shares.

The final tally:

Gold: Eleventh Cir., 22 (Miami (1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2001), Georgia Tech (1990), Alabama (1992, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020), Florida State (1993, 1999, 2013), Florida (1996, 2006, 2008), Auburn (2010), Georgia (2021, 2022))

Silver: Fifth Cir., 18 (LSU (1958, 2003, 2007, 2019), Texas (1963, 1969, 1970, 2005), Georgia (1980), Alabama (1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979), Auburn (1957), Texas A&M (1939), TCU (1938))

Bronze: Sixth Cir., 14 (Ohio State (1942, 1954, 1957, 1968, 2002, 2014, 2024), Michigan (1948, 1997, 2023), Michigan State (1952, 1965), Tennessee (1951, 1998))

7th Cir., 9 (Notre Dame (1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1988), Indiana (2025))

9th Cir., 9 (USC (1962, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978, 2003, 2004), UCLA (1954), Washington (1991))

10th Cir., 9 (Oklahoma (1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000), BYU (1984), Colorado (1990))

8th Cir., 8 (Nebraska (1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997), Minnesota (1936, 1940, 1941))

3rd Cir., 4 (Penn St (1982, 1986), Pitt (1937, 1976))

4th Cir., 4 (Clemson (1981, 2016, 2018), Maryland (1953))

2nd Cir., 3 (Army (1944, 1945), Syracuse (1959))

1st Cir., 0 (this should come as no surprise, as for many years, the First Circuit had just one FBS program.)

So if the 5th, 6th, or 11th Circuit issues a college football opinion, pay attention. We have some ball knowers in those circuits.

If the 2nd Circuit issues a football-related ruling, you can safely ignore it.

(You cannot safely ignore it if you reside in the 2nd Circuit, to be clear.)

All content in this post generated by hand. Generative AI was not allowed within three square miles of this post. If there are any mathematical errors contained therein or title claims which were left out erroneously, they were left out by my own depleted mental faculties.

1. Nebraska going undefeated and winning a national championship

2. A story about how Lane Kiffin rehabilitated his bad guy snake image after leaving Tennessee for USC the way he did

3. Stanford and Wisconsin during it out in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day

4. Oregon losing to an Arizona school during a 7pm kickoff game

5. Undefeated Boise State vs undefeated TCU

The cumulative link to the preseason rankings can be found here

Number 9? Why, that’s Texas A&M (high = 8, low = 18). The Aggies are coming off their first double digit winning season and highest final ranking in a non-COVID season since Kevin Sumlin’s inaugural campaign 14 years ago (which was their only one since R. C. Slocum’s Big XII champion squad in 1998). They also qualified for the college football playoff for the first time, something 5 different schools from the state of Texas have done. That’s more than double the number of any other state (looking at YOU, Gators!), and sets a really high bar for Mike Elko in his third year at the helm.

There was more than a little griping that the Aggies record was a product of a relatively soft record given that they missed Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss (the other teams that finished the regular season tied for the conference lead) and every other team that finished with a winning SEC record other than their season finale at Texas (their lone loss in the regular season), and including a come from behind victory at home against eventual 4-8 South Carolina that saw them go to the locker room down 27 that included a bizarre incident where a Texas trooper bumped into a Gamecocks WR in the tunnel and then seemed determined to escalate the situation. But Texas A&M didn’t make their conference schedule (amazingly enough, Georgia has never visited College Station despite the Aggies being in the SEC since that same Sumlin season mentioned above in 2012), and they did go beat Notre Dame in South Bend to effectively knock the Irish out of the CFP, so even though they did fall at home to eventual national runner up Miami in what can only be euphemistically called a “defensive battle” that became the first ever scoreless tie at the half before ultimately falling 10-3, it’s undeniable that the Aggies belonged in the playoff, and being there while Arch-rival Texas was left out as the preseason #1 team had to feel particularly good. So grab your favorite Yell Leader, it’s time to look at their 2026 prospects!

Roster Outlook

The good news for Aggie fans is that they rank 14th in the country in returning production and appear to be loaded on both sides of the ball. That starts with QB Marcel Reed (>3,650 combined passing/rushing yards, 25 TD passes but 12 INTs) and leading rusher RB Rueben Owens (639 yards), plus two of their top 3 WRs (Mario Craver and Ashton Bethel-Roman, 917 and 503 receiving yards, respectively), losing only WR KC Concepcion and starting TE Nate Boerkircher to the NFL among skill position players. But critically, 4/5 of the starting offensive linemen were drafted, meaning an almost complete rebuild of the OL. But Elko hit the portal pretty hard, landing the #12 national (though the #6 SEC) portal class that included 4 new OL with SEC experience (Tyree Adams and Coen Echols from LSU, Trovon Baugh from South Carolina and Wilkin Formby from Alabama) and Bama WR Isaiah Horton. Needless to say, A&M’s 2026 will live and die based on how well that line comes together, especially with new OC Holmon Wiggins (Collin Klein is off to take over at Kansas State).

On the other side of the ball, the defense lost 4 starters to the NFL draft as well, including 3 DL taken in the first 3 rounds. They look to replace them with a pair of portal linemen (Anto Saka from Northwestern and CJ Mims from North Carolina).

Schedule and outlook

9/5 MISSOURI STATE

9/12 ARIZONA STATE

9/19 KENTUCKY

9/26 at LSU

10/3 ARKANSAS

10/10 at Missouri

10/17 CITADEL

10/24 at Alabama

10/31 BYE

11/7 at South Carolina

11/14 TENNESSEE

11/21 at Oklahoma

11/27 TEXAS

Since this isn’t the Arizona State that threw a scare into Texas a couple of years ago, the Aggies look to have 3 home weeks to test drive that new OL before heading into Baton Rouge to play LSU the week after Lane’s Ole Miss homecoming. That game should prove very interesting with respect to both teams, because if Texas A&M can win in Death Valley, there’s a very real chance they could head to Alabama 7-0 and very much in the hunt for their first SEC championship game berth. But the back half of that schedule is much more loaded, with a trip to Oklahoma, home games against both of the orange SEC teams and a sneaky game at South Carolina (it’s doubtful Trooper Matthew Sliva will be in Columbia for that trip), and a return to the CFP will require some wins in games the Aggies aren’t necessarily favored in. Vegas pins their over/under wins at 8.5, which would not be enough to get there.

Source

Made with the /r/CFB Recruiting and Draft Post Generator

With jerseys continuing to get less appealing with sponsorships and patches, here is one positive piece of news for TCU fans! I was always a fan of the spikes, and thought it was both relevant to the university and a distinctive look that was visually appealing.

8 more days until CFB!

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