The Forkball

Chase Roberts celebrates his 59-yard touchdown reception (Photo by BYU Athletics) BYU Football had another historic year that started with many question marks. The Cougars were able to end it with a 12-win season and a win in the Poptarts bowl. Their only two losses came from the same team, which is now ranked number four and in the College Football Playoffs.

photo courtesy: Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images It’s possible that Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman would want to make the jump from college to the NFL. It’s also possible he may not want to coach in East Rutherford, NJ, where it’s rumored he could go; if you breathe the wrong way, the fan base is impatient and fickle.

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are no longer just America’s team, according to trailblazing cheerleader Julissa Garcia. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC) make an impression on everyone, and their first-ever NFL event in Mexico City, Mexico, cemented the country’s love for them. It’s a good thing the DCC are as charismatic as they are, because the team themselves leave a lot to be desired.

This series of articles is going to lay out who plays who every week, along with predictions for the week. During this week of college football, we have Big 12 Matchups that count towards the journey to Arlington, Texas. The Wildcats will take on Kansas State this week at home for the third straight week. Arizona will lose this game after beating Hawaii and Weber State in its first Big 12 game of the year. This game will take place today at 8 pm CST on Fox.

The 2025 Ohio State Buckeyes started their quest to be the first back-to-back national champions in school history with a bang. They downed the #1 Texas Longhorns and preseason Heisman-favorite Arch Manning 14-7, at home in Ohio Stadium, to start the season. The Buckeyes were led by great games from quarterback Julian Sayin, running back CJ Donaldson, linebacker Arvell Reese, and cornerback Davison Igbinosun. During the offseason, Mathews switched his jersey number from #24 to #7.

The shock of the Micah Parsons trade likely hasn’t fully set in yet for many Dallas Cowboys‘ fans. So, let’s rip off that Band-Aid. Micah Parsons is a Green Bay Packer. He immediately signed a four-year, $188 million contract with the Packers. That made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. The whole contract negotiation, or non-negotiation with the Cowboys was way past ugly, gearing towards hideous. The future was an abomination.

As a sophomore with Washington State, John Mateer‘s first starting season was impressive to say the least. He threw for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns, completing 64.6% of his passes. Not bad, right? Now sprinkle in 826 yards on the ground and 15 more scores. Mateer conjured up 44 touchdowns in 2024, leading all quarterbacks in the FBS. When you wish upon a transfer portal, sometimes a question mark emerges. Not this time.

The Big 12 became interesting last year with the final teams joining the conference, which brought a shakeup. The conference rankings had looked final and set until Kansas went on a run to beat the top four teams in the conference in the final weeks, setting up an interesting tiebreaker. Arizona State went on to win the conference championship and set up its destiny for the college football playoffs.

Here’s the list for the top five G5 Football Teams for CFP in 2025. The list considers team strength, conference affiliation and of course schedule. The G5 Team to get the CFP berth has slim chance for mistakes. Tulane reached the AAC championship game last year. Once again, they’re favored by many to be contending for the Group of 5 CFP spot, by SI.com and others. Sullivan should be their quarterback, (see my article about it on The Forkball).

The New York Yankees are fighting for a wild-card playoff spot in an American League filled with parity. With the captain, Aaron Judge, finally coming off the IL, the club cannot afford to have players placed there. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt was unable to suit up for last Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Twins. He hurt himself in Tuesday’s match-up, and hopefully, he will be able to stay off the IL and return to first base. The Bombers won their opening series in August.