​As we say goodbye to the Christmas season and enter the New Year, the college football playoff enters the second round with eight teams remaining with a chance to win the national championship.

First-round recap: I went 2-2 on my predictions. I am not surprised that Ole Miss and Oregon both dominated at home. The biggest surprise of the first round was Alabama coming back from a 17-point deficit to outlast Oklahoma in Norman. Meanwhile, Miami defeated Texas A&M in a very low-scoring affair in College Station. Now we will see the top four seeds in their first playoff games. Which teams will have some rust, and which teams will continue their hot starts?

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic - Arlington, Texas
10. Miami Hurricanes vs. 2. Ohio State Buckeyes
December 31st - 7:30 PM (CST) on ESPN

The quarterfinals kick off with Miami making a return trip to the state of Texas after its victory over Texas A&M in the first round of the playoffs. This time, the Hurricanes will travel to Arlington to take on the defending national champion Buckeyes. Ohio State will play its first game since its loss to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game. For Miami to win this game, they will need quarterback Carson Beck to play much better than he did in round one. This game could be decided by which defense allows the fewest plays. I like Ohio State's offensive personnel more than Miami's, led by quarterback Julian Sayin and receiver Jeremiah Smith. The Buckeyes are the better team going in, but I won't be surprised if Miami wins because of its defense. Ultimately, I think the Buckeyes will win because they are the better team with more depth on both sides of the ball.

Capital One Orange Bowl - Miami Gardens, Fla.
5. Oregon Ducks vs. 4. Texas Tech Red Raiders
January 1st - 11 AM (CST) on ESPN

The first game of the New Year's Day trio is the Orange Bowl between the Ducks and the Red Raiders. Of all the teams remaining in the quarterfinals, you can say that Texas Tech is the biggest surprise to reach this part of the season. Texas Tech was clearly the best team in the not-so-good Big 12 Conference, but they will get a huge test from an Oregon team that looked good against James Madison in the first round of the playoffs. The key for Texas Tech is to play incredible defense against Oregon's Dante Moore. The Red Raiders are led defensively by linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, who was the best defensive player in college football in 2025. While I do think Texas Tech is a good team, I do not believe they have enough offense to challenge Oregon. The Ducks are going to win pretty easily, by at least 10 points.

Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential - Pasadena, Calif.
9. Alabama Crimson Tide vs. 1 Indiana Hoosiers
January 1st - 3:00 PM (CST) on ESPN

2025 Heisman Trophy Winner Fernando Mendoza is three wins away from accomplishing a dream season, winning the Heisman, and leading his team to a national championship. But first, he and the rest of the Hoosiers will have to take on an Alabama team that overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat Oklahoma in the first round. For the Crimson Tide to win, quarterback Ty Simpson must outplay Mendoza in the quarterback battle. Simpson must also connect well with his receivers, such as Ryan Williams. While Alabama brings in a ton of momentum into the Rose Bowl, Indiana is not afraid of any challenge. They have proven all year long why they are the number one team in the country, and I think they will continue to do so on New Year's Day.

Allstate Sugar Bowl - New Orleans
6. Ole Miss Rebels vs. 3. Georgia Bulldogs
January 1st - 7:00 (CST) on ESPN

The final quarterfinal matchup in the College Football Playoff features two SEC teams that are familiar with one another. Each team has won the last two matchups at home. Georgia won the previous matchup 43-35 on October 18th. On that day, Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss threw for 263 yards, and Georgia quarterback Gunnar Stockton threw for 289 yards. I expect both quarterbacks to play really well. The biggest question for both teams is which defense will step up in key situations. If we see a high-scoring affair like last time, I think it will benefit Ole Miss, even though Lane Kiffin is no longer the head coach. However, I think Georgia has the better defense and scheme in this matchup that will help them advance to the semifinals.

The 2025 college football season has reached its playoff portion of the schedule. We have seen one surprising team reach the top of the college football world in the regular season in Indiana. Also, the usual suspects are still in the hunt to bring home another championship to their schools (Georgia, Ohio State). Let's take a look at the four first-round games that will be played this weekend.
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9. Alabama @ 8. Oklahoma (December 19th at 6:30 PM CT on ABC/ESPN)
Two historic college football programs will clash in the first game of the 2025 playoffs. Since joining the SEC, the Sooners have won their two matchups over the Crimson Tide. For Alabama to win, it will need quarterback Ty Simpson to play much better than he did against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. For the Sooners to win, they will need quarterback John Mateer to play better, as well. This game will be a low-scoring affair as both teams have great defenses. This could come down to whoever has the football last. I will pick Oklahoma to win a close one.

10. Miami @ 7. Texas A&M (December 20th at 11:00 AM CT on ABC/ESPN)
Neither the Hurricanes nor the Aggies played in their respective conference championship games, but they will come into their matchup winning double-digit games in the regular season. This game will also come down to which quarterback will have the better game: Carson Beck for Miami or Marcel Reed for Texas A&M. While both teams had a tough stretch to end the season, both are looking to rebound and get a huge first-round win. I will take the Aggies to win this game.

11. Tulane @ 6. Ole Miss (December 20th at 2:30 PM CT on TNT)
Tulane and Ole Miss will each play their first-ever college football playoff game. They will also play with new head coaches. Jon Sumrall left Tulane to coach Florida, and Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss to be the head coach at LSU. Which team will handle having a coaching change better? Although Tulane is a very good team, Ole Miss is a very tough team at home and would love to get their revenge on Georgia in the next round. To me, Ole Miss is the better team, even with Coach Kiffin gone, and I expect them to win the game in Oxford.

12. James Madison @ 5. Oregon) (December 20th at 6:00 PM CT on TNT)
The final first-round matchup of the College Football Playoff will feature Oregon, making its second straight playoff appearance, against James Madison, which won the Sun Belt Conference. Just a few short years ago, James Madison was one of the best teams in the FCS (Division 1-AA). Now, they have solidified their place as one of the best teams in mid-major FBS. However, this will be their biggest challenge. They will travel across the country to take on an excellent Oregon team, one of three Big Ten Teams in the playoff. Autzen Stadium in Eugene will be extremely loud, and I don't know if the Dukes can handle the noise or the speed that the Ducks have on both sides of the football. I predict Oregon will advance to the next round. 
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Team of the Year: Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder, over the 2024-25 season, when they won the NBA Championship, and the current 2025-26 season, in which they are 24-2 (UPDATE this when publishing), have been the most dominant team in sports in 2025. The Thunder, led by coach Mark Daigneault, went 68-14 during the 2024-25 NBA regular season en route to winning the NBA title, the first since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2008, over the Indiana Pacers. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won his first career M.V.P. award, averaging a league-high 32.7 points per game. The Thunder play a true team style of basketball, with Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and others coming up big throughout the season and postseason. The Thunder are currently on pace to set the season record for most wins in a season for the 2025-26 season.

Athlete of the Year: Shohei Ohtani
I understand it might be getting a little boring seeing Shohei Ohtani as The Word on Pop Culture’s Athlete of the Year, as this is the third time in the last five years he’s been given this honor. The man is simply like no other player in sports as the best offensive player in the game, an All Star pitcher on the mound (which he was able to continue doing this season after surgery kept him from doing so in 2024) and he’s leading his team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, to championships – helping them become the back-to-back World Series champions in a quarter-century. Ohtani won his third consecutive M.V.P. award, and fourth of his career, this season, hitting .282 with a career high of 55 home runs, 102 RBI, and a 7.7 WAR (wins above replacement). Ohtani, being a sports unicorn, was on full notice during game 4 of the National League Championship Series this season against the Milwaukee Brewers, when he pitched six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, no walks and only two hits allowed, while also hitting three homers at the plate – something that had never been done in the history of baseball.

Coach of the Year: Curt Cignetti
I don’t typically like to honor a coach who hasn’t yet won a championship as coach of the year, but Indiana Hoosiers college football coach Curt Cignetti is the most deserving winner this year. He led his team to a perfect 13-0 season, a Big Ten championship over the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Hoosiers finished the season ranked No. 1. Cignetti, who was just awarded the Walter Camp Coach of the Year award for the second consecutive year (the first to ever do that), has taken the historically awful Indiana football team to the highest heights it has ever accomplished as a program. And, unlike many coaches in college sports, Cignetti hasn’t parlayed that success into a new contract at a bigger, more traditional college football powerhouse, but has extended for eight more years at Indiana.  

Game of the Year: World Series Game 7
There are always a handful of sporting events that could take this honor come year’s end, but how often do you have a do-or-die, game seven of the Major League Baseball World Series decided by extra innings? Game seven of the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays was only the sixth in MLB history to go to extras. It looked like the Blue Jays were going to win the third World Series title in franchise history, as they took a 4-3 lead into the ninth inning. But then one of the unlikeliest heroes for the Dodgers offense stepped up to the plate in the former of infielder Miguel Rojas, who hit a game-tying home run off Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Dodgers brough starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamaoto into the game, despite him having thrown 96 pitches the previous night – something unheard of in today’s game. Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement, who had broken the record for most hits in a postseason earlier in the game, hit a deep fly ball to the outfield with runners on base that looked like a surefire game-winner, before a leaping Andy Pages, just recently inserted into the game as a defensive replacement, made an amazing catch while colliding with teammate Enrique Hernandez. The game continued. In the top of the 11th inning, Dodgers catcher Will Smith hit a go-ahead home run off Blue Jays pitcher Shane Bieber, and Yamamoto in his third inning of relief kept the Jays from scoring, allowing the Dodgers to become the first back-to-back MLB champions in a quarter-century.

Breakthrough Athlete of the Year: Cal Raleigh
Cal Raleigh was already one of the better catchers in Major League Baseball with the Seattle Mariners. He had averaged 30 home runs a season over his first three big league years and had driven in 100 runs for the Mariners in 2024. But nobody could have seen his record-breaking 2025 season coming. Raleigh went from being one of the best slugging catchers in baseball to its best slugger period, becoming just the seventh player to reach 60 home runs in a season (obliterating the previous record for most hit by a catcher), and he led the American League with 125 RBI. If it hadn’t been for another ridiculously impressive season by New York Yankees star Aaron Judge, Raleigh would’ve been M.V.P.

Record Breaker of the Year: Alex Ovechkin
There are some records in sports that feel like they will never be broken. One of those records was Wayne Gretzky’s record for most goals in an NHL career. When Gretzky retired in 1999, he finished with 894 career goals, which was nearly 100 more than the next closest guy on the all-time list. It felt insurmountable. And, then Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals kept playing and kept scoring goals at a remarkable pace, until it became clear one of the records many sports fans thought was untouchable was going to go down – and it did toward the end of the 2024-25 NHL season when Ovechkin scored goal No. 895 in a game against the New York Islanders. Ovechkin didn’t hang up his skates either. He’s still lacing them up nightly for the Capitals, and finds himself with 911 goals, as of this writing.

Legend of the Year: Clayton Kershaw
Few legends get to go out on top, but that’s precisely how Clayton Kershaw ended his Hall of Fame career with the Major League Baseball champion Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025 and a World Series ring. The 2014 National League M.V.P., three-time National League Cy Young Award winner and five-time N.L. Earned Run Average champion, had a pretty fantastic final season, going 11-2 with a 3.36 ERA and making his 11th career All-Star team. Kershaw only saw limited action in the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays but proved to come up huge in a tight spot in extra innings of game three, which allowed the Dodgers to win the game in 18 innings. Kershaw retired with a 2.53 career ERA (the 46th best ever – but most of the players higher on the list pitched in the dead ball era), 223-96 record (the fourth best winning percentage in MLB history), and 3052 strikeouts (20th most in history).