SI:AM | The CFP’s Unlikely List of Title Hopefuls

The blueblood programs have all been eliminated. It’s time for someone new to step into the spotlight.

Trinidad Chambliss and Ole Miss lead a group of unlikely College Football Playoff semifinalists. / Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I think the protracted end of the Ole Miss-Georgia game—with the referees repeatedly going to the video monitor to review whether the final second should come off the clock—was the funniest conclusion to a football game I’ve ever seen. 

Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year

Clay Patrick McBride/Sports Illustrated; Styling by Jason Bolden; Hair by Moe Harb; Braiding by Alysha Bonadie at Bonabraids; Grooming by Teresa Luz

Congratulations to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on being named Sports Illustrated’s 2025 Sportsperson of the Year. The Thunder star might have trouble making room for the award in his crowded trophy case after leading OKC to its first NBA championship last season while taking MVP honors and winning the league scoring title. SGA is the driving force behind the Thunder’s turnaround from NBA laughingstock to dominant champion—a transition that has tracked Gilgeous-Alexander’s own development as a player. For more on SGA’s remarkable year, his upbringing, his life off the court and how he’s helped turn OKC into a basketball hotbed, check out Chris Mannix’s cover story from the February issue of Sports Illustrated.

In today’s SI:AM: 
🌹 Indiana’s dominant run continues
👋 Ohio State bows out
🏈 Potential NFL GMs

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Fresh faces in CFP semis

The list of teams remaining in contention for college football’s national championship looks more like something out of a video game than a typical collection of title contenders. The traditional powers of Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia have been eliminated, replaced by programs that are not the typical powerhouses that have ruled the CFP: Indiana, Ole Miss, Oregon and Miami. 

Oregon and Miami are the most successful programs among the final four, but neither has reached a title game in the past 10 years. Miami had an excellent run from the 1980s to the early 2000s that included five national championships, but the Hurricanes have spent the past two decades trying to regain their former glory. They have more losing seasons (four) than have bowl game victories (three) over the past 20 years—and one of those bowl wins came this season. Oregon has been the premier program on the West Coast for the past 15 years but is still searching for its first national championship. 

Ole Miss and Indiana can’t even come close to that level of historical success. The Rebels claim three national championships from roughly a decade before the team was integrated (1959, ’60 and ’62). They’ve enjoyed a good run recently, with double-digit wins in four of the past five seasons, but their coach jumping ship shortly before the playoff to join a conference rival has made them even more of an underdog. Indiana is the ultimate interloper, though. The Hoosiers entered this season with the most losses in college football history (an unfortunate distinction that now belongs to Northwestern). Now they’re the only undefeated team left standing after a thorough thrashing of big bad Alabama in the Rose Bowl. 

It would be foolish to draw too many conclusions about the state of college football based on the handful of games that led to this group of semifinalists. If this was about spending money in the transfer portal to upgrade your roster, then why was Texas Tech shut out against Oregon? The explanation for why the playoff has played out this way may be a simple one: The 12-team format offers more chances for upsets because playing more games means more opportunities for top teams to lose. 

Whatever the reason for this unlikely playoff outcome, the result is a pair of fascinating matchups in the next round. A potential Ole Miss-Indiana national championship game might not draw as many television viewers as last year’s matchup between Ohio State and Notre Dame, but after what he did last night against Georgia, don’t you want to see Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss play as many games as possible?

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Fernando Mendoza and Indiana are one step closer to a national championship after beating Alabama in the Rose Bowl. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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• The Rebels have moved on from Lane Kiffin and are one step away from playing for a national title after upsetting Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, Bryan Fischer writes.
• Pat Forde reports on Indiana’s continued historic power shift with its demolition of blueblood Alabama at the Rose Bowl.
• Fischer details how Ohio State’s repeat dreams were denied as coach Ryan Day was outcoached in the Buckeyes’ loss to Miami.
• Breer explores what is next for the Raiders with Maxx Crosby and Tom Brady in his latest NFL mailbag.
• Andrew Brandt follows the money and outlines his top business stories of 2025.

The top five…

… plays from the College Football Playoff quarterfinals:
5. Georgia’s nifty fake punt. 
4. Charlie Becker’s impressive snag for an Indiana touchdown. 
3. Keionte Scott’s 72-yard pick-six to give Miami an early 14–0 lead. 
2. Blake Purchase’s game-sealing sack for Oregon.
1. A pair of frantic scrambles by Trinidad Chambliss on an important fourth-quarter touchdown drive.