Few college football coaches are more involved in the shaping the state and future of the game than Stanford coach David Shaw. He joins AP’s Ralph Russo to discuss changes made to preseason practice aimed at reducing the number of full contact practices. Shaw explains the thinking behind the modifications. What advice would give to the new Pac-12 Commissioner about how best to support football? Plus, what would be his ideal College Football Playoff format? Email the show at APTop25mailba...

They are called the Power Five conferences but really there is a big two among the group. The Southeastern Conference and Big Ten have pulled away from their peers when it comes to generating revenue. How can the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12 and Pac-12 keep up? Does Notre Dame hold the keys to unlock another level of wealth for the ACC? Should the Big 12 expand? How about a merger of sorts between the Big 12 and Pac-12? Maybe Larry Scott was right after all. What would a Power Six look l...

Will the Power Five conferences ever break away from the NCAA? Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports says they kind of already have. Inspired by a email from a listener, the AP Top 25 College Football Podcast begins a series of shows on the future of the sport. This week Dodd joins AP’s Ralph Russo to discuss a pivotal next couple of months for the NCAA, and what could lie ahead. Has the association outlasted its usefulness or is it just convenient for college sports leaders to place blame in Indianapoli...

We have finally reached NFL Draft week. But instead of again chewing over the 2021 class, which we have been doing for four months, Matt Miller of The NFL Draft Scout and ESPN jumps ahead to 2022.Who are the players you can already pencil in at the top of next year’s draft boards? There is a pass rusher out west holding down the top spot. What does the quarterback class of 2022 look like heading into the college football season? Which passers will be in the running to be top-10 picks? And why...

The upcoming NFL Draft could be a historic one, with as many as five quarterbacks going in the top-10 picks. Eric Edholm, draft analysis for Yahoo! Sports, joins AP’s Ralph Russo to take a deep dive into the quarterbacks from Trevor Lawrence to Mac Jones and the entire pool of players that NFL teams will be picking through. What positions are the deepest in the draft? Where will the pickings be a little thin? How did opting out impact prospects such as Penei Sewell of Oregon, Ja’Marr Chase of...

At Florida, Dan Mullen is breaking in a new quarterback and trying to stay ahead of Georgia. At Florida State, Mike Norvell is just looking for some normalcy in year two of his tenure as the Seminoles coach. Matt Baker from the Tampa Bay Times joins AP’s Ralph Russo to discuss about the state of college football in the state of Florida, from Tallahassee to Miami. Also, Sports Law Professor Gabe Feldman joins the show to review the NCAA’s day in front of the Supreme Court and how the associati...

There was a point where Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was the most polarizing figure in college football. While he’s still maybe the most talked about college football coach outside of Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney, it’s getting harder to find supporters. This week on the AP Top 25 College Football Podcast, AP sports writer Josh Dubow, who covered Harbaugh with Stanford and the 49ers and is a Michigan alum, joins Ralph Russo to do a deep dive on where things stand with the Wolverines and their co...

Ranking college football coaches is even tougher than ranking college football teams. But we tend to do it anyway, especially in the offseason. Stewart Mandel from The Athletic and Bruce Feldman from Fox join AP’s Ralph Russo to talk about their current Top 25 college coaches. Bruce and Stew are finally buying in on Brian Kelly as a top-three coach. Stewart gave James Franklin a big demotion after a tough year, but not so much with PJ Fleck. Bruce is still defending Jim Harbaugh and higher on...

The NCAA Tournament is back after a one-year pandemic-forced hiatus. That means the football show turns to basketball for a week. AP college basketball writer Aaron Beard joins Ralph Russo to break down the bracket, search for upsets and pick a Final Four. Plus, what went wrong this season for blue bloods Duke and Kentucky? And why can’t Indiana seem to recapture past glory. And we’ll sprinkle in a some football, too.

The worst Power Five program in college football is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons. Kansas parted ways with coach Les Miles after revelations about inappropriate behavior toward women while he was at LSU. It is another setback for a program that has become synonymous with them. Max Olson from The Athletic joins AP’s Ralph Russo to discuss how Kansas football got so bad, why Miles was never the solution and where it goes from here. Plus, new Marshall coach Charles Huff joins ...