Penn State-SMU is the fourth College Football Playoff first-round game to get previewed on Kings of the North, as Bill Landis and Doug Lesmerises give the Nittany Lions and Mustangs a Big Game Breakdown on both sides of the ball. That's followed by the latest transfer portal news, which includes Oregon filling both holes at offensive tackle for 2025. Then it's time, finally, for Doug and Bill to make their playoff picks. They give score predictions for all four opening games and then fill out their brackets all the way through and choose their national champions. Thanks for joining Kings of the North, and see you for Late Knight postgame shows on both Friday and Saturday. Chapters: • SMU vs Penn State big game breakdown (01:30) • College football news (43:40) • Indiana vs Notre Dame pick (58:10) • SMU vs Penn State pick (1:07:20) • Clemson vs Texas pick (1:10:53) • Tennessee vs Ohio State pick (1:15:25) • Bill's full playoff bracket (1:24:00) • Doug's full playoff bracket (1:24:20)

Ohio State vs. Tennessee in a College Football Playoff first-round matchup gets the Big Game Breakdown treatment on this Kings of the North episode. Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis dive into the Buckeyes vs. the Volunteers on both sides of the ball. But first, Steven Godfrey joins the show to discuss Ryan Day's place in the coaching world, what the vibes are like for Tennessee and the SEC entering the playoff, and all the latest coaching hire news. The show wraps with Whatcha Watching, Eating and Thinking. Thanks for joining Kings of the North. Chapters: • Steven Godfrey joins KOTN to discuss where Ryan Day is in the coaching world (05:30) • Tennessee vibes heading into Saturday (16:25) • Tennessee vs Ohio State big game breakdown (44:25) • Whatcha watching, eating, thinking (1:33:20)

Notre Dame vs. Indiana on Friday kicks off the first 12-team College Football Playoff and on this Kings of the North, Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis dive into a Big Game Breakdown of the Fighting Irish and Hoosiers on both sides of the ball. Then there's some discussion about the mid-day Saturday playoff game between Clemson and Texas before Shehan Jeyarajah of CBSSports.com joins the show to really dive into the Longhorns. Plus some transfer portal news on Michigan, Nebraska, Utah, Penn State, Colorado. Washington State and more. Thanks for joining Kings of the North. And don't forget to join our bowl and bracket pool at PoolPartyGaming.com. Chapters: • Join the KOTN bowl pick 'em and playoff bracket (02:00) • News around the north (04:10) • Indiana vs Notre Dame big game breakdown (09:30) • Clemson vs Texas game discussion (59:00) • Shehan Jeyarajah joins KOTN (1:13:30)

KOTN Playoff Bracket and Bowl Pick 'Em: https://poolpartygaming.com/ The 12 teams in The College Football Playoff are compared and ranked in 12 categories from best quarterback, best coach, and most defensive dudes to red-zone touchdown rate. and offensive success rate on this Kings of the North. Doug and Bill rank the teams from 1-12 in 12 categories then total everything up to give you their idea of the best teams in the playoff. Plus more transfer and coaching news, including one Northern playoff team losing a key contributor to the portal right now. Thanks for joining KOTN. Chapters: • News around the north include the quarterback situation at Penn State (03:20) • Ranking the 12 playoff teams based off 6 different statistical categories (18:20) • Ranking the 12 playoff teams based off 6 different subjective categories (45:30) • Overall team rankings of the 12 playoff teams (1:36:30) • More northern news (1:42:00)

KOTN Playoff Bracket and Bowl Pick 'Em: https://poolpartygaming.com/ From Iowa to Utah, Wisconsin to Notre Dame, Oregon to West Virginia, Kings of the North looks at the quarterback situations for all 28 of their Northern teams on this episode. Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis figure that: • 14 Northern teams have potential returning starters • 6 Northern teams have backups on the roster ready to step into the job • 8 Northern teams have to find a starter in the portal For 2024, 13 Northern teams found their starting quarterbacks in last offseason's transfer portal -- and 11 of those worked out pretty well. So the portal could change your team's fortunes. Plus information on the free KOTN Bowl Pool and Playoff Bracket contest that we'd love you to join. And news and notes from around college football. Thanks for joining Kings of the North. Chapters: • Rich Rodriguez hired as West Virginia's head coach (01:50) • Join the KOTN playoff bracket and bowl pick 'em (10:20) • TShoe's early bowl suggestions (20:00) • Army-Navy game predictions (26:40) • 2025 QB situations for teams' with a returning starter (38:45) • QB situations for teams' with a starter in place (1:08:20) • QB situations for teams' who need to hit the portal (1:24:45) • Northern news (1:47:00)

College Football Playoff Predictions are confidently made on this Kings of the North as Bill Landis and Doug Lesmerises are joined by Ari Wasserman of On3 to dive into the 12-team field. They look at their predicted playoff brackets from the last week of October and see where they went right and wrong. They wonder why their Heisman predictions from then were so easy. And then they give two outrageous predictions, their playoff team dark horse, and the playoff game they are most excited to see, including Ohio State-Tennessee and a Notre Dame-Penn State semi. Plus portal news and Whatcha Watching, Eating and Thinking. Thanks for joining Kings of the North. Chapters: • Michigan hires Chip Lindsey (01:50) • Nebraska promotes John Butler (08:48) • Northern football news update (13:15) • Ari Wasserman joins the show (21:00) • Playoff dark horses (43:15) • Games we are most excited for (1:01:30) • Outrageous playoff predictions (1:08:15) • Whatcha watching, eating, thinking (1:25:15)

What does SMU over Alabama tell us about the power of TV in the college football playoff selection process? And what does the Alabama complaining since then tell us about Bama’s place in the sport? On this Kings of the North, Steven Godfrey opens the show with Doug Lesmerises to discuss that. Then Doug is joined by Dan Wetzel to debate what we’ve learned about the 12-team structure now that the field is in. Who wants 14 teams? Finally, Doug looks at the Carson Beck injury for Georgia and the quality of the QBs in the playoff, and runs through some more portal and NFL news in Northern player movement. Thanks for joining KOTN. Chapters: • Steven Godfrey on does college football have an Alabama problem? (05:10) • TV influence on the playoff committee (15:40) • Dan Wetzel on if this playoff structure works (37:00) • Do conference champs deserve byes? (48:05) • Will we get to 14 teams? (52:00) • Is Boise State seeded too high? (57:50) • Carson Beck injury status (1:06:40) • Playoff quarterbacks (1:11:20) • News around the north (1:20:50)

In the 12-team College Football Playoff, which players have the capabilities to propel their teams to victory? From Penn State to Notre Dame, Ohio State to Oregon, Indiana to Boise State, Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis each pick their most dangerous player in each region on this Kings of the North. Plus Purdue hired a new coach, the transfer portal is open and active, and there are a ton of interesting Northern bowl matchups to run through. The guys do all of that, plus the South Cram-o-Meter. Thanks for joining Kings of the North. Chapters: • Most dangerous players in the Oregon region (07:10) • Most dangerous players in the Arizona State region (14:05) • Most dangerous players in the Georgia region (20:30) • Most dangerous players in the Boise State region (25:44) • South cram-o-meter (28:55) • Coaching news around the north (48:40) • Portal news around the north (1:09:20) • North vs North bowl games (1:23:04) • North vs border bowl games (1:31:00) • North vs south bowl games (1:34:50)

The 12-team College Football Playoff is out and Bill Landis and Doug Lesmeriss are here to react to all the matchups, especially the seeding for the six Northern teams in the field: No. 1 Oregon, plus Boise State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Ohio State, and Indiana. Stick with Kings of the Northern for coverage all the way through the playoff from a Northern point of view. Because The North rules college football and The South can cram it. Thanks for joining Kings of the North.

The College Football Playoff will announce its 12-team bracket on Sunday afternoon. Here on Saturday night, Kings of the North takes you inside conference championship weekend and what they think that means for the bracket. Live from Indianapolis, where they took in the Oregon-Penn State showdown in the Big Ten Championship Game, Doug and Bill take you through Iowa State's loss in the Big 12, Georgia's win in the SEC, Boise State's win in the Mountain West, Army's win in the American Athletic, Ohio's win in the MAC, and the late night matchups in the Big Ten and in the ACC between Clemson and SMU. Thanks for joining KOTN Late Knight on Kings of the North.