So much of college football these past few years has been defined by what’s new. There’s the transfer portal, NIL money, revenue sharing, revamped rosters, realignment, private equity firms looking to do business with schools, and leagues eager to build up their cash reserves so they can finally afford to build those gold-plated lockers they’ve had their eyes on. If you fell into a coma in 2019 and awoke a week ago, the entirety of the sport would feel like some sort of fever dream.

And yet, for all this change, for all that’s new in college football, one thing has remained steadfastly true: The biggest brands have continued to dominate the sport.

It has been nearly three decades since we’ve had a first-time national champion. It’s been more than four decades since Florida State and Miami forced their way into the staid ranks of college football’s blue bloods. It has been a lifetime since someone in the Big Ten could realistically be called “fun.”

But here we are, halfway through the 2025 season, and Indiana has given us something unique, entertaining and truly new — a program that had wallowed in obscurity for decades is now a genuine power on the national stage.

“We showed the country we’re a real team,” quarterback Fernando Mendoza said after Saturday’s stunning 30-20 win over No. 3 Oregon.

It’s true. Indiana has uniforms, a playbook and everything else.

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Elijah Sarratt’s TD puts Indiana ahead for good

Fernando Mendoza connects with Elijah Sarratt to take the lead against the Ducks.

The advent of NIL, revenue sharing and the portal was supposed to simply make the rich richer, but the opposite has largely been true, and Indiana is Exhibit No. 1. Until 2020, Taylor Swift had not been alive during a year in which the Hoosiers finished ranked in the AP Top 25, and stunningly she hadn’t written a single song about how sad that was. Even that 2020 season was mostly a figment of COVID’s artificial reality, and the program regressed to 2-10 a season later. It’s almost impossible to overstate just how bleak Indiana’s football history had been, so bad that even amid all the basketball program’s malaise, no one ever thought, “Hey, maybe we could care about football instead.” Indiana was cheerfully irrelevant, not even interestingly bad, but rather just unnecessary to any larger conversation. Like the protagonist of every John Mellencamp song, Indiana was a program destined to relive the indignities of every past generation, no matter how hard it fought against the crushing obviousness of it all. It was Jack and Diane and Gerry DiNardo.

Then Curt Cignetti arrived, overhauled the roster, brashly told the world to Google him, and after scrolling past 73 sponsored results selling military-grade generators, you learned that the Hoosiers coach had won everywhere he had ever been, and he wasn’t about to change now.

“I felt this coming in,” Cignetti said of Saturday’s win.

Cignetti said he had “big road wins” at his past stops, and no matter that those stops were in places like IUP, Elon, James Madison and not the Big Ten, his intuition was right.

On Saturday, Mendoza slung the ball around, hitting star receiver Elijah Sarratt eight times for 121 yards and a score.

On Saturday, Aiden Fisher and the country’s most underrated defense held Heisman Trophy favorite Dante Moore to just 5.5 yards per throw and picked him off twice.

On Saturday, it became entirely reasonable to ask if Indiana could win a national championship.

That is a patently absurd statement, like asking if a fish could be elected prime minister of Canada. Of course, Canada tried that with a particularly cogent salmon in the 1920s, and it worked out horribly. The Hoosiers, on the other hand, seem entirely at home atop the college football universe.

Then look around the rest of the Big Ten. Penn State is in shambles after a third straight loss. Michigan was upended by USC 31-13 in a game that was more about what the Wolverines are lacking than what USC might be capable of accomplishing. Of course, this could also all be part of Michigan’s plan to lure Ohio State into a false sense of confidence only to beat Ryan Day again at the end of November, because it’s way funnier when it happens that way.

Elsewhere, Nebraska narrowly escaped Maryland, UCLA now seems like a tough out, and things are so bleak at Wisconsin everyone has already moved on to ice fishing season.

Amid all that mediocrity, Indiana is a breath of fresh air, the type of story movies are made about. We can picture it now: a lovable band of hardworking upstarts convinced by a coach brimming with confidence that they’re just as good as the power players everyone thinks should win. They could call the movie “Hoosiers.” It’d be an instant classic.

Of course, the story gets the storybook ending only if Indiana keeps winning, and although the remaining schedule is more than amenable, the Hoosiers’ ultimate date with destiny will arrive eventually.

The Buckeyes are the defending champs, the standard by which everyone else in the Big Ten is judged. Ohio State dominated No. 17 Illinois on Saturday, too — 34-16 — but that win hardly warrants headlines because the Buckeyes are used to doing this. Ohio State is a story when it doesn’t win, not when it lives up to all the advanced billing. The Buckeyes chug along, replacing bastions of NFL talent with a fresh cast, year after year.

Indiana is still a story because we couldn’t have seen this coming. Indiana is a surprise. Indiana is new.

This is not a sport that welcomes anyone new to the party, which makes what Indiana is doing still an entirely precarious thing.

But if Cignetti and the Hoosiers can keep winning, can get to the Big Ten championship and upend the Buckeyes, can make the playoff and win there, too, if they can win so much that no one is surprised when it happens anymore, that would be a real story.

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Group of 5 updates | Big 12 hijinks
Under the radar | Heisman five

Week 7 vibe check

Each week, the biggest games deliver thrilling results that shift the landscape of the college football world. Beyond those headlines, however, a host of other subtler shifts occur. We try to capture those here.

Trending down: Week 1 overreactions

Two things were clear after the first Saturday of the regular season: Florida State was back and Kalen DeBoer was being fitted for his membership jacket in the Alabama coaching bust club alongside Mike DuBose and Mike Shula. Mike Price would’ve been in, too, but he accidentally ended up at the wrong club entirely.

Well, six weeks later, things look a little different.

The Tide knocked off Missouri 27-24 — the fifth straight team to be handed its first loss of the season by Alabama — thanks to another brilliant performance by Ty Simpson, who threw for three touchdowns in the win. The Tide defense held Missouri’s Heisman Trophy hopeful Ahmad Hardy to just 52 yards rushing, helping pave the way to a win for an offense that mustered just 325 total yards — including 2 by center Parker Brailsford, 2 by left tackle Kadyn Proctor and none by star receiver Ryan Williams.

The win proved another résumé builder in Simpson’s Heisman campaign, something that would’ve seemed patently absurd to say after the FSU loss. It was also another victory for DeBoer’s famed “black hoodie of death,” which is now the most successful bit of coaching attire since Dan Mullen’s legendary “gray comfy pants of mediocrity.”

Kalen DeBoer arrives in CoMo in the black hoodie of death pic.twitter.com/GHKS4GLcR4

— Nick Kelly (@_NickKelly) October 11, 2025

Meanwhile, Florida State lost for the third straight time, 34-31, to Pitt, and has now gone 386 days without an ACC win. The Noles allowed Pitt freshman QB Mason Heintschel to throw for 321 yards, and FSU has surrendered points on 17 of 33 complete drives during the three-game skid.

Since Sept 22, 2024, 46 different schools have more wins vs. the ACC than Florida State does.

That’s truly incredible.

— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) October 11, 2025

This leads us to some compelling evidence as we begin to discuss who’ll be in the 12-team playoff. Florida State beat, arguably, the best team in the SEC. Florida State is 0-3 in the ACC. Therefore, the ACC is clearly far, far better than the SEC. That’s just math.

Trending up: Interim coaching

UCLA continues to look exceptional after firing DeShaun Foster, as Tim Skipper and the Bruins walloped Michigan State 38-13 on Saturday.

After mustering just 57 total points amid an 0-4 start under Foster, the coaching change has provided a spark to UCLA that typically can’t be achieved without drinking that lemonade from Panera that has so much guanine it allows you to travel through time.

Skipper has been a revelation. On the flight to Michigan, he left a note on each seat on the plane reading, “Are you a one-hit wonder?” which served to motivate both his team and Dexys Midnight Runners who returned to the studio for the first time in 43 years in hopes of getting a second hit. Skipper also showed plenty of chutzpah by calling for a brilliantly executed fake punt that led to a UCLA touchdown.

FAKE PUNT ‼️ @UCLAFootball

📺: BTN pic.twitter.com/S3O57VVF20

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 11, 2025

UCLA has put up 80 points against Penn State and Michigan State the past two weeks with Jerry Neuheisel calling the plays and, we assume, stealing Kelly Kapowski’s heart in the process.

The key to the offensive turnaround has been the legs of QB Nico Iamaleava, who ran for 128 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday’s win, leading his agent to immediately demand a trade back to the SEC.

Trending up: Changes in Happy Valley

Penn State opened the season No. 2 in the country. The Nittany Lions have now lost three in a row, after falling to Northwestern 22-21 Saturday. The passing and ground game struggled, and after Penn State scored a go-ahead TD with 10:50 to play in the game, the Jim Knowles-led defense surrendered a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that, until that moment, the folks working at Northwestern’s physics department had only hypothesized was theoretically possible.

All of this leaves Penn State in a bleak position. Hopes for the playoff are over, and Drew Allar suffered a season-ending injury. Penn State would owe James Franklin a boatload of cash to fire him, and the world’s best bioengineers are still months away from developing a microchip that would allow Franklin to experience emotions during a loss. And the next three games for the Nittany Lions: at Iowa, at Ohio State, vs. Indiana.

There might be serious rumblings about now that Penn State could be this year’s 2024 Florida State, except 2025 Florida State seems to have dibs on that title already.

Trending up: Hugh Freeze’s anger

Two weeks ago, Auburn might’ve toppled Oklahoma, but a pair of officiating decisions doomed the Tigers. The SEC apologized later for one blown call involving a Sooners player who feigned leaving the game, but it did little to change the outcome.

Saturday, Auburn looked to be on the verge of taking a significant lead against Georgia in a game that might’ve been a turning point for Freeze’s program, and again, the officials intervened.

Jackson Arnold appeared to be in the end zone for a touchdown that would’ve put Auburn up 17-0, but he was ruled down at the 1-inch line. On the next play, Arnold again appeared to cross the goal line before having the ball punched out, and again, the official disagreed. The play was ruled a fumble recovered by Georgia, which went on to score its first points of the game. Auburn never came close to cracking the scoreboard again, and the Dawgs won 20-10.

So many near misses in back-to-back big games all going against Auburn is hard to believe. What, after all, has Freeze ever done to deserve such things? Wait, don’t answer that.

Trending down: Nussmeier injury worries

Garrett Nussmeier, who is definitely not hurt, threw two picks as LSU struggled to find pay dirt yet again, but the Tigers’ defense proved good enough to lead the way to another win, 20-10 over South Carolina.

Nussmeier is fine, really. No reason to assume otherwise. Brian Kelly is so sure his QB is fine that his face is red with delight, and he’s slamming his fist on tables just to drive home the point that there is definitely nothing wrong with Nussmeier.

Still, LSU has played five games vs. FBS competition so far this season, and it has yet to score more than 23 points. Which is fine. Everything is fine. Stop asking.

Trending down: A Petrino turnaround

If Week 7 was a crowning moment for Curt Cignetti and his “Google me” catchphrase, it was a slightly less impressive coaching performance for Bobby Petrino, and his famous catchphrase, “Please, whatever you do, don’t Google me.”

Petrino, in his first game as Arkansas‘ interim head coach after Sam Pittman was fired two weeks ago, did have the Hogs ready for Tennessee, even leading midway through the second quarter. But Tennessee reeled off 24 straight points before a late Arkansas comeback attempt fell short.

Will a close loss to the No. 12 team in the country do much for Petrino’s quest to regain the job he was once fired from in disgrace? He should probably brace for the reality that it’s not, or boy would his face be red when he doesn’t get it.

Trending down: Colorado‘s petty cash

Deion Sanders got his first win over a ranked foe since his first game at Colorado by knocking off No. 22 Iowa State 24-17. The crowd then stormed the field, marking the most excited anyone has ever been about something involving the state of Iowa. Afterward, Sanders was utterly flabbergasted to learn a field storming comes with a $50,000 fine. Thankfully no one told him how much eggs cost now.

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Colorado fans storm field; Deion ‘happy and elated’

Colorado fans storm the field after the Buffaloes upset Iowa State, and Deion Sanders shares his thoughts on the victory.

Trending up: The Tar Heels

North Carolina was off this week, thus going seven full days without an on-field embarrassment. Instead, the only facepalms UNC faced in the past week were the cancellation of a Hulu documentary, the suspension of an assistant coach for recruiting violations, reports of a divided locker room, reports that Bill Belichick and the school were working on a buyout after just five games, and, of course, Belichick using a winch he stole from Roy Williams’ shed to remove the statue of Charlie Justice from in front of Kenan Stadium so he could get a better parking spot.

Big 12 hijinks

Because the Big 12 is essentially college football’s Mad Libs, Week 7 was once again wild in the conference.

Down to its fourth-string kicker, Iowa State rolled out a 310-pound freshman to boot kickoffs, which must have given Kadyn Proctor some ideas.

pic.twitter.com/AjDRQvLwFs

— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) October 11, 2025

Things are bleak in Stillwater, but Oklahoma State fans still know how to have a good time.

Guys being dudes https://t.co/rWHi3VPx8y pic.twitter.com/tNhY2CdGSm

— Oklahoma State Athletics (@OSUAthletics) October 11, 2025

If Mike Gundy was not among those shirtless fans, we question what he’s even doing with his free time now.

Texas Tech dominated Kansas in a 42-17 win despite the loss of starting QB Behren Morton thanks to tailback Cameron Dickey, who ran for 263 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was the most rushing yards by a Red Raiders player since Byron Hanspard had 287 in 1996.

Arizona State‘s hopes to repeat as Big 12 champs took a big hit in Week 7 without starting QB Sam Leavitt. Instead, the Sun Devils turned to journeyman Jeff Sims, who has had stints at Georgia Tech, Nebraska and, we assume, spent a year living off the land and finding his inner truth in Joshua Tree. The result was predictably bad, as Utah dominated in a 42-10 win.

And then there was BYU, which was on the verge of losing its first game of the season, trailing by a touchdown with 2:46 to play. That final drive included seven plays inside the Arizona 8, a fumble, two replay reviews and two penalties that gave BYU a fresh set of downs before Bear Bachmeier dove into the end zone for a game-tying score. The game went to a second overtime before Noah Fifita‘s final pass on fourth down bounced off a receiver’s hands in the end zone, and the Cougars won 33-27 to remain undefeated.

Midseason Group of 5 conference rundown

A playoff team, no Bull

The best team in the Group of 5? It sure looks as if it might be USF.

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South Florida Bulls vs. North Texas Mean Green: Full Highlights

South Florida Bulls vs. North Texas Mean Green: Full Highlights

The Bulls already have wins over Boise State and Florida, and on Friday, they used a third-quarter scoring barrage to rack up a dominant 63-36 win over previously undefeated North Texas.

USF scored four touchdowns in the span of just 3:37 of game clock, turning a 21-14 deficit just before the half into a 42-21 lead with 11:35 to play in the third quarter.

Combined with the hot start by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL ranks, football has proven to be a saving grace for the local area.

Rebels hit the jackpot

Six games into his tenure as the head coach at UNLV Dan Mullen has yet to lose, the Rebels are in the mix for a playoff berth, and no one has thrown a shoe at a critical time.

UNLV survived an onslaught from Air Force on Saturday, 51-48, as Anthony Colandrea accounted for 423 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winner with 36 seconds to go.

The Falcons — electric on offense and utterly dismal on D — are an adventure on a weekly basis, with nearly any outcome possible, the college football version of a 2 a.m. trip to Waffle House. It’s invigorating and terrifying, satisfying and a little dangerous, and when it’s over, you’re often confused about why everything is so sticky. And Saturday’s affair was no different. Air Force racked up 603 yards of offense, erased six different UNLV leads, and despite coughing up the late score, still had a chance to tie it after going 52 yards on six plays, but missed a 40-yard field goal as time expired.

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Air Force Falcons vs. UNLV Rebels: Full Highlights

Air Force Falcons vs. UNLV Rebels: Full Highlights

The win gets UNLV bowl eligible at 6-0, but the Rebels are thinking bigger — a Mountain West title and a playoff bid, and burgeoning rumors of Mullen being a candidate for the soon-to-be-vacant Florida job.

Who, who, who is leading Conference USA?

Thursday’s action featured a showdown between Conference USA powers rivaled in stature only by a Battle of the Bands competition involving Creed and Sugar Ray. Kennesaw State drubbed Louisiana Tech 35-7 behind a four-TD performance from QB Dexter Williams.

Believe it or not, the Owls are now 4-2 on the season, doubling last year’s win total already. That’s a massive success for a football program that was founded just 10 years ago by 22 guys at the back of an Atlanta security line that had reached all the way to Kennesaw’s campus, and the sky is the limit for where the Owls might go.

Of Kennesaw State’s remaining schedule, only New Mexico State (3-2) has a winning record. If the team can run the table and make it to the conference title game, it’s likely no more than a couple years away from getting an official invitation to join the American, so that conference can properly create a separate parliament of owls division with FAU, Temple and Rice.

MAC-tical jokers

It was either Leo Tolstoy or Frank Solich who said, “All good teams are alike; each bad team is bad in its own way.”

This was certainly true for Saturday’s pillow fight between MAC doormats Kent State and UMass. The Golden Flashes hadn’t won a FBS game since 2022, but at least there is some history of success there. It’s a program in search of leadership and direction, finding its place in the new world of college football in 2025. UMass’s failures, however, can best be described as the football equivalent of that Ben Affleck picture where he’s wearing a towel at the beach and staring out toward the horizon pondering his own insignificance in an infinite, uncaring universe. The Minutemen are 4-57 vs. FBS since the start of the 2019 season and 26-127 overall since becoming an FBS team in 2012.

And so it was that Kent State proved that, on the ladder of success, it has at least climbed one rung, while UMass continues to dig deeper into its own grave Saturday. The Golden Flashes cruised to a 42-6 win, behind four touchdown passes from Dru DeShields.

Bonus: Beavers hopes damned

Things are bleak for Oregon State. The Beavers fell to 0-7 on the year after Wake Forest backup QB Deshawn Purdie threw four touchdown passes in a 39-14 win. The Beavers have now lost 13 of their past 14 games, with the lone win coming against the only other team currently in their conference, Washington State.

Meanwhile, those Cougars had Ole Miss on upset alert, as the Rebels faltered early when QB Trinidad Chambliss was replaced by his far less successful twin Tobago Chambliss, who struggled in the red zone early, and the Rebels trailed 14-10 midway through the third quarter. Chambliss recovered, however, and finished the game with three total touchdowns and a 24-21 win.

Since the breakup of the old Pac-12, Washington State and Oregon State are now a combined 3-10 vs. Power 4 competition, while George Kliavkoff wallows on his couch staring at an old photo of the Oregon Duck.

Herd QB revival

When last we saw Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, he was benched at Syracuse in favor of a tight end in a season that ultimately got Dino Babers fired. But as anyone in Syracuse knows, when life deals you 43 feet of snow, you pick yourself up, grab your shovel and start digging again.

And so it is that Del Rio-Wilson has found new life at Marshall, accounting for four touchdowns in a dominant 48-24 win over a suddenly surging Old Dominion on Saturday. Del Rio-Wilson threw for 219 yards and a pair of scores and ran for 95 and two more touchdowns. It’s the type of shocking success that makes one wonder whatever happened to other infamously unsuccessful Syracuse QBs such as Rex Culpepper, Zack Mahoney, Terrel Hunt, Greg Paulus, AJ Long, Clayton Welch … and we’re sorry we’re being told we do not have space for a complete list.

Under-the-radar play of the week

As if football wasn’t hard enough for the guys at Stanford right now, SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings upped the degree of difficulty by a sizable margin Saturday, dishing a behind-the-back pass to tight end RJ Maryland midway through the first quarter.

KEVIN JENNINGS GOES BEHIND THE BACK 😱 pic.twitter.com/GIKmZj0PuB

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) October 11, 2025

Nine plays later, Jennings connected with Derrick McFall for a 19-yard TD pass, giving the Mustangs their first points of the game in what would eventually be a 34-10 win over the Cardinal.

It wasn’t all good news for SMU, however. Jennings’ ball distribution was so pretty that, by Dallas law, the Dallas Mavericks had to immediately trade him to the Los Angeles Lakers after the game.

Under-the-radar game of the week

Bowling Green is feline good after a frisky 28-23 come-from-behind win Saturday over Toledo.

For most of the game, Bowling Green simply seemed to be toying with the Rockets like so many balls of yarn, but during a wild four-play stretch midway through the fourth quarter, the Falcons proved they weren’t kitten around, scoring on a 73-yard pass, recovering a fumble Toledo coughed up like a hair ball two plays later, then attacking the end zone like a laser pointer from 1 yard out on the next play.

Eddie George picked up his first MAC win as Bowling Green’s coach, though honestly no one cares. Bowling Green has a team cat. Everyone loves the cat.

This is Major Pudge to Ground Control …#AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/ZTHyDwA7BT

— BGSU Football (@BG_Football) October 11, 2025

Heisman five

1. Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza

In the past calendar year, Mendoza is completing 71% of his throws with 29 total touchdowns and five interceptions, and that’s despite half those games coming while playing in the ACC, which as we all know isn’t supposed to have nice things.

2. Alabama QB Ty Simpson

Since the opener against Florida State, Simpson is completing 76% of his throws, averaging 9.7 yards per pass, and has thrown 14 touchdowns with just one pick. Honestly, it feels really strange to list off a bunch of good stats while adding, “if you don’t count the Florida State game.”

3. Miami DE Rueben Bain Jr.

Most people have Carson Beck as the Heisman front-runner because it is, by and large, a QB award. But no one at Miami has made a bigger impact on the Hurricanes this year than Bain, who has been an absolute wrecking machine off the edge. But, of course, the odds of a defensive player winning the Heisman are long, and the only path to it happening is for Bain to have an undeniably captivating narrative that voters can embrace. So, for as long as he remains Miami’s best player, we’ll work on building that narrative by sharing a little-known fact about the Canes’ star defensive end. For example, did you know Bain was born on Sept. 8, 2004, and on Sept. 10, 2004, he drove his mom home from the hospital and assembled his own crib?

4. Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby

A quick blind comparison:

QB A: 87.3 Total QBR, 9.8 yards/pass, 14 TD, 1 INT
QB B: 88.4 Total QBR, 10.8 yards/pass, 14 TD, 0 INT

QB A represents Simpson’s stat line since an opening-week loss. QB B is Sorsby’s numbers after Cincinnati’s opening-week loss. The country’s most underrated QB is slinging it and has the Bearcats in contention in the Big 12.

5. Notre Dame QB CJ Carr

Carr threw for 342 yards and a pair of scores in a 36-7 win over NC State. The performance helped Notre Dame avoid losing a second straight game to an ACC foe for the first time since 2014. Since then, the Irish are 49-10 vs. the ACC. Only Clemson (80) and Miami (50) have more wins vs. the ACC in that span than Notre Dame, despite the fact that Notre Dame does not play in the ACC.

MONTRÉAL, Canada — Back when he was Melbourne Victory coach, Tony Popovic once described the chance to play the role of villain and ruin an opponent’s fairytale as beautiful. If he still feels the same way as Socceroos boss, then Friday evening’s 1-0 win over Canada might have been one of the most magnificent victories that he’s been a part of.

Canada’s meeting with Australia at Montréal’s Stade Saputo was supposed to be a homecoming and a celebration. Les Rouges hadn’t played in the Québec capital since 2017 and, adding to the sense of civic pride, they’d returned with a collection of Francophiles in the squad. With a home World Cup approaching, wins over Romania and Wales in the last window had pushed them to a record-high FIFA ranking of 26. Prime Minister Mark Carney was in attendance. So was FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Montréal expected a party. Instead, they got 60% of the ball, 17 shots to five, eight shots on target to one, and a 1-0 loss. They got Mohamed Toure registering his fourth goal involvement in three games when he sent in a cross that initially appeared set to be cleared by Niko Sigur, only for Nestory Irankunda to pounce and send a tackle-cum-shot into the back of the net for his second international goal in as many games.

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The hosts got Paul Izzo making a record-setting eight saves and laying down a challenge to Mathew Ryan for the Socceroos’ No. 1 shirt. And they got to see Australia make it seven wins on the bounce, 11 games unbeaten, and join Argentina (who did it twice), the Netherlands, and Mexico amongst the only sides to defeat Canada inside 90 minutes since the appointment of Jesse Marsch. Prime Minister Carney, welcome to Popaball.

“I think the biggest disappointment the guys have is they knew that the crowd was great, and they wanted to electrify them,” Marsch reflected post-game. “You could see the disappointment in their faces, because they wanted the crowd to feel the energy of the team and what’s being done with the team.”

By the time the final whistle rang out, any mirth and goodwill that had filled the stands before the kickoff had dissipated. Jeers rained down as fans sought an outlet for their frustration as their side repeatedly slammed their heads against an Izzo-shaped brick wall; his most incredible save came amid a helter-skelter ending in the 90th minute, when Liam Millar found a wide-open Jacob Shaffelburg, only for his resulting shot to be denied by the sprawling custodian.

“I’m very happy with the performance,” Izzo reflected. “Honestly, I’m a bit lost for words at the moment. I’m taking every game as I can. I wasn’t expecting to play today. But I was given an opportunity, and I really wanted to take it again with both hands.”

Those playing red wore their frayed emotions on their sleeve, too; Joel Waterman and Tani Oluwaseyi both got into a shoving match with Irankunda in stoppage time, only to be met by a goalscorer who refused to take a backwards step. Restrained by Ryan and the Socceroos’ bench, the teenager was immediately substituted by Popovic and pulled in for a bearhug with a message of support for the matchwinner and chief windup merchant.

“That’s something more for me and him that we shared,” Popovic said of their discussion. “I’m just proud of his contribution. He’s a young man who has so much growth to come. Now, in the last two games, he’s scored goals for Australia.

“He’s 19 years old, and we have a striker [Mohamed Toure] that’s 21 starting here, away from home against Canada. Very proud of them.

“And that’s part of football. He doesn’t back down. He was coming off regardless of what happened there.”

Ultimately, Australia came to Montréal and did what they do: frustrate, absorb, and make their foes pay. Few will care for the boos and some, like Connor Metcalfe, quietly emerging as a key cog in Popovic’s plans, might even have enjoyed them. Canada, meanwhile, will join an increasingly impressive-looking list of nations that would feel they did enough to beat the Socceroos, only to lose.

Yet there were lessons amidst the spectacle, too. Because, as the stat sheet and Izzo’s man-of-the-match antics would hint at, Australia still had to ride their luck at times — even if breaking down low blocks has been a consistent challenge for Canada.

For much of the contest, Marsch’s side would move the ball forward against a defence that was able to maintain its shape and, should the attack be maintained for an extended period, eventually settle into a low block. Against this highly organised defensive front, possessing cover for its cover, space would be at a premium and angles to goal fleeting. This saw passes being closed down, crosses being cleared, and shots being smothered. That’s all expected; the Socceroos are very good at defending, to the point we almost take it for granted.

But there were moments of danger, particularly when the Canadians were able to counter-press (one of the most effective tools for breaking down a low block) and didn’t afford a chance at a unified front. Invariably, winger Tajon Buchanan was at the heart of these efforts, giving Australia’s Kye Rowles — who started as a wingback once more as part of Popovic’s pre-World Cup experimentation — fits as he repeatedly burst into the box and created shots or angles to pass.

Many of these moments arose because against the Canadian press or counter-press, Australia’s attempts to play out for much of the game were largely unsuccessful. The profiles of Rowles, debutant fullback Jacob Italiano, and midfield pivots Max Balard and Aiden O’Neill didn’t gel, and moves forward would often either break down just as soon as they began or were snuffed out when an attempt was made to bypass the midfield entirely with a 50/50 long ball. Rowles is a proven World Cup performer at center back, but as the flanker of a five, there are stronger options.

Things started to change in the second half as the game stretch and really kicked into gear with the introduction of Patrick Yazbek and wingbacks Lewis Miller and Jordy Bos around the hour mark; it taking just seconds, and one Bos run down the left and cross into the box, to demonstrate the importance of having wingbacks that have the physicality and willingness to bomb up and down the flanks — and force opponents to respect that possibility — in Popovic’s system.

Expecting any drastic overhauls in the way the Socceroos play is unrealistic. And unfair. Eleven games unbeaten and seven wins straight is a platform that demands to be built on for the World Cup. However, as shown in the second half, earning wins in the way the Socceroos have is made infinitely easier when you’re helping yourself. And Popovic and his staff know this, and they’ve highlighted possession as a key focus heading into next year’s World Cup.

“It wasn’t our intention to let them have that much ball. But in certain areas of the park, they’re very strong,” said Popovic.

“Would I have liked us to do more with the ball? Yes. But those 20 minutes in the second half were excellent for us. Our challenge is how do we sustain that for longer periods?”

If they can unlock a greater level of adaptability and fluidity, with the next stern test to come against the United States on Tuesday in Denver, will be telling come 2026. But it’s a lot easier to do this work when you’re winning games. And the Socceroos are also getting rather good at that, which is pretty important as well.

The 2025 League Championship Series matchups are set!

Starting Sunday in Toronto, the No. 2 seed Seattle Mariners and No. 1 seed Toronto Blue Jays will clash with a trip to the World Series on the line. The next day, the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers and top-seeded Milwaukee Brewers will begin their series on the National League side of the bracket.

Seattle outlasted the Detroit Tigers in a thrilling ALDS Game 5 on Friday night, two days after Toronto dispatched the AL East rival New York Yankees to get to the ALCS. Meanwhile, in the NL, Los Angeles rolled past the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee edged the division rival Chicago Cubs for the final NLCS spot.

What has stood out about all four remaining teams so far? What does each need to do to punch a ticket to the Fall Classic? And who are the X factors on each roster? Our ESPN MLB experts break it all down.

Note: Matchup odds come from Doolittle’s formula using power ratings as the basis for 10,000 simulations to determine the most likely outcomes. Team temperatures are based on Bill James’ formula for determining how “hot” or “cold” a team is at any given point; average is 72°.

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Dodgers-Brewers | Mariners-Blue Jays

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Brewers

This is the Brewers’ second showdown with the Dodgers in the NLCS, the first a seven-game loss to L.A. in 2018. Since Milwaukee started its run of contending seasons in 2017, only the Dodgers have won more regular-season games in the National League. The Brewers haven’t been able to translate that tap-tap-tapping at the championship door into a World Series crown, and twice their season has been ended by the Dodgers behemoth. L.A. entered the season with all the hype, but the Brewers exited it with a No. 1 seed. Seems easy to say now that it has come to pass, but wasn’t this always going to be how the Brewers got back to the World Series? — Bradford Doolittle

No. 1 seed Brewers’ concern level: None. Why should the Brewers be worried? Forget the seeds, the records, the run differentials — Milwaukee will enter this series perceived as a decided underdog. That’s not based just on what we’ve thought the Dodgers would be since last winter, but because of how L.A. has rolled through the beginning of its latest postseason run. But you know who else is rolling? The Brewers. And they are too young, too athletic and having too much fun to be intimidated by the Dodgers’ hype aura. Of more immediate concern, from a baseball perspective, is the fact that L.A. is awfully good. — Doolittle

Los Angeles Dodgers

Odds of advancing: 48.2%

Team temperature: 110°

What stood out most as the Dodgers rolled past the Phillies in the NLDS?

Jeff Passan: The team that the Dodgers were supposed to be has shown up in October. It’s not just the talent, which itself can be overwhelming. It’s that they are particularly comfortable in the sorts of games that would have others panicking through an expanded zone at the plate or too-fine nibbling on the mound.

Philadelphia’s starting pitching was excellent, and that still wasn’t enough to stop the Dodgers. And considering L.A. has done it without significant contributions from Ohtani or Betts over the first two games**, and with a bullpen that beyond Roki Sasaki and Alex Vesia remains in flux, the prospect of the Dodgers getting better is very real — and very scary.

David Schoenfield: Their ability to eventually get to the starting pitcher. In Game 1, Cristopher Sanchez was cruising through 5⅔ innings, having allowed just four hits. Then with two outs in the sixth, Freddie Freeman worked a walk, Tommy Edman singled and Enrique Hernandez drove both in with a double. The Dodgers then later added three runs against the bullpen.

Jesus Luzardo had been even more dominant in Game 2 with one hit allowed and 17 consecutive batters retired entering the seventh, when Teoscar Hernandez singled and Freeman doubled to chase Luzardo from the game. The bullpen entered and the Dodgers eventually scored four runs in the inning. Going back to last year’s postseason, Freeman seems to be involved in so many of these rallies while both Hernandezes become tougher outs in the postseason.

Why will (or won’t) it work against the Brewers in the NLCS?

Passan: The Brewers have a more balanced offense and a far better bullpen than the Phillies, and each is the sort of thing that could trip up Los Angeles. Now, admittedly, Milwaukee hasn’t faced the caliber of pitching the Dodgers present, so their NL-best strikeout rate this postseason will climb. And the Dodgers hit high velocity about as well as any team in MLB, so the advantage there for the Brewers — who are averaging more than 97 mph on their fastballs this postseason — isn’t quite as acute. The brand of baseball the Brewers play can work against Los Angeles. The execution simply needs to be immaculate.

Schoenfield: There are two factors in play here. The Brewers’ starting pitching isn’t as good, so manager Pat Murphy will be much quicker to his bullpen even if the starter is pitching well. The Brewers’ bullpen is much better and less likely to hemorrhage runs late like the Phillies did. So the “score late” philosophy is probably less likely of an outcome. Which puts pressure on the Dodgers’ offense to put runs on the scoreboard early in the game.

Which one player is the X factor who can make (or break) L.A.’s World Series hopes?

Passan: If Ohtani continues to disappear — he is in line to make two starts in the series and will continue to bat leadoff — the Dodgers have enough talent to overcome it, but their margin of error shrinks significantly.

He is the one player in baseball capable of single-handedly winning a series, and with his fastball sitting at career-best velocities even after his second reconstructive elbow surgery and his off-speed stuff still elite, he can control multiple games with his arm in addition to his power serving as an ever-present threat.

Poor pitching performances, on the other hand, can lose games, and lack of getting on base by a leadoff hitter hampers the ability of Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman to do damage. The difference between good Ohtani and bad Ohtani is profound enough to dictate the result of the series.

Schoenfield: Emmet Sheehan. Dave Roberts has found a closer in Roki Sasaki, and Alex Vesia is the one lefty he seems to trust, but it seems unlikely the Dodgers can win a World Series with just two relief pitchers.

Tanner Scott, the closer for most of the season, has been buried on the depth chart. Roberts went to Blake Treinen in Game 2, and he nearly blew the game.

Sheehan now looks like the top right-handed setup guy. He’s going to pitch some important innings. The regular-season numbers, mostly as a starter, say he can do the job: a .185 batting average allowed and 89 strikeouts in 73⅓ innings.

Milwaukee Brewers

Odds of advancing: 51.8%

Team temperature: 74°

What stood out most as the Brewers beat the Cubs in the NLDS?

Jesse Rogers: The Brewers came out with their hair on fire in the division series, not letting getting down early in Games 1 and 2 — after a week layoff — didn’t faze them. Most interesting was their power surge in the series. Solo shots and three run homers were all the rage for the Brew Crew. Add the fact that Milwaukee deployed one arm after another throwing around 100 mph — starting with righty Jacob Misiorowski — and the Chicago Cubs were overwhelmed in the strike zone, both at the plate and on the mound.

Schoenfield: Scoring nine runs in the first game without hitting a home run and then scoring seven runs in Game 2 all via the home run was impressive, but no doubt it’s those power arms in the bullpen that offered a huge exclamation point. Misiorowski threw an incredible 31 pitches over 100 mph in his three-inning stint in Game 2, including two at 104.3 and 104.2 mph. Trevor Megill is back after missing more than a month and hit 98. Jared Koenig hit 99.8. Abner Uribe throws a 99-mph sinker with a wipeout slider. Good luck.

Why will (or won’t) it work against the Dodgers in the NLCS?

Rogers: Umm, hitting home runs and throwing 100 mph? That works against anyone. Of course, there’s a good chance the Brewers won’t hit as many long balls but that’s when they’ll rely on the other parts of their game: contact, speed and defense. And if confidence matters at all, Milwaukee swept the season series against L.A, providing further hope in the NLCS. If somehow they can continue to go deep, watch out, an upset might be, ahem, Brewing.

Schoenfield: Bullpens can get hot in the playoffs, and it looks like the Milwaukee bullpen is hot. It’s worth noting that the Dodgers had the third-highest OPS in the majors during the regular season against pitches of 97-plus mph, hitting .255/.330/.429. So the Dodgers can do some damage against premium velocity. Of course, 104 is a different beast. Still, it feels like the Dodgers will have to score some runs early in the game to win this series.

Which one player is the X factor who can make (or break) Milwaukee’s World Series hopes?

Rogers: Jacob Misiorowski. It’s clear he’s going to have an important role no matter how the Brewers elect to use him. If he can control his emotions, as well as his stuff, Misiorowski could be the bridge to the late innings in several potential Brewers wins. Or perhaps they let him start a game. Dodgers hitters are 4-for-17 with eight strikeouts this season against the rookie. More of that — along with fastballs at 103 mph or more — could help Milwaukee through a tough L.A. lineup.

Schoenfield: Jackson Chourio. There was a scare in Game 1 when Chourio left the game after tweaking his hamstring (after going 3-for-3) but he returned in Game 2 and had two more hits, including a big three-run home run in the fourth inning.

Still just 21, Chourio is already showing a propensity to shine in the October spotlight. In his first five career playoff games, he had multiple hits in four of them (including a two-homer game last year against the Mets). We’ll see if the Dodgers can exploit his tendency to chase out of the zone but if he keeps producing, the Brewers will score some runs.

At last! Super-fans of 1977 expansion have been waiting for this LCS matchup since the early days of the Carter administration. The Blue Jays and Mariners came into existence at the same time, but they have never met with stakes like these in play. The M’s beat the Jays in a wild-card round matchup in 2022, but this is different.

The two strongest division champs in the AL are vying to end long World Series droughts. Toronto hasn’t won the title in 31 years, and Seattle has never won it.

The great Willie Horton was among the first players to play for both franchises. Even though he’s best remembered as a Tiger and has a statue outside of Comerica Park, they should still let him throw out the first pitch in Seattle and Toronto. — Doolittle

No. 1 seed Blue Jays’ concern level: Appropriately alert. Toronto has the better seed and home-field edge, but Seattle has been playing slightly better in the latter stages of the season, and the run differentials are virtually the same.

What’s really exciting is the star power on both teams and that the standouts have been shining in October. Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh and the scorching Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have played huge roles in the teams getting this far.

Both teams have leaned on the long ball for scoring, getting more than half their runs on homers. It’s a really close matchup that could be decided by Andres Munoz, Seattle’s edge at the back of the bullpen. — Doolittle

Toronto Blue Jays

Odds of advancing: 55.1%

Team temperature: 96°

What stood out most as the Blue Jays rolled past the Yankees in the ALDS?

Jorge Castillo: The relentlessness of their lineup. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. starred from start to finish, but Toronto received contributions from seemingly everyone manager John Schneider put in there. Four players not named Guerrero recorded two hits in Game 1. Daulton Varsho had four extra-base hits, and Ernie Clement went 3-for-4 in Game 2. Clement added another four hits in Game 3.

The Blue Jays were the toughest team to strike out during the regular season, and they registered more home runs than strikeouts in the first two games at Rogers Centre, where they’ve thrived all season. It helped that Playoff Vladdy Jr. surfaced, going 9-for-17 with three home runs, including a monumental grand slam in Game 2.

Schoenfield: Have to go with Trey Yesavage‘s absolutely dominant performance in Game 2, when he made his fourth career start and held the Yankees hitless for 5⅓ innings while striking out 11. The Yankees had no chance against him. Other than the length of the start — the Blue Jays pulled him with a big lead — it was as dominant a postseason outing as we’ve seen in a long time.

His over-the-top delivery creates an unusual look for batters, and he’s throwing 95-96 mph with a slider and wipeout splitter. Hard to believe there were 19 players selected ahead of him in the draft in 2024.

Why will (or won’t) it work against the Mariners in the ALCS?

Castillo: It’ll work at Rogers Centre because it has always worked at Rogers Centre this season. The Blue Jays scored 431 runs at home during the regular season, the third most in the majors. In the ALDS, they scored 23 in two games in Toronto. The Blue Jays dominate pitchers north of the border. The question is whether it’ll work in Seattle. T-Mobile Park is a difficult place to hit. Mariners pitchers posted a 3.28 ERA at home this season. But the Blue Jays scored 21 runs in a three-game sweep of the Mariners in May. Maybe their offense will travel.

Schoenfield: It will … if he throws strikes. He did against the Yankees, walking just one batter in his start, but in the minors, he walked 41 batters in 98 innings. The Mariners have a mix of patient hitters (Cal Raleigh, Randy Arozarena) and hitters who chase (Julio Rodriguez, Eugenio Suarez), but like the Yankees, the Mariners also whiff a lot.

Which one player is the X factor who can make (or break) Toronto’s World Series hopes?

Castillo: Trey Yesavage. Asking a rookie with four major league starts to continue dominating deep into October is a lot, but the Blue Jays lack that clear premier ace. Yesavage has the potential to supply it. Not only is his stuff good enough, he’s different enough to flummox even the most experienced hitters. His release point and arm angle are among the highest in baseball, making his fastball-splitter combination especially difficult to solve. Then, there’s his slider, which often runs arm side instead of the usual glove side. Toronto has been careful with the 22-year-old right-hander. He hasn’t thrown more than 94 pitches in a game this season, which started for him in Low-A. Now, he’s on the sport’s grandest stage and could be the difference in October.

Schoenfield: Shane Bieber. Kevin Gausman and Yesavage looked great, but given a 6-1 lead in Game 3, Bieber got knocked out in the third inning. Given how poorly Toronto’s bullpen pitched after that, maybe it was a bit of a quick hook, but it’s clear the Blue Jays will need all three of these starters to pitch well, given the bullpen didn’t post a bunch of zeroes against the Yankees. The Blue Jays’ ability to put the ball in play — they had the lowest strikeout rate in the majors — means they should continue to score some runs, so the question is whether they can keep enough runs off the scoreboard.

Seattle Mariners

Odds of advancing: 44.9%

Team temperature: 89°

What stood out most as the Mariners beat the Tigers in the ALDS?

Alden Gonzalez: The effectiveness of the starting rotation, which should come as no surprise. George Kirby, Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller — before the fifth inning, at least — all pitched well in the ALDS. The hope is that Bryan Woo, the Mariners’ best starter this season, will return from a pectoral injury for the ALCS, taking this rotation to yet another level.

The Mariners feel really good about their back-end relievers and believe this is the deepest lineup they’ve fielded in this era. But this team still revolves around its starting pitching — a unit that dominated throughout 2024 and finally started to round into form again in the stretch run of this season. The starters need to consistently provide six and seven innings so that manager Dan Wilson doesn’t have to venture outside of Gabe Speier, Matt Brash and Andres Munoz late in games. That’s the formula.

Doolittle: Seattle’s lineup depth is really impressive, even without a standout designated hitter. It’s eye-popping to see Eugenio Suarez hitting in the six-hole and J.P. Crawford at No. 9. It’s a group that hits for power, steals bases and strikes out at a much less problematic rate than the Mariners lineups we’re used to. Raleigh and Rodriguez make for such a dynamic one-two stack in the batting order. The R&R Boys.

Why will (or won’t) it work against the Blue Jays in the ALCS?

Gonzalez: No team struck out less often than the Blue Jays this season. Only the Yankees and Dodgers finished with a higher OPS. And when the playoffs arrived, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ernie Clement and Daulton Varsho slugged a combined 1.000 in four ALDS games. This offense operates at a different level than the Tigers’ — and could have Bo Bichette back for this next round.

Gilbert and Woo pitched pretty well against the Blue Jays this season (five earned runs in 11 2/3 innings). Castillo and Miller (15 earned runs in 15 innings) did not. But these two teams have not seen each other since May. The Mariners’ rotation is not the same as it was then.

Doolittle: A deep lineup plays against anybody, but there’s one factor that works in Seattle’s favor. With Trey Yesavage emerging for Toronto, the Blue Jays have four key hurlers who can dominate with splitters, the breakout pitch of the 2025 postseason. (Yesavage, Kevin Gausman, Seranthony Dominguez and Jeff Hoffman are the four.)

The Mariners were in the middle of the pack in hitting splitters during the season, but they had two hitters who crushed them. And it’s the R&R Boys — Raleigh had 1.159 OPS against splitters and Rodriguez 1.091.

Which one player is the X factor who can make (or break) Seattle’s World Series hopes?

Gonzalez: Randy Arozarena. The Mariners inserted Arozarena at the top of the lineup after they acquired Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor at the trade deadline, and Arozarena has struggled mightily ever since. He showed some flashes in the ALDS, but the Mariners need “Playoff Randy” — the one who took over during the 2020 postseason and became a sensation while playing for Team Mexico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. If he gets going ahead of Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez, the Mariners’ offense will be scary.

Doolittle: Matt Brash. Well, that’s not fair, as Brash is good, and I picked his name as an avatar for Seattle’s middle relief crew. If the Mariners’ roster has a soft underbelly, it’s the non-closing part of the bullpen. It’s not a bad group, but with a deep, productive lineup and a star closer in Munoz, plus excellent starting pitching, it might well be Brash, Eduard Bazardo, Gabe Speier and Carlos Vargas who determine if the Mariners can finally play in a World Series.