By MAURA CAREY, AP Sports Writer

The 2025 college football season kicks off with fireworks, featuring eye-catching Week 1 showdowns like No. 1 Texas vs. No. 3 Ohio State, No. 9 LSU vs. No. 4 Clemson and No. 10 Miami vs. No. 6 Notre Dame. Despite the excitement of preseason powerhouses and Heisman Trophy contenders going head-to-head, early stumbles in September rarely end postseason dreams, certainly not in the new 12-team playoff era of college football. The real pressure hits as the season progresses and playoff standings are on the line.

Here are six high-stakes matchups that you won’t want to miss (using preseason AP Top 25 rankings):

After falling short of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, pressure is building for LSU’s Brian Kelly and Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer. Both historically successful programs are not far removed from recent title victories, with LSU in 2020 and Alabama the following year.

Both are coming off matching 9-4 seasons, each with a 5-3 conference record in the rugged SEC. Alabama should be favored in every game ahead of this one except for a late September visit to No. 5 Georgia. If LSU can knock off Clemson, the Tigers should be favored in all their games too ahead of this tilt.

Last fall, a two-interception game from Garrett Nussmeier hurt the Tigers, who struggled to stop Jalen Milroe and Co. Now Nussmeier is considered a Heisman contender and he will get a chance for a marquee conference road win over the Tide and DeBoer, who wants to distance himself from last year’s 9-4 debut season.

Texas and Georgia, the two highest-ranked SEC teams in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, square off in Athens less than a month before the league title game, which is where they last met (a 22-19 Bulldogs win in December).

Texas has a new quarterback in charge in Arch Manning; he briefly entered both games against Georgia in 2024, completing 3 of 6 passes for 19 yards after a slow start by Quinn Ewers and a 20-point deficit in Week 8.

Both teams have a lot of football to navigate before this one but it could be a dandy — and a precursor to another meeting or even two before the season ends?

Penn State earned the No. 2 seed in the Top 25, surpassing the reigning national champions, Ohio State, who came in at No. 3. The Big Ten rivals meet on Nov. 1 in Columbus in a matchup likely to carry league title game and playoff implications.

Drew Allar, a two-headed rushing attack and a stout defense should have the Nittany Lions favored in every game before this one, with all due respect to No. 7 Oregon (Sept. 27). Same for the Buckeyes, who are a 2.5-point favorite over the higher-ranked Longhorns in the opener.

Ohio State is 24-8 against Penn State and has won eight in a row. Coach James Franklin’s sole victory against the Buckeyes was in 2016 during his second year at the helm.

This year, the playoff format shifts to straight seeding, meaning the top four teams will be rewarded with a bye. A good showing here might impress the CFP committee before its first rankings of the season, too.

Expectations are high for Clemson, which is loaded. After LSU, the Tigers could be on cruise control when SMU comes calling for a game that matches two CFP teams from a year ago (both lost in the first round).

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik, a Heisman favorite, had a standout outing against the Mustangs in 2024, throwing for 262 yards and four touchdowns. Receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. had a career-high eight receptions, 143 yards and two TDs. The two are expected to pick up where they left off.

SMU QB Kevin Jennings is back amid some question marks elsewhere, but the schedule isn’t daunting ahead of the trip to Clemson.

The Sun Devils went 11-3 and grabbed an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff last season, thanks in part to a dominant 45-19 Big 12 championship game victory against … Iowa State.

The Cyclones have some challenging games ahead of this one but wins there set this up nicely for a chance to impress the CFP committee.

Power Four conference champions still earn a spot in the 12-team bracket, but they won’t have the luxury of a first-round bye unless they’re ranked in the top four. The Sun Devils could be in the running either way, but every win counts for both teams in pursuit of a playoff berth.

After consecutive underwhelming seasons, USC coach Lincoln Riley could use a major road win, and is there a bigger statement to make than against a storied rival?

Notre Dame has beaten the Trojans seven times in the last eight meetings, including the last two in which the Fighting Irish averaged 48.5 points. USC last won a game in Notre Dame Stadium in 2011.

The Irish have national title hopes. The Trojans have hopes that Riley is finding the right formula to turn things around in what could be one of the last games in this longstanding series. The contract for a rivalry that dates to 1926 expires after their game in 2026.

No. 8 Alabama at No. 5 Georgia (Sept. 27), a chance for ‘Bama to improve to 10-1 against the Bulldogs since 2008 or for Kirby Smart to cut into his 1-6 record as a head coach against the Crimson Tide … No. 3 Ohio State at No. 14 Michigan (Nov. 29), a matchup of the last two national champions in a series that has seen the Wolverines win four straight … No. 25 Boise State at No. 6 Notre Dame (Oct. 4), a rare shot for a top Group of Five team to put up a marquee midseason win on the road … No. 3 Ohio State at No. 12 Illinois (Oct. 11), a chance for Bret Bielema’s Illini to show if last year’s 10-win season was a fluke.

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Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

As he awaits an eligibility decision from the NCAA, Rahsul Faison released NIL apparel. Through a partnership with Fan Arch, the South Carolina running back launched #FreeSul apparel Tuesday.

Faison released T-shirts and sweatshirts on Fan Arch’s website Tuesday. The T-shirts start at $29.99 and sweatshirts are listed at $49.99.

Faison is still seeking another year of eligibility from the NCAA after applying for a waiver. He’s still waiting on a response, and Shane Beamer said the program still had not heard anything as of Tuesday.

New Maryland athletic director Jim Smith made his first radio appearance as the program’s AD Tuesday on 105.7 The Fan’s Inside Access show. One of the first questions was about his fellow new arrival, Terps men’s basketball coach Buzz Williams. 

“When we talk about Maryland basketball, we have to talk about both the women’s and men’s programs. Both have been great for a long time. Specifically with Buzz, there’s a good chance he can operate with almost no sleep. The man’s got incredible energy. I’ve never seen a more organized coach in how he builds his roster. For a guy who came to College Park with zero players, he’s built a roster that will be competitive this year,” Smith said.

“He’s very focused on recruiting the DMV, and we’ll do our best to keep top talent here. You might have seen an Instagram post over the weekend showing the commitment from both sides of our basketball program to recruiting in the Baltimore/DMV area.”

But it’s football season, so the first question was about Mike Locksley and his program.

“I really like what Coach Locks has done both on the field and in the meeting room. We’ve continued to recruit the DMV really well. Everybody knows him here, and he knows the kind of program we’re developing. He added some really good coaches this offseason who have great NFL experience. That’s a real benefit, because we have such a young roster that needs development quickly.” he said. “We’ve got a talented roster. They just haven’t had a lot of snaps yet — and having guys with next-level coaching experience is huge. I’m really excited about this upcoming season.”

Maryland Football Scoop: Standouts, concerns and is the Terps’ QB situation becoming clear?

There was little ambiguity about why Maryland picked Smith to replace former AD Damon Evans when he left for SMU: money. College sports is now driven by cash, and Smith has long track record of creating and developing revenue streams. Where does Maryland’s NIL situation stand?

“We’ve had work to do. And honestly, every program does. The rules keep changing, and we have to adapt. Our obligation is to provide the resources for coaches to compete at the highest level. That’s my responsibility: find resources and create a successful NIL program. I started in mid-July, so I’ve had fewer weeks to work with, but we’re off and running,” he said.

“That’s the biggest part of the job, figuring out how to do ‘and’ instead of ‘or.’ We have to have great football, basketball, soccer, field hockey, and more. We’re fortunate here to have great coaches committed to success even if we don’t have the resources others have. My job is to figure out how to provide what they need to keep winning.”

More from Smith below.

On whether he thought being an AD was his next move: “It’s really great to be in College Park and be here at the University of Maryland, so I really appreciate the time. To answer your question directly, no, I think it was 20 years ago when I thought I was going to be an athletic director. Maybe it was even more than that, when I was at Ohio State the first time working for Andy Geiger. I really did think that was going to be the path for me. Then the journey took me in a different direction and into a lot of really great professional sports roles. All of a sudden, the landscape changed a little bit in college, and here I am. So not five or ten years ago, it was a little bit longer ago where I really thought I could be an athletic director.”

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 On the program in general: “The great part is, we already have a lot of great sports here in College Park, right? It’s just about making sure we sustain and keep the sports that are high-performing at that high level, and then build all our other sports into being really high-achieving. We’ve got lacrosse programs, a great men’s soccer program, and we’ve been very competitive in men’s and women’s basketball. Football has the fourth-most bowl wins in the Big Ten over the last four years. We have a lot of successful programs here. How do we sustain it and maintain it going forward?”

On hiring Joe LaBue and Diana Sabau: “There were great people here before me, but I also had the chance to bring in experienced pros. Joe Labue is a proven sports executive and a proud Terp. That’s important. He brings a pro sports perspective that blends well here. With Diana, I needed an experienced collegiate administrator from a big program. I was fortunate to reconnect with her and convince her to join us. A former Maryland AD, Andy Geiger, told me to surround yourself with people smarter than you and I think with Joe and Diana, we’ve done just that.”

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The University of Kansas has received an unprecedented $300 million gift from donor David Booth, believed to be among the largest single gifts in the history of college athletics and the largest in school history.

Kansas plans to allocate $75 million of Booth’s gift toward launching the second phase of its ongoing transformation of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium and construction of the surrounding Gateway District, Kansas athletic director Travis Goff told ESPN.

Though school officials have not revealed a timetable for construction and completion of Phase 2, the funds will allow Kansas to move forward with renovating the east side of the stadium after the 2025 football season.

The remainder of Booth’s gift will establish an annual additional revenue stream for Kansas athletics, Goff said.

“I’d say it’s transformative and a game changer,” Goff told ESPN. “This gift makes an immediate impact on our top priority in a profound way, and it also provides us with an incredible revenue stream that gives us a chance to really invest in unique ways in the future of Kansas athletics.”

Kansas has already invested $450 million in the first phase of the Gateway District project, which included an overhaul of the southwest, west and north sides of the stadium and a major renovation of the Anderson Family Football Complex. Stadium construction got underway at the end of the 2023 football season and will be completed in time for the Jayhawks’ season opener later this month.

The second phase of the Gateway District project would also bring the development of a new hotel, outdoor event plaza, student housing, retail and restaurant spaces and parking located east of Kansas Memorial Stadium.

The total cost of Phase 2 — finishing the stadium and the mixed-use development — is estimated to be $360 million. Lawrence city commissioners voted Tuesday night to approve a package of financial and tax incentives worth around $94 million to support the project.

Kansas Memorial Stadium was named after Booth, a KU graduate and founder of global investment firm Dimensional Fund Advisors, in 2018. The Lawrence, Kansas, native previously provided a foundational gift of $50 million in 2017 to kick off renovations of Memorial Stadium, but the university didn’t move forward with renovating its more than 100-year-old stadium until Goff and chancellor Douglas Girod announced plans for the Gateway District in 2022.

“One of life’s greatest privileges is being able to give back to the people and places that gave so much to you,” Booth said in a statement. “KU and Lawrence are a big part of my story, and it means a lot to support the community that invested in me. Philanthropy, like investing, pays dividends over time. Each gift compounds, creating opportunities not just for today, but for years to come. This is really about the future we’re building.”

After playing their six home games in the Kansas City area during the 2024 season, the Jayhawks will open the season with their first home game inside the renovated Kansas Memorial Stadium on Aug. 23 against Fresno State.