Connelly's conference previews: Breaking down every FBS team

The 2025 college football season will offer its usual supply of excitement and intrigue, including a pair of highly anticipated newcomers: Arch Manning as QB1 for the Texas Longhorns and Bill Belichick as head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels.

The storylines certainly don't end there. Now that Ryan Day has answered his critics with a national championship, what is next for Ohio State? How will Kalen DeBoer bounce back after an uneven first season at Alabama? Is Clemson ready to return to a spot as a national title contender?

There also are conference races to monitor from coast to coast, with the top champion from the Group of 5 guaranteed a spot in the revamped 12-team playoff.

To get you ready for all the action coming this fall, Bill Connelly will break down a different conference every week of the summer, using his unique analysis and projections while also offering his thoughts on the top players and prospects for every FBS team.

Sun Belt

Nearly every team in the Sun Belt has reached solid to great heights of late. But at the moment, there's a bit of a leadership void: Troy lost its head coach after winning the 2022 and 2023 Sun Belt titles and fell off last fall, and damned if Marshall doesn't look primed to do exactly the same after last season's title run. Does that mean it's James Madison's turn? The Dukes dropped the baton in 2024, falling out of contention thanks to a pair of maddening two-point losses. If they stumble again, will that leave the door open for Louisiana? Texas State? South Alabama? Another team? Preview

Mountain West

This is the final season of the current Mountain West, as Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State -- schools that have combined to win 12 of the MWC's last 13 football crowns -- will join Oregon State and Washington State (and Gonzaga in non-football sports) in a new Pac-12 next season. Regardless, the MWC in its current form lives for one more season (as does a now-awkward scheduling arrangement with OSU and Wazzu). And the favorite is an awfully familiar one. Preview

Conference USA

With the additions of Delaware and Missouri State, there are now 136 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Conference USA has at one point or another housed nearly a quarter of them. Of the 10 programs to move up from FCS since 2014, eight joined CUSA upon their arrival. Two of these relative FBS newcomers have won the league the past two years -- Liberty (first FBS year: 2018) took the title two years ago, and in 2024 Jacksonville State did the deed in just its second year aboard. This season, Liberty appears pretty likely to take the mantle back in 2025, but no one saw JSU coming a year ago. Might we have another surprise in store? Preview

MAC

As college football keeps trending toward closing up shop and distributing more money to fewer schools, the MAC and its teams keep trying to find ways to make noise. Northern Illinois' stunning upset of Notre Dame in 2024 proved that, given enough opportunities, they can still do so. With NIL money and unrestricted transfers, continuity is growing increasingly difficult in MACtion country, but the conference still boasts some proven coaches and high-level talent, and stars will inevitably emerge. Preview