The first College Football Playoff rankings of 2025 have been revealed, and we’re heading down the home stretch of the regular season with much to be decided.

What do you need to know about Week 11? Take our weekly trivia challenge below and catch up on essential reading ahead of Texas Tech-BYU, Alabama-LSU, Iowa-Oregon and more.

Pregame reads

• Justin Williams ranks the top 10 games of Week 11, Manny Navarro delivers his oddly specific predictions and writers make their picks against the spread.

• No. 7 BYU at No. 8 Texas Tech (noon ET, ABC). BYU has won a national championship, way back in 1984, but this is the first time in school history it’s playing in a matchup of two top-10 teams. It’s also the first time Texas Tech is playing in one since its memorable 2008 season. BYU remains undefeated under the unique leadership of coach Kalani Sitake, plus the stellar play of freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier, in his unusual No. 47 jersey. Bachmeier will be facing arguably his toughest test yet, going on the road to Lubbock to meet a Red Raiders team that spent big in the offseason and has seen it pay off with one of the nation’s most disruptive defenses.

• No. 9 Oregon at No. 20 Iowa (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS). The Playoff selection committee placed Oregon at No. 9 in its initial Top 25, three spots lower than the AP poll. How good are the Ducks? The White Out win at Penn State, which proceeded to fall apart, feels like a long time ago, and Oregon is heading into an intriguing end-of-season stretch at Iowa, vs. Minnesota, vs. USC and at Washington that will dictate its Playoff fate. Awaiting Oregon in Iowa City is a Hawkeyes team seeking to announce itself as a sleeper Playoff contender despite having two losses. As usual, Iowa plays stellar defense, but it’s also found a run game thanks to a tweak to its blocking and the tough play of South Dakota State transfer quarterback Mark Gronowski, who has 11 rushing touchdowns to just four passing touchdowns. And, of course, Kinnick Stadium has repeatedly proven itself as a place where opponents’ championship hopes can collapse.

• No. 3 Texas A&M at No. 22 Missouri (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). There weren’t many surprises in the first Playoff rankings, but is Texas A&M’s case for No. 1 — or at least No. 2 — being overlooked? Joe Rexrode writes that Indiana being ranked ahead of the Aggies is a misfire. Texas A&M most notably owns a road win against Notre Dame, and it has a tricky road test Saturday against running back Ahmad Hardy and Missouri, though the Tigers will be starting freshman Matt Zollers at quarterback after an injury to Beau Pribula against Vanderbilt.

• LSU at No. 4 Alabama (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC). Only Michigan-Ohio State, Oklahoma-Texas and Notre Dame-USC have produced more ranked matchups than Alabama-LSU (32), but this year’s showdown won’t add to the total. Much has happened since LSU was last seen losing to Texas A&M, as it fired Brian Kelly and got off to a messy start to its coaching search with Gov. Jeff Landry getting involved and athletic director Scott Woodward getting fired. After an eventful idle week, LSU returns to the field under interim coach Frank Wilson against surging Alabama, which escaped a South Carolina upset bid last time out following four consecutive ranked wins. The Crimson Tide’s last home game was against Tennessee, where Ira Gorawara chronicled the unique intersection of football and sorority influencers in Tuscaloosa.

In case you missed it

• Who could be the next Curt Cignetti? Perhaps it’s someone you’ve never heard of, just waiting to be given a bigger chance. Or maybe it’s the coach who replaced Cignetti: Bob Chesney at James Madison.

• How did Vanderbilt turn itself into a Playoff contender? The Gold Coast Suns of the Australian Football League traveled 9,000 miles to find out.

• Our college football stadium rankings series continued with SEC superlatives after we covered the Big Ten last week.

• Notre Dame Stadium, No. 1 in our reader survey, may have more unique traditions than any other venue. Meet the newest South Bend celebrity: Father Pete and his call to Mass.

• What’s made the ACC standings such an intriguing, unpredictable mess? Follow the money.

• The top two vote-getters in this week’s Heisman straw poll are Fernando Mendoza and Julian Sayin. Their recruiting backstories couldn’t be more different.

• The top nine teams in Austin Mock’s College Football Playoff projections all have at least a 72 percent chance to make the bracket. There’s a potentially wild bubble race shaping up for the final few spots — perhaps including some three-loss SEC teams? Columnist Will Leitch writes that he’s still enjoying the regular season a lot more than the Playoff.

• Auburn fired Hugh Freeze, while Wisconsin said it’s giving Luke Fickell more time. Here’s what to know about the Auburn opening and its potential candidates. Chris Vannini also re-grades the wild carousel of 2021-22 and gathers the latest intel about LSU, Florida State and more.

• A small liberal arts school needed a coach. Hal Mumme, the 73-year-old inventor of the Air Raid, showed up.