Athlon U: The College Football Podcast

Athlon U: The College Football Podcast presented by Athlon Sport previews and reviews every aspect of the greatest sport on the planet. Join Athlon’s college football expert Steve Lassan and sports personality Braden Gall every week, year-round— covering the preseason, regular season, postseason, and offseason — for an in-depth breakdown of the wild world of college football.

The Original Dream Road Trip 2025 07/01/2025

The Original Dream Road Trip 2025 Steven and Braden embark on their annual Dream Road trip through college football. You get to go a game each weekend but can't see a team more than once. Where are you going? Locations, rivalries, weather, storylines, stadiums and championship drama all matters. Come along for the ride, 2025 style. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/37248495

The Pac-12's trajectory and imbalanced conference schedules 06/25/2025

The Pac-12's trajectory and imbalanced conference schedules Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The Pac-12's new media deal points to an interesting future for the conference. The Big Ten and SEC are at an impasse that could actually benefit college football. Then we dive into the scheduling imbalances across college football, focusing on the teams catching breaks in 2025. Plus, Braden says sorry! /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/37149930

Debating the Coaching Ranks of 2025: Accomplishment vs. Modernization 06/17/2025

Debating the Coaching Ranks of 2025: Accomplishment vs. Modernization Steven and Braden talk college football. The latest around conference expansion is tied to Texas State, the Pac-12 and the Sun Belt. Plus, how will strength of schedule get added to the selection process? We debate the best coaches in America from each power league, the G5 and nationally. We weigh career accomplishments with upside and modernization. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/37046685

The CSC, House settlement and most interesting coordinators 06/10/2025

The CSC, House settlement and most interesting coordinators Steven and Braden talk college football after the House Settlement around revenue sharing was finally approved. A new era has begun and a new organization called the College Sports Commission has hired a director tasked with enforcement. Plus, we conduct a coordinator draft and break down the most impactful and critical coordinator hires in 2025. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/36945370

Playoff Conjecture and Annoymous Scouting Reports '25 06/04/2025

Playoff Conjecture and Annoymous Scouting Reports '25 Steven Lassan and Braden Gall discuss the latest in playoff format debate - who is going to win? The Big Ten trying to buy playoff spots or the rest of college football that wants to earn it? Plus, some Hall of Fame rule changes we love. Then we talk gossip. What are coaches saying about each other in our annoymous coaches scouting report for 2025. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/36852410

Common Sense Changes + Unranked Teams in 2025 05/28/2025

Common Sense Changes + Unranked Teams in 2025 Steven and Braden talk college football as the playoff structure is changing again as straight seednig will be implamented in 2025. What other changes are coming to our sport and playoff? What are our favorite and most interesting teams in the rankings in outside of the top 25 teams? /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/36750285

2025 Top 25 and Playoff Picks Revealed 05/20/2025

2025 Top 25 and Playoff Picks Revealed /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/36647085

Top 25 Preview: Biggest Debates and Toughest Decisions 05/13/2025

Top 25 Preview: Biggest Debates and Toughest Decisions /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/36554640

Belichick, Michigan and the Group of 5 Dream Road Trip 05/06/2025

Belichick, Michigan and the Group of 5 Dream Road Trip Steven and Braden talk college football. Bill Belichick is making more headlines for all of the wrong reasons - is there a tipping point for UNC where it's not worth it? Plus, is Michigan trolling the NCAA? Then we go across the country on our Group of 5 Dream Road Trip 2025. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/36458225

The Shedeur Slide + SEC Dream Road Trip '25 04/30/2025

The Shedeur Slide + SEC Dream Road Trip '25 Steven and Braden breakdown how TV played a huge role in the Shedeur Sanders story. Then we embark on our SEC dream road trip for 2025. Who is on the top tier and which QBs are the most exciting? Which games in 2025 are we going to this fall? /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/36368105

NFL Draft QBs + ACC Dream Road Trip '25 04/22/2025

NFL Draft QBs + ACC Dream Road Trip '25 Steven and Braden talk QBs going into the NFL Draft and if we are learning anything about the position in college? Nico is going to UCLA and the playoff start times have been announced. Then we embark on our dream road trip through the ACC (and Notre Dame). The middle of the ACC is wildly unpredictable as many teams could jump to challenge the top tier in 2025. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/36270355

Nico: How did we get here and what does it mean? 04/16/2025

Nico: How did we get here and what does it mean? Steven and Braden break down the latest NIL saga between Nico Iamaleava and Tennessee. What does it tell us about the future of the sport? Will schools and coaches actually gain leverage? Who made the right decisions and did anyone actually get better? /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/36188455

Big 12 Dream Road Trip '25 04/08/2025

Big 12 Dream Road Trip '25 /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/36058525

Big Ten Dream Road Trip '25 04/02/2025

Big Ten Dream Road Trip '25 /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/35982410

Stanford Soap Opera + Rankings Philosophy 03/26/2025

Stanford Soap Opera + Rankings Philosophy Steven and Braden break down the bizarre career of Troy Taylor at Stanford. Should general managers be making decisions on coaches? How have rankings teams in the preseason changed over the last 15 years? Why 2025 might be the most difficult and entertaining preseason top 25 ever. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/35864005

What is the value of a new stadium? 03/18/2025

What is the value of a new stadium? Steven and Braden talk college football. News from Bowling Green, Deion Sanders and the NCAA 26 video game as well as news with NIL and recruiting. Plus, how much is a new stadium worth to a college football program? Can a Group of 5 program become a power program with a new building? South Florida, UCF, Houston, Tulane, SMU and more are showing us. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/35766555

The QBs of 2025 03/11/2025

The QBs of 2025 Steven and Braden talk college football's quarterbacks in 2025. What are the trends around G5 signal callers and what does it tell us about the game? Which league has the best QB? Which league is the most underrated? Which league is loaded with potential? Is anyone better than Arch Manning? /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/35632955

Informed Speculation: ACC, Playoff, Hard Knocks 03/04/2025

Informed Speculation: ACC, Playoff, Hard Knocks /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/35535110

QBs highlight Combine + Grading First Year Coaches 02/25/2025

QBs highlight Combine + Grading First Year Coaches Steven and Braden talk college football - this time live from the Combine in Indy. What are coaches saying about Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders and how much players transfer? What is the NFL saying about Travis Hunter? And we grade every first year head coach from 2025? /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/35429655

Big Ten, SEC Glide Path to Power 02/18/2025

Big Ten, SEC Glide Path to Power /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/35340495

Team Recruiting Trends + Transfer QB Rankings 02/13/2025

Team Recruiting Trends + Transfer QB Rankings /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/35272050

Sleeper Teams and the ACC TV Deal 02/04/2025

Sleeper Teams and the ACC TV Deal What teams outside of the Top 25 are the ones we like to surge in 2025? Last year, Miami, SMU and Iowa State were just outside the top 25 and had huge seasons. What are those teams this year? Plus, what are the implications of the new ACC TV contract? And the coordinator carousel is still spinning. Steven and Braden talk college football. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/35153470

Senior Bowl Practice and 2025 early Top 25 01/28/2025

Senior Bowl Practice and 2025 early Top 25 Steven and Braden talk college football. Braden is at Senior Bowl practice recapping all the buzz from down in Mobile. Then we explain Lassan's early 2025 preseason top 25. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/35057610

Buckeyes Deserving: THE first 12-team champion 01/21/2025

Buckeyes Deserving: THE first 12-team champion Steven and Braden break down Ohio State's national championship victory over Notre Dame. Will Howard's play, the decisions by Marcus Freeman, Ryan Day's legacy and how the new format gave us what we wanted. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/34945055

Ohio State vs. Notre Dame 01/16/2025

Ohio State vs. Notre Dame Steven and Braden preview the National Championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame. Characters, storylines, upset-ability, blue-chip ratio, coaching legacies, match-ups and predictions. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/34885670

New format delivers awesome semifinals 01/13/2025

New format delivers awesome semifinals Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Ohio State topped Texas and Notre Dame eliminated Penn State in what was the best pair of semifinals in modern history. So did the new format do its job? What to make of Quinn Ewers legacy and Texas' staying power? Ohio State is just too good. The Irish and Lions have the same issue but it made for a great match-up. What does it tell us about James Franklin (if anything) and Marcus Freeman (and Brian Kelly)? /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/34840560

The Final Four We Deserve 01/06/2025

The Final Four We Deserve Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football playoffs. Texas survives on the back of a gutty win while Arizona State won hearts and minds. But do the Horns have the personnel to challenge Ohio State in the semis? (Since the Buckeyes routed Oregon) Notre Dame and Penn State match-up after hard-fought wins over Boise and Georgia. What does this Final Four tell us about the future of the game? /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/34743340

Previewing a Happy New Year 12/27/2024

Previewing a Happy New Year /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/34632770

Celebrate the Good Stuff, Get off the Internet 12/22/2024

Celebrate the Good Stuff, Get off the Internet Welcome to Athlon U! Steven and Braden begin a new era of college football with some fresh new digs. Ohio St, Texas, Penn St and Notre Dame move on in style and are worth celebrating. So why is the internet so dumb? We break down the first round and scold the comments section. /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/34571105

The First Round (Plus, Heisman, Belichick and Portal) 12/17/2024

The First Round (Plus, Heisman, Belichick and Portal) Steven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football as the first round of the playoffs is upon us. We preview the games from a schematic match-up standpoing as well as a psychological standpoint. How big of a factor is pressure, the condensed schedule and weather? Bill Belichick is a college football coach, Braden reveals his Heisman ballot and the weirdest coaching carousel ever? /episode/index/show/athlonsportscover2/id/34493305

Athlon U: The College Football Podcast

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