2024-25 College Football Playoff: What's next for the eliminated teams? - ESPN

Coach Curt Cignetti and his Indiana players made the slow walk off the field late Friday at Notre Dame Stadium, their dream season coming to an end in the first round of the College Football Playoff with a 27-17 loss to Notre Dame. The 12-team model will close the curtain on four very good teams, whose seasons won't get the traditional bowl game send-off but will end instead on campus.

Indiana and the others must begin the process of rebuilding the roster, accounting for key defections and ultimately positioning itself for future CFP runs, perhaps as early as next fall. As Cignetti noted, «Every year you've got to start over now in college football. It's not quite the NFL, but it's getting close.»

The restarts will take on different forms for different teams, but there's no time to waste, especially with the transfer portal open. Here's how the teams eliminated in the first round of the CFP will attempt to reload for 2025. --Adam Rittenberg

2024 record: 10-3

Round eliminated: First

Biggest question moving forward: The good news is that quarterback Nico Iamaleava will be back for his third year and should be poised for his most productive season yet given his arm talent and experience as a starter. But the Vols have to beef up around him on offense, both in the offensive line and at the skill positions.

Center Cooper Mays has been the heart and soul of that offensive line for a couple of years, and he's gone. So is running back Dylan Sampson, who set the single-season school record for touchdowns. The Vols need to find a way to make more explosive plays in the passing game, which was a problem all season and was a setback for the Vols in their playoff loss to Ohio State.

Rising sophomore Mike Matthews, a five-star