Skip to main content
Clear icon
70º
Join Insider

Sports

AP Top 25 Podcast: Previewing G5 conferences and Notre Dame

Ralph D. Russo

Associated Press

Tags: Brian Kelly, Bobby Bowden, Sports
FILE -In this Jan. 1, 1996, file photo, Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden is carried off the field by players after his team won the 62nd annual Orange Bowl against Notre Dame, 31-26, in Miami. Bowden, the folksy Hall of Fame coach who built Florida State into an unprecedented college football dynasty, has died. He was 91. Bobby's son, Terry, confirmed to The Associated Press that his father died at home in Tallahassee, Fla., surrounded by family early Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Boan, File) (Jeffrey Boan, AP1996)

Last season was a bonanza for schools from outside the Power Five conferences.

A record seven were ranked in the final AP Top 25. Can the so-called Group of Five carry that momentum into 2021?

Recommended Videos

On the latest AP Top 25 College Football Podcast, Chris Vannini of The Athletic joins AP’s Ralph Russo to preview the non-Power Five leagues from the American Athletic Conference, where Cincinnati hopes to make a playoff push, to the Sun Belt, where Coastal Carolina and Louisiana bring back loaded teams.

Then Pete Sampson of The Athletic joins the show to preview Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish have a new quarterback and new defensive coordinator. Standards are set high enough now for Brian Kelly’s program that even a step back from last year’s playoff team could mean double-digit victories.

Plus, a tribute to Bobby Bowden.

___

Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://APpodcasts.com

___

More AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Loading...