College football has not yet reached the NFL’s level of dominating the news cycle all 12 months of the year. But there are still plenty of what-ifs, hypotheticals, and storylines to discuss. Rosters are being constructed, coaching staffs filled out, and spring ball will be here before you know it. Then we will get into the second transfer portal window, we’ll have Vegas futures start to open up, preview magazines will hit the shelves, and pads will start popping in the summer heat. And then in a blink, the 2023 season will arrive and somehow Nebraska will already be 0-1. 

Even as the calendar changes, these 10 storylines will dominate college football in 2023. Whether you are analyzing position battles, placing your win total bets, listening to a podcast, or just arguing at a bar while watching your local baseball team lose its fourth game in a row, these topics will be the biggest stories of 2023 college football from beginning to end. Let’s take a look at what we will all be talking about.

1. Can Georgia three-peat? Can Caleb Williams repeat?

These two historic feats, each only achieved one other time in the rich history of college football, will be at the forefront of many conversations across the nation all year. Georgia’s win over TCU was such a display of dominance that it has everyone discussing the dynastic Dawgs. Kirby Smart’s outfit will again have to replace a swath of talent lost to the NFL, including at quarterback. But a host of talented players return, ready to run roughshod over an accommodating schedule. 

USC’s boy wonder Caleb Williams will be looking to achieve rarified air when he embarks on his campaign to become only the second two-time Heisman Trophy winner in history, after Ohio State tailback Archie Griffin. Williams will have all the pieces in place to bring a ninth Heisman to Heritage Hall, from a soft Pac-12 schedule, the bright lights of a blueblood program in Hollywood, to a talented collection of running mates, to playing in Lincoln Riley’s easy-mode offense. If he stays healthy, and the voting class doesn’t get bored of him, he could make modern football history. 

2. How will blue bloods replace legendary quarterbacks?

Ohio State, Alabama, and Georgia will all enter 2023 spring camp with a playoff-caliber roster and a massive unknown at the quarterback position. Whoever takes the reins at these schools will need to replace a school legend, but they will earn the opportunity to shape conference, playoff, and Heisman races. 

A soap opera is going to emerge in the quarterback room in Austin. Quinn Ewers has commanded attention ever since his perfect rating as a much-ballyhooed recruit in the class of 2021, and Arch Manning is, well, Arch Manning – perhaps the most famous recruit since Marcus Dupree. Ewers’ freshman campaign was strikes and gutters for the Longhorns, and every 2023 gutterball will have fans clamoring for Arch. 

3. Can the Coach Prime era bring promise to Boulder in year one?

Head coach Deion Sanders has arrived in Power Five football, and he is making quite the splash already. He made a savvy offensive coordinator hire in Kent State’s Sean Lewis, and he has brought in his son Shedeur Sanders for quarterback and Travis Hunter from Jackson State. Deion has been tasked with overhauling the worst roster in Power Five football, and he hasn’t missed a beat with aggressive portal work and splashy high school recruiting. At Jackson State, Sanders was able to compile superior talent to the rest of his conference; despite the upgrades, he will still be behind the margins at Colorado. The schedule is punishing, and the hype will be tremendous, but make no mistake: this is a long rebuild. How will the media and fans react if the first year isn’t a storybook season?

4. With a new-look American, which Group of Five team crashes the New Year’s Six party?

In the College Football Playoff era, teams from the American Athletic Conference have earned seven of the nine New Year’s Six bowl games that are reserved for the highest-ranked Group of Five team (Boise State and Western Michigan are the two outliers). In 2023, Houston, UCF, and Cincinnati – owners of five of those seven – will be off to compete in the Big 12. Will the American be able to maintain its stranglehold on this honor in the last year of this postseason format, or will a new contender emerge? Boise State, Toledo, or a host of quality teams from the ascendant Sun Belt might have something to say about it. 

5. How miserable will the Big 12 make life for Oklahoma and Texas on their way out?

When Texas and Oklahoma announced their decisions to move to the SEC, it was initially reported that they would remain in the Big 12 until the current grant of rights expires in 2025, even with their replacements entering the league this season. It is an open secret that they are working to escape a year earlier, meaning this could be their final season in the conference. Rival fan bases will be rabid to give it to the league’s bullies as they slip out the back door.

6. Can anyone in the Pac-12 find a defense?

The ascendant offenses of the Pac-12 were some of the most fun storylines in college football last year. The pinball scores were partially due to productive quarterbacks, but also thanks to a woeful slate of defenses in the conference. The league’s average ranking in SP+ defense was 72, and more Pac-12 teams finished outside of the top 100 in that metric (four) than did finish in the top 40 (three). While star quarterbacks like Caleb Williams, Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr., and Cameron Rising are back to slice up these soft secondaries, the league needs to find some competitive defensive play in the worst way. 

7. Could the Big Ten West actually be fun?

The 2023 Big Ten West is going to be…..interesting? I know, I know. The home of unwatchable noon games, nonstop punts, and passer ratings lower than the speed limit might actually be fairly interesting this year. Iowa found a competent quarterback in the transfer portal (Cade McNamara). Matt Rhule has returned from the NFL to take the head job at Nebraska and will be looking to restore Big Red to past glory. And Wisconsin appears to be flipping a century of run-first offense on its ear, as Luke Fickell has remodeled the offensive side of the ball in one offseason. Gunslinger Tanner Mordecai has arrived from SMU, and offensive coordinator Phil Longo arrives from Chapel Hill with a long résumé of wide-open aerial attacks. Purdue is the defending division champ and will be replacing its head coach and quarterback, and Illinois might have been the best overall team in the division. Every aspect of this division will look different in 2023: the coaches, the quarterbacks, the play on the field, the standings, and it will actually be fun – blasphemy in this division, I know – to see how it all unfolds.

8. Who will match their preseason hype (Florida State, Penn State, Texas)?

Last season Miami, Texas A&M, and NC State were preseason darlings, predicted by the commentariat to make a leap into the sport’s upper echelon. All three disappointed to some degree and ended the season licking their wounds after not reaching the heights that were predicted. This offseason, the hype is already gathering around the once-proud programs in Tallahassee, Happy Valley, and Austin. Florida State has done impressive work in the portal for a second year in a row, augmenting an already-talented roster. Penn State will be turning over the reins at quarterback to blue-chipper Drew Allar, and he’s joined in the backfield by a preposterous pair of playmakers in Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. And Texas is Texas. Despite five losses on the season, the Longhorns lived in the top 10 of most efficiency metrics and predictive models. Will these teams be BACK, or will they disappoint in 2023?

9. Who is the 2023 transfer portal success story?

Many teams have hit the transfer portal hard this offseason, looking to replicate the instant success of teams like LSU and USC in 2022. Teams like Arkansas, UCLA, and Maryland have been portaling hard to offset departing talent. Wisconsin, Arizona State, Auburn, and Colorado all have new coaches working to remodel their teams in their first year at the helm. This is far from an exhaustive list, but if the new-look Badgers or Auburn Tigers exceed expectations, you can thank an infusion of veteran talent. 

10. What will the Sun Belt do for an encore?

The newly-expanded Sun Belt was the toast of the Group of Five in 2022. The league scored upsets at Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Texas A&M, some of the most veritable cathedrals of the college football. Appalachian State hosted “College GameDay,” Troy LB Carlton Martial set the career record for tackles, James Madison had one of the most successful FCS-to-FBS transitions in history, and Southern Miss’s Frank Gore Jr. set a new bowl game rushing yards record. The league had some truly excellent defenses (Troy, Marshall) and some fantastic offenses (Coastal Carolina, JMU). Old rivalries were renewed (Marshall and App State), new ones were forged (JMU and Old Dominion), and existing ones had memorable new chapters written (App State and Georgia Southern; Troy and South Alabama; UL-Monroe and Louisiana). Week in and week out, this league delivered fireworks. In 2023, this tradition-rich league will feature all of these rivalries, more chances to upset Power Five teams, and feature stars like Rasheen Ali, Jason Henderson, Grayson McCall, Carter Bradley, Owen Porter, Isaac Ukwu, and more.