COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OCT 05 Auburn at Georgia
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We have hit the home stretch of the 2025 regular season. 

It feels like we just kicked things off, and yet somehow it is already November. We've seen a Power Four coach fired for four consecutive Sundays now. The obvious names are running out ahead of what should be a quiet Sunday this week, especially with Wisconsin proclaiming that Luke Fickell will be back next season, but never doubt a particularly bad loss' impact on a coach's standing. 

This is a relatively quiet week from a big game standpoint with only three ranked-on-ranked games between No. 7 BYU vs. No. 8 Texas Tech, No. 3 Texas A&M vs. No. 22 Missouri and No. 9 Oregon vs. No. 20 Iowa. Still, all three have the possibility to shape the College Football Playoff race, especially that Big 12 showdown in Lubbock. 

Let's get to what you need to know ahead of this weekend. 

Week 11 storylines...

Interim watch

On Saturday we get the debut of two new interim coaches and each is immediately getting thrown into a top-25 road game. New LSU interim coach Frank Wilson at least had a bye week to get accustomed to being back in the big chair, but the scheduling gods didn't do him any favors with a trip to No. 4 Alabama. At Auburn, defensive coordinator DJ Durkin got the bump up after Hugh Freeze's firing on Sunday and has to go to No. 16 Vanderbilt. Diego Pavia, who started his career at New Mexico State, is going for a 3-0 career record against the Tigers. 

What will be interesting is whether any of the remaining interim coaches this year can build momentum toward the permanent gig. Kent State was the first to decide it liked what it saw from its interim, promoting Mark Carney to the full-time job last week. Last year we saw East Carolina interim Blake Harrell go 5-1 down the stretch and ultimately get the permanent job. So far, so good for Harrell who is 5-3 this season with his only losses coming to No. 7 BYU, NC State and Tulane. 

At the moment, it feels unlikely another interim will join Carney, but not impossible. 

Bobby Petrino felt like the best shot at it, getting seven games to prove Petrino 2.0 would make sense permanently in Fayetteville after all the success from 2008-11 before it came crashing down. Unfortunately for Petrino, the Razorbacks are winless since he took over and haven't been able to capitalize on multiple opportunities for an SEC win. Arkansas finishes with LSU, at No. 11 Texas and No. 22 Missouri. 

UCLA's Tim Skipper generated national headlines with three consecutive wins after taking over for Deshaun Foster, including one over a then-top 10 Penn State team, but a 56-6 loss to Indiana brought the Bruins back to earth. Still, if Skipper can add wins given the remaining opponents (No. 1 Ohio State, No. 19 USC, No. 23 Washington and Nebraska) he'd warrant real consideration for the job. 

Durkin, who is popular in Auburn, could be intriguing if he wins out and beats Alabama in the Iron Bowl. 

Friday night fight

One of the most intriguing matchups of the weekend comes Friday night when Tulane travels to Memphis. Not only is it a battle to stay in the American Conference title race (and thus the CFP race), but it features two of the hottest candidates in an already-hectic coaching carousel. Tulane's Jon Sumrall is already a hot name for the Auburn opening while Memphis' Ryan Silverfield could be in the mix for multiple jobs if he wants to be. 

Memphis has the inside track as the Group of Six team to make the playoffs, but a loss to UAB is a blemish on the resume. Still, the Tigers rebounded well and beat South Florida and Rice after the surprise loss to the Blazers. Tulane has wins over Northwestern and Duke, but a loss to UTSA last week looms large. Another Tulane loss and the Green Wave are likely out of the American title chase. The Tigers are 4.5-point favorites in the game that kicks off at 9 p.m. Eastern on Friday night. 

Biggest test left for Notre Dame?

Notre Dame was one of the big winners of the initial CFP rankings, slating in at No. 10. Despite losing its two biggest games of the season (No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 18 Miami), the Fighting Irish are in great position to make the playoffs again. The remaining schedule is incredibly manageable and if Notre Dame wins out, it should be in despite loud protests in SEC country. 

Notre Dame plays No. 24 Pittsburgh in a week, but its toughest remaining test may actually be this weekend against Navy. Led by offensive coordinator Drew Cronic, the Midshipmen boast a high-powered offense that averages 34.8 points per game and leads the country with a 317.25 yards rushing per contest. Navy quarterback Blake Horvath has 20 total touchdowns (13 rushing, seven passing) and 2,069 yards from scrimmage. Even with a loss to North Texas, Navy is very much still in the American title race with Memphis, Tulane and others. 

Can Navy beat Notre Dame? It's unlikely. Can Navy make Notre Dame at least work for it for a half or so? I think so. When the remaining schedule is Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Stanford, there aren't a lot of viable options to choose from tough remaining opponents. Navy has as good a shot as anyone left on the schedule. 

SALTY TALTY

Each week this space will be my airing of grievances, my opportunity to let the audience know what has been really grinding my gears. Hopefully it'll be mostly college football-related, but it's a good bet travel, family and other day-to-day life annoyances will find a way in. 

Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh's explanation for bringing Luke Fickell back for a fourth season, which included saying he won't be judged on just wins and losses, went over like a lead balloon with Badgers fans. 

And, frankly, I can't blame them. 

I think Fickell is a good coach. You don't take a program like Cincinnati to the then-four-team playoff as the first Group of Five program to do so if you're bad at your job. There's a reason why he was a hot name for every prominent job opening for a stretch, too. 

But it clearly hasn't worked at Wisconsin. Fickell is 15-19 in three seasons in Madison and there's a real chance the 2-6 Badgers could finish this year 2-10. Wisconsin gets No. 23 Washington this weekend and then finishes with No. 2 Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota. There's not an easy win left there. 

McIntosh is selling to fans the idea of putting in additional resources to try to make Fickell successful rather than pay a $25 million or so buyout this season to start over with a new coach. That makes sense, in theory, though we've seen over and over again this season the all-in approach for an embattled coach hasn't paid off. Just ask James Franklin, Brian Kelly and Hugh Freeze. 

Perhaps most importantly: What has Fickell done to elicit any reason for hope and optimism from Wisconsin fans? 

There have been numerous stories recently about out-of-whack fan expectations driving a wild coaching carousel. The math can't math if every fanbase demands its program make the playoff. There's only 12 spots, and yet far more programs that believe they are owed one annually. Even in the wake of firing Brian Kelly, new LSU AD Verge Ausberry said the Tigers should be in the playoff every year. 

But when the entire sport is built around making the CFP, why is anyone surprised that fans now only care about that and not simply making a bowl game? 

The expectations may be unfair, especially on the coaches, but this is the trade-off schools unknowingly made when they started pushing their fans to give more and more of their money to pay for everything from NIL to facilities upgrades. Those fans want more of a say now and a return on their investment. If you sell them on how a quarterback who costs $1.5 million is critical for the program and that QB turns out to be a bust, they are going to have something to say about it. 

It's not for people like me to say that these fans are undeserving. There is nothing that frustrates me more, frankly, than media people telling fans to just be happy with what they have. If Indiana had listened to the pundits' opinion of where it stood in the pecking order, it wouldn't be one of the best teams in the country now. Indiana and its fans wanted more than what it traditionally had been. I may disagree with, for instance, Tennessee fans getting restless already over Josh Heupel, who I believe is a good coach, but it's their money, their time and their passion.

It's time to stop talking down to fans and telling them what they are allowed to want. In this parity era of college football, anything and everything is possible. 

And if Wisconsin fans are disappointed over another year of Fickell, they have every right to be.