Greg McElroy predicts if all Power Four conferences will have new champions in 2025

Oregon, Georgia, Arizona State, and Clemson were your conference champions in the Power Four in 2024 with each earning a berth from that to the College Football Playoff. However, in 2025, Greg McElroy thinks only one is more than likely to repeat in their respective league.

On a recent episode of ‘Always College Football’, McElroy answered a question in regards to how he felt about the statement or prediction that those four conferences would have new champs this fall. He liked it, considering how each of those fields stands going into next season.

McElroy began in the Big Ten, which Oregon won in its debut year in the conference with an undefeated record before losing in its first game in the CFP. He thought the Big Ten would be one of the three leagues, in his mind, that would have a new champion. He picked Penn State as his favorite as of now, with consideration also for Ohio State, Michigan, and USC.

“We’ll start in the Big Ten. Oregon won the league last year. I think they could absolutely repeat, but right now in the preseason and like I said in the preseason, early going, I would lean just ever so slightly in favor of Penn State. Now, it’s close…I would lean, just a little bit, towards Penn State at the moment,” McElroy said. “Now, that’s preseason prognostications. There’s issues that I have with Penn State’s candidacy as a Big Ten champ as well but I’m not there just yet to go as far as to say, yeah, Penn State, without question, hold me to them, lock it in. Not there yet. But, if I had to pick today, they would probably be the frontrunner in the Big Ten…I’ll roll the dice, given that Oregon has to replace a lot of pieces and there’s a few other teams that also have to replace a lot of pieces. So, I’ll roll the dice and say it’s a new champion in the Big Ten.”

The Big 12 was another one McElroy felt would have a new champion this year, if for no other reason than the sheer amount of parity in the conference. Arizona State winning it all last year is an example of that with where projections had the Sun Devils before the season kicked off.

“I’ll roll the dice in the Big 12. I look at Arizona State’s schedule and I think their schedule this year is more difficult than it was a year ago…But, at this point, I can’t tell you for certain because the Big 12 is wide open every year, as any league in the sport, including the NFL. I think the NFL has less parity than the Big 12. Because, any given week, it doesn’t matter what week it is, the top team could lose to the team that’s tenth in the league. We saw it last year,” McElroy said. “So, I think the Big 12 is wide open. So, if you told me right now, gun to head, do you take Arizona State? No. I’d take the field and I think that’s an appropriate way of assessing where the Big 12 might be this year.”

After that, McElroy felt the SEC could have a repeat winner in Georgia, as the Bulldogs have won two of the past three years and played for it in seven of the past eight. That said, he didn’t feel it was necessarily probable, though with three other contenders he mentioned from the Southeastern Conference in Texas, Alabama, and LSU.

“I think Georgia is absolutely one of the four frontrunners in the league this year. But I think Texas, I think Alabama, I think LSU are all going to have a real argument to be made at season’s end as far as being one of the top teams in the league,” McElroy said. “I think, if I had to take right now Georgia or the field, I’d take the field in the SEC.”

Finally, of the four defending conference champions, McElroy had Clemson as the safest bet in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He mentioned SMU, Miami, and Louisville but in the end, had the Tigers in the best position to repeat in their league come the ACC Championship.

“This is probably the one I feel best about. Amongst the returning champions from a year ago, I think Clemson is the most likely,” McElroy said. “Right now, the one league champion that returns from last year that I feel best about is probably Clemson in the ACC.”

The Ducks, Bulldogs, Sun Devils, and Tigers will all have their chance to go back-to-back when it comes to the conference title games in the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, and ACC. Even so, it’s not to be expected right now with every program in contention in the offseason with two months until kickoff and five and a half until championship weekend for the Power Four.