It’s that time of year when I’m starting to get extremely fired up for college football again. Spring games are wrapping up around the country, the transfer portal appears done and dusted and I’ve got some thoughts I need to get out of my head before preview season starts in May.

The Alabama A-Day wrapped up over the weekend, and everyone’s talking about the quarterback race.

In case you’re not up to date, the race is between Washington transfer Austin Mack and former five-star recruit Keelon Russell. Mack followed head coach Kalen DeBoer from Washington, and many thought he’d win the race. Russell is the wild card — and after his showing on Saturday, might now have the upper hand in the race heading into fall camp.

In Alabama’s spring scrimmage, Mack played dinged up. He only completed five drives, finishing 6-of-12 for 101 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Russell, on the other hand, lit it up. He completed 21 of 33 passes for 240 yards, with four touchdowns and one interception. And although Alabama didn’t keep official stats, he led his unit to scores on seven of nine drives.

I’ve always been in the camp that Russell gives the Crimson Tide a higher floor. He has electric running abilities, and after Saturday’s scrimmage, he’s proving he can make things happen with his arm, too. DeBoer needs things to break right this season. If he and OC Ryan Grubb can trust Russell’s abilities as a passer, I think he should be QB1.

This will likely be a race that extends far into fall camp, but give me Keelon Russell as the Crimson Tide’s Week 1 starter.

ICYMI, the 2026 Florida Gators are picking up a ton of steam entering the summer months. Everyone and their momma appears to be lovin’ the Gators, and perhaps with good reason.

Jon Sumrall is one helluva ball coach. His teams always feel buttoned-up and ready to rock and roll in the biggest moments.

The Gators acquired some serious talent via the transfer portal. I particularly love what they did at the wide receiver position by bringing in Eric Singleton Jr. to pair with Dallas Wilson. That might be a Top 3 one-two WR punch in the SEC this season.

And the SEC schedule feels, dare I say…manageable? The Gators get Ole Miss, South Carolina and Oklahoma in Gainesville. Road trips to Auburn and Austin will be tricky. But the Tigers are breaking in a brand-new coach/offense, and Texas was probably always going to be a loss no matter where the game was played.

The one small caveat is the unknown at the quarterback position. Aaron Philo followed OC Buster Faulkner from Georgia Tech, and many presumed he’d be the starter. But during the Gators’ spring game on Saturday, Tramell Jones Jr. reportedly had a strong showing. This race might be a lot closer than people think, and could extend through the first few weeks of the season.

Prepare yourselves, y’all. The 2026 Florida Gators hype train is only getting started.

I’ve been hard at work writing preseason content for The Solid Verbal’s Quick Slants College Football Newsletter, and I’m finally ready to admit it: I have a crush on the 2026 Houston Cougars.

My reasoning is simple:

Strong returning production + what appears to be good transfer portal acquisitions are a recipe for another promising season.

I’m calling my shot now: Houston will be a dark-horse conference title game candidate in 2026.

Speaking of quarterback battles…there appears to be a tight race unfolding in Tallahassee. Former Auburn quarterback Ashton Daniels was the presumed starter, but it doesn’t sound like he’s taken the job by the scruff of the neck. Redshirt freshman Kevin Sperry reportedly went stride for stride with Daniels in spring.

Your read on the situation might be different than mine. But I don’t love hearing that news if I’m a Seminoles fan.

Florida State has missed on two straight transfer quarterbacks. DJ Uiagalelei was an unmitigated disaster. And Tommy Castellanos fizzled down the stretch. The ‘Noles need Daniels to perform at a high level. If not, Norvell might be a dead man walking come mid-October.

Label me as a giant skeptic on what Norvell and company are selling this fall.

I don’t want to spill the beans on a piece that will come out later this summer, but not enough is being made about how strange the Bill Belichick-Bobby Petrino partnership could be this fall.

On one side of the odd couple, you have the second-winningest coach in NFL history, with 300 wins and six Super Bowl victories to his name. At 74 years old, Belichick has more ball knowledge than most coaches could collect over multiple lifetimes, and yet he’s chosen to publicly date his 24-year-old personal CEO/publicist.

Then there’s Bobby Petrino, who, *checks notes*, famously wrecked a motorcycle with a 25-year-old student-athlete development coordinator on the back. This is the same man who also ghosted the Atlanta Falcons after just 13 games, and who, at his next stop, famously got entangled in the WakeyLeaks scandal.

College football is weird. That’s part of the allure. But man, this has the potential to be all sorts of messy.

I look forward to some great memes coming out of Chapel Hill this fall.

ICYMI, I also write the Quick Slants College Football Newsletter for The Solid Verbal podcast (if you're not familiar, it's the best CFB pod going — worth a subscribe).

This week’s newsletter about the QB Bench Tax is live here.

I'm also building out a YouTube channel, You Sure Bro? — where my business partner, Nick Goodwin, and I dig into the deeper layers of the sports we love, and the moments that live outside them.

Keep your eyes peeled for some seriously fun YouTube content coming soon.

Enjoying Three-Point Stance CFB? It would mean the world to me if you could share this newsletter with a few of your college football sicko friends.

Want to read more of my college football ramblings? Follow me on Bluesky below.