Credit: Photo by Katie Dugan - Gamecock Central - Wikimedia Commons

Love is in the air at Three Point Stance.

Spring has finally sprung in the Midwest, and as we inch closer to the season, I’m starting to get some crazy ideas about a few different teams. To be clear, this list isn’t exhaustive and isn’t necessarily supposed to be used as an indicator of future success. Instead, these are just a few teams I’ve got my eyes on to be fun and/or interesting heading into 2025.

If it weren’t for Indiana, Illinois would’ve been the darling of the Big 10 in 2024. The Fighting Illini quietly tallied an impressive nine regular-season wins and went on to knock off a red-hot South Carolina team in the bowl game to reach double digits.

Quarterback Luke Altmyer finished with a 17:4 TD:INT ratio and was the engine that made this offense hum. He did a nice job of spraying balls out to killer wide receivers Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin and made timely plays when this offense needed them most.

To be clear, last year’s offense was a far cry from what I’d usually expect from a Bret Beliema team. Beliema teams of the past had huge offensive lines and really relied on run-heavy schemes. This team was different, and perhaps it was a good thing. All in all, I thought offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. did some great things, and frankly, I’m a bit surprised Illinois was able to hold onto him for the 2025 season.

Looking forward, I’m curious to see if this team can build off a 10-win season to make an even bigger dent in the Big 10 ecosystem in 2025.

According to ESPN writer Bill Connelly’s Returning Production Rankings, the Fighting Illini return the third-most production in the entire country, behind only Clemson and Arizona State. Illinois brings back a big chunk of both its offense (78%) and defense (75%).

I think what I like most about this team is:

Playing the schedule game, even if Illinois regresses a little year over year, I don’t see why this group can’t win at least eight games.

The Fighting Illini have a tricky early non-conference game on the road at Duke, which should be a fun matchup against new Blue Devils’ quarterback Darian Mensah. Then, two weeks later, this group travels to Bloomington to take on Indiana. We’ll likely find a lot out about this group over those two games.

If the Fighting Illini come out of Week 4 at 4-0, they really might be onto something. If they’re closer to 3-1 or 2-2, we will need to rethink the ceiling for this team.

One positive for Illinois is that they avoid conference games against the likes of Oregon, Penn State and Michigan. That’s a pretty nice schedule break. Couple that with late-season games against teams like Northwestern, Wisconsin and Maryland…and well, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for Illinois to be sitting pretty come late November.

It’s pretty doubtful that Illinois will hit the 10-win mark again (although I’ve seen crazier things), but pencil this team in to win at least eight or so games and be an overall fun watch and pesky opponent.

The Texas Tech football program found a landman this summer and splashed some serious oil money in the transfer portal.

The Red Raiders were perhaps the most aggressive transfer portal team in the entire country. According to the 247 Sports 2025 Transfer Portal Spring Rankings, Texas Tech comes in at the number one spot with 18 incoming transfers for the upcoming season.

One of the things I was most impressed with when it comes to this class is the Texas Tech brass’s ability to address some glaring holes on both lines of scrimmage. Sure, the Red Raiders added some fun skill talent, but my eyes were immediately drawn to the offensive and defensive lines.

I like the acquisitions of former Stanford defensive end David Bailey, Georgia Tech defensive end Remello Height and big gap eater Lee Hunter from UCF. On the other side of the ball, I’m intrigued by the acquisition of former Illinois State offensive lineman Hunter Zambrano, who was one of the best linemen at the lower levels in 2024. The Red Raiders essentially flipped their entire offensive line year to year, and I’m fascinated to see that play out. Beefing up on the LOS is always a great idea, if you ask me.

Last season, Texas Tech did some fun things on offense and wholly unsustainable things on defense.

The offense was led by quarterback Behren Morton and superstar running back Tahj Brooks. Morton threw for over 3,000 yards and had 26 touchdowns, good for one of the top spots in the Big 12. Brooks, on the other hand, was an absolute workhorse for the Red Raiders’ offense. The senior running back scampered for just short of 1,500 yards and added 17 touchdowns to his tally. It’ll be a tall task to replace his outgoing production, and I suspect the Red Raiders will look to transfers (like former USC running back Quinten Joyner) to help out in that regard.

The defense was abysmal, ranking 75th in rush defense and 133rd in pass defense. Those are some grim figures. That side of the ball will need to make some major adjustments and make a lot more plays if Texas Tech hopes to make inroads in the Big 12 title race. The Red Raiders added a handful of secondary and defensive line players via the portal, which signifies that they’ve accepted that last year was horrible and that they needed some new horses on that side of the ball.

Playing the schedule game, Texas Tech will live a charmed life for the first three weeks of the season, before traveling to face a new and improved Utah team in Week 4. Other tough road games include trips to Tempe to face the 2024 conference winner, ASU, and to Manhattan to face a ranked Kansas State team. The home slate is pretty manageable, and includes games against KU, Oklahoma State and UCF. The only home game that sounds some alarm bells is the matchup against BYU.

Texas Tech feels like a high-variance team. Could the Red Raiders go 9-3, or dare I say, 10-2? Sure! Could this roster struggle to gel, and the team look a lot closer to 7-5? Absolutely.

With the sheer amount of money spent this offseason, expectations will be sky high for Joey McGuire. I suspect McGuire will have to win a lot of games if he hopes to keep his job. Pencil me in for the 9-3 range for this team.

The South Carolina football program lived a charmed life during the back half of the 2024 schedule.

After dropping a pair of back-breaking, close losses to LSU and Alabama, the Gamecocks rebounded nicely by rattling off six straight wins to close out the regular season. That finish was phenomenal, and went so far as to put them in the outside-looking-in conversation for last year’s College Football Playoff!

Last year’s team took a huge step forward thanks to the continued growth and playmaking of superstar quarterback in the making, LaNorris Sellers. Sellers is a true dual-threat player, and he did some exceptional things with his legs down the stretch. He needs to take a significant step forward with his downfield progressions and consistency, but he’s still a fun-as-hell quarterback, and I grew to enjoy watching him play last year.

Just how exciting was Sellers in 2024?

Source: Hudl IQ

Using Hudl IQ Player Radar Data, we can see that, compared to average SEC quarterbacks, his Explosive% (8.4%) and Chunk% (22%) are through the roof. Make no mistake about it, he’s a stick of dynamite with the ball in his hands.

In this instance, dynamite is both a good and bad thing. On one hand, Sellers breaks off an impressive number of big plays. On the other hand, he takes far too many sacks, as evidenced by his lowly 9.4% Sack%. Growth for Sellers looks like knowing when to throw the ball away and avoid big negative plays.

As we enter 2025, the tone from the national media appears to be split on the Gamecocks.

According to ESPN writer Bill Connelly’s Returning Production Rankings, South Carolina ranks worse than 70th in returning production, despite ranking in the Top 15 in his SP+ Rankings. That’s a concerning level of production that needs to be replaced.

Two huge playmakers from last year’s defense are gone, in safety Nick Emmanwori and defensive end Kyle Kennard. Both of these players made a ton of high-leverage plays throughout the season and will be sorely missed. The defensive line group, in particular, feels a little thin right now, despite other superstar defensive end Dylan Stewart returning for 2025. This position group will be one to watch.

On offense, I think it’s fair to presume that Sellers will take a step forward. The question is: How big of a step forward does he take, and is it enough to take this offense to another level? Sellers used his legs to bail him and this offense out of a lot of tricky spots last year. And while he’ll undoubtedly still do that, I’d like to see him go through his progressions and be more consistent in the passing game.

Head coach Shane Beamer bought himself some time with that exceptional finish in 2024. He’s no longer on the hot seat, and instead of worrying about preserving his job, he’s now tasked with trying to take this group up a notch.

Playing the schedule game, South Carolina faces an opening weekend test against a your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine Virginia Tech squad. The Gamecocks then kick off SEC play with back-to-back games against a tricky Vanderbilt team before they hit the road to take on Missouri.

The schedule really heats up down the stretch, though. South Carolina will play road conference games against LSU, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M, which is a pretty difficult path. The Gamecocks also have home games against Oklahoma, Alabama, and Clemson.

Make no bones about it, this is a tough ass schedule. I have a hard time thinking that South Carolina will reach the same lofty heights it did in 2024. However, I still think this will be a fun team to watch, and if Sellers takes a big leap, I don’t see why the Gamecocks can’t be frisky in the SEC down the stretch of the season.

Florida not-so-quietly had a nice close to the 2024 regular season.

After freshman phenom quarterback DJ Lagway finally came into the fold, the Gators started to figure some things out on both sides of the ball. Sure, Florida took their lumps in losses to Georgia and Texas. But finishing the season 3-0 with wins over LSU, Ole Miss and rivals Florida State is no small feat. That finish, coupled with Lagway’s progress, has heaped a boatload of pressure on this team entering 2025.

Lagway is the focal point of this program and offense. Florida will only go as far as Lagway can take them. Last season, he gave us enough of a taste of what he can do that now he and this team have real expectations.

His stats weren’t anything amazing, but they also weren’t terrible, given that he was both a freshman and stepping into a difficult situation.

This season, Lagway will have to stay healthy and prove that he can lead a team and offense for 12 games. The health piece is big, and I think it’s a fair concern at the time of writing.

Lagway has essentially missed all of spring football with a shoulder injury. Gator brass have done their best to assuage fears, saying he’s on track to be ready for fall camp. But a shoulder injury in late April doesn’t….sound great? Let’s keep an eye on his health moving forward.

If Lagway is healthy, I think he takes a monster jump and vaults himself into the conversation for being one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC. He made enough WOW plays last season that I can see the vision with Lagway. He has a cannon for an arm and possesses enough mobility to evade a good pass rush. If he can click with his weapons on the outside, the Florida offense has the potential to be box office.

Florida was relatively quiet in the transfer portal this offseason, but that was by design. According to ESPN writer Bill Connelly’s Returning Production Rankings, the Gators have 66% of their returning production back for 2025. The Gators are hoping that another year of seasoning and development will propel this team forward. It’s a big bet by head coach Billy Napier, and I probably would’ve liked to see them do a little more in the transfer portal, but I can understand the reasoning. He'd better just hope it pans out.

Florida notoriously had a brutal 2024 schedule. Things won’t get any easier in 2025.

After an easy opening-week game against LIU-Brooklyn, Florida faces USF, No. 8 LSU and No. 23 Miami in three straight weeks. After that, the Gators have high-profile games against ranked teams, Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee.

Florida very well might be a much-improved team in 2025, only to finish with an identical record as the previous season. Billy Napier faces a ton of pressure entering the new season, and time will tell if another seven or eight-win campaign will be enough for him to keep his job.

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