The College Football Playoff for the 2025 season will open on the weekend of December 19–20, 2025, with the University of Miami scheduled to play at Texas A&M in a first-round game on December 20, 2025, while a separate note in the same Kansas City Chiefs Betting Odds, Futures, Win Total Odds preview highlighted that the Kansas City Chiefs will not reach the NFL postseason for the first time since 2014.

The developments were detailed in a FOX Sports weekend preview that combined matchup breakdowns with betting angles. The piece described Miami as “loaded with talent,” and positioned the Hurricanes as one of the teams to watch in the opening round of the expanded playoff bracket.

The FOX Sports column also crossed into NFL betting territory. Will Hill, identified in the story as a contributor to the Bear Bets Podcast, addressed an NFL matchup in a late-season context: “I think the Titans upset the Mahomes-less Chiefs.” That comment captured the column’s broader tone of backing road underdogs and seeking value in both college and professional contests.

The focus on Miami comes as college football prepares for an upcoming postseason under the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff format. The expansion to a 12-team College Football Playoff format beginning with the 2024 season broadens playoff qualifications beyond traditional power-conference teams, incorporating the top conference champions and at-large bids based on committee rankings. The new structure has changed how programs evaluate resume-building opportunities and has widened the field of teams that can realistically target a playoff berth.

Those structural changes also affect how teams prepare. The expanded 12-team College Football Playoff (CFP) system can extend the season for some teams to as many as 16 or 17 total games, depending on their conference championship and playoff path, emphasizing roster depth and a “next man up” mentality to handle injuries and increased wear and tear. Coaches and personnel planners have signaled that depth and conditioning will be priority considerations as the postseason approaches.

On the NFL side, the FOX Sports column speculated about a potential downturn in Kansas City’s fortunes, but as of now there has been no verified report that the Chiefs will miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2014 season; their 2025 postseason status is not yet determined. The observation was presented alongside weekend betting suggestions and broader commentary on how leagues and lines can shift late in the calendar. The piece did not present an official league announcement but reflected betting and media reaction to standings and recent results.

Analysts and sports bettors routinely point to familiar factors that contribute to an NFL team’s failure to reach the postseason. Common factors that keep NFL teams out of the playoffs include high injury rates to starters, which are significantly associated with reduced playoff appearances, and poor early-season performance, as teams starting 0–3 have historically made the postseason only about 3% of the time. The FOX Sports preview used those kinds of context points when discussing why long runs of postseason appearances can end.

In practice, wagering-focused coverage like the FOX Sports story also directs readers to official resources for brackets and scheduling. Bettors and analysts frequently consult the NCAA’s official bracket and ESPN’s postseason schedule when setting lines, evaluating underdogs and confirming match times. The FOX Sports column linked the weekend’s college and NFL storylines through wagering angles, spotlighting Miami’s playoff berth and noting the end of Kansas City’s streak as part of a broader weekend roundup.

Where these storylines move next will be decided on the field over the coming days. The FOX Sports column appears to be a betting-focused preview rather than an official statement from either league, but specific summaries of outcomes should be clearly labeled as speculation or projection until confirmed by game results or league announcements.

Source

Original reporting: view the original article.