The Archive
Every column Bruns Cole has filed. Browse by season, team, conference or rivalry — or search for the story you remember.
What the Empty Columns on the Preseason Board Are Actually Saying
A score without completed games isn't an incomplete thought — it's the most precise statement analytics can make in August.
What 94.5 Knows and What It Doesn't
Ohio State opens the board at No. 1 with a Team Strength score the evidence supports — and that score is also the clearest possible statement of what preseason evaluation cannot do.
The Whole Country Holds Still for a Moment
Before the first snap of 2026, college football belongs equally to everyone — and that is the only time all season that will be true.
The Board Is Open. The Rest Is Still Being Written.
Verdict has evaluated 138 programs and assigned every one a starting point — but what makes the waiting feel different this year is how honestly that starting point admits what it doesn't know.
The Waiting Has Always Been Part of the Game
Before a single snap, the anticipation itself is doing something to every fan base in the country — and that's not nothing.
What 3.8 Points Actually Buys You Before Kickoff
Ohio State's cushion atop the Verdict board is the largest in the preseason — and understanding what that gap means analytically tells you more than the ranking itself does.
The Weight of Being First Before a Single Play
Ohio State sits atop the Verdict preseason board at No. 1, and what that means is more complicated than the number suggests.
5.9 Points Is Not a Margin. It's a Conversation.
Five programs, five fan bases, and less than six points of separation — the Verdict board is telling us something the preseason noise usually drowns out.
The School That Keeps the Board Honest
USF sits at No. 32 on the Verdict preseason board — the highest-ranked non-power program in the country — and that number deserves more than a footnote.
The School That Keeps the Rest of the Board Honest
USF sits at No. 32 on the Verdict preseason board — the highest-ranked non-power program in the country — and that number deserves more than a passing glance.
Eleven Flags in the Preseason Dirt
When the Verdict board opens with eleven SEC programs in the Top 25, the number itself deserves a closer look — not as a verdict on the sport, but as a question about what preseason math can and cannot settle.
Eleven Flags in the Same Dirt
When the SEC plants nearly half the preseason Top 25, the rest of college football is entitled to ask what that means — and what it doesn't.
The Waiting Is the First Part of the Season
Before a single snap is played, the anticipation itself is a kind of tradition worth honoring.