| 100% | BCS | 3 | N.C.A.A. ranking system that preceded the College Football Playoff |
| 48% | ESPN | 4 | Cable channel that airs the College Football Playoffs |
| 46% | BCS | 3 | N.C.A.A. football ranking system |
| 45% | BCS | 3 | N.C.A.A football ranking system: Abbr. |
| 40% | OMAHA | 5 | City that's home to the N.C.A.A.'s College World Series |
| 39% | OSS | 3 | W.W. II spy org. that preceded the C.I.A. |
| 39% | GEORGIA | 7 | Team that defeated 15-Across to win the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship, its first national title since 1980 |
| 39% | BCS | 3 | Precursor to the College Football Playoff (abbr.) |
| 38% | ESPN | 4 | Airer of the College Football Playoff National Championship |
| 38% | MICHIGAN | 8 | With 48-Across, team that defeated the Washington Huskies to win the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship |
| 36% | OHIOSTATE | 9 | Winner of the inaugural College Football Playoff |
| 36% | NCAA | 4 | Group with a College Football Playoff tournament: Abbr. |
| 36% | BOWLGAME | 8 | Either of the College Football Playoff semifinals featured in this puzzle (2 wds.) |
| 35% | ESTD | 4 | Abbr. that precedes the year a business was founded |
| 35% | TCU | 3 | Loser in the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship (abbr.) |
| 35% | OLMEC | 5 | Mesoamerican civilization that preceded the Aztec by over a millennium |
| 35% | ORANGEBOWL | 10 | College Football Playoff game that gets its moniker from Florida’s state fruit |
| 35% | VIOL | 4 | Any of a family of stringed instruments that preceded the violin |
| 34% | HEATER | 6 | System that warms up the inside of a car |
| 34% | QUILL | 5 | Writing tool made from a bird's feather, that preceded the pencil and pen |
| 34% | VIOL | 4 | Any of a family of stringed instruments that preceded the violin family |
| 34% | MAJ | 3 | A rank in the army that also means "huge": Abbr. |
| 34% | ALABAMA | 7 | Team defeated by 48-Across in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship |
| 33% | FLATEARTH | 9 | Belief system that the world is not a globe |
| 33% | UVA | 3 | Sch. that's home to the N.C.A.A.'s Wahoos |
| 32% | BET | 3 | Network that broadcasts the N.A.A.C.P. Image Awards |
| 32% | CLEMSON | 7 | With 61-Across, two-time N.C.A.A. football champs of the 2010s |
| 32% | VENUS | 5 | One of two planets in the solar system that lacks a moon |
| 32% | RAMS | 4 | N.F.L. team that plays in a college stadium |
| 32% | CLEMSON | 7 | Second seed in the 2021 College Football Playoff, who lost to 49-Across in the Sugar Bowl |