Though pre-season may predominantly take place at a team's training ground, it can also incorporate camps abroad and lucrative tours. It has become common for clubs to stagger the return of their first-team players at the beginning of pre-season training.

Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith says “at minimum” he expects Michigan State to get back into a bowl game in 2025 with plans to “play way more than 12 games” in a season soon. The first half of that objective is reachable if the Spartans can pick off at least two road wins in swing games at Nebraska,

The Bulldogs continue their stretch of SEC games in the sixth game of the season against Texas A&M, who is starting to build up its own expectations.