The South vs. The World: Who would win in a college football all-star game?

College football doesn’t have a true all-star game, but what if it did? What would be the most interesting way to format it, and who would win?

In light of the despair surrounding the NBA All-Star weekend and the intensity of hockey’s 4 Nations Face-Off, which saw the USA and Canada drop the gloves, we decided to create the “Until Saturday” podcast to imagine a college football all-star game.

Believe it or not, the top college seniors played the NFL champions the following fall in the Chicago Charities College All-Star Game from 1934 to 1976. The NFL team went 31-9-2 in the game. But that would never happen today, but this is just for fun. (While the Senior Bowl and the East-West Shrine Game exist, they are largely NFL workout events.)

So for a college all-star game, would it be East vs. West? A 4 nations-type tournament with the Power 4 conferences?

We ultimately decided on The South vs. The World All-Star Game. Players from schools in the contiguous SEC states and the former Confederacy vs. players from everywhere else. David was quick to point out correctly that Texas does not consider itself in “the South,” but if you don’t like it being here, you can blame conference realignment.

Here’s a look at the top offensive and defensive players for each squad. Who are you taking?

🎙 College football doesn’t have a real All-Star Game, so we made one.

The South vs. The World. Who wins?

🎧 We debate on the latest Until Saturday with @davidubben and @JasonKirk_fyi: https://t.co/WWyPTV6UHd pic.twitter.com/a7XJgdnMc0

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) February 18, 2025

David: The South

Games are decided on the line of scrimmage. And better quarterbacks and skill position talent don’t matter if the South team is consistently getting pressure with four rushers and stuffing the run game inside.

The defensive line would control this game, just like Ohio State did throughout its College Football Playoff run and just like the Philadelphia Eagles did in the Super Bowl. It’s easy to be hypnotized by the skill position talent of the World team, but if this game happened in real life, we would get through a couple of drives before the realization set in: Nobody can block this team.

Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart single-handedly won games for South Carolina. Walter Nolen is a big reason why Ole Miss demolished Georgia. And T.J. Parker was a wrecking ball last year with 19.5 tackles for loss, including 3.5 in the win over SMU that clinched a Playoff spot for Clemson.

It’s just that simple.

And with Cam Ward throwing to Ryan Williams, it’s not like the South is starved for talent on offense, it’s just not quite to the same level as the World team. I’d bet on Williams, Xavier Restrepo and Luther Burden III all having solid NFL careers.

Texas’ offensive line can control the game, and while it might not blow anybody off the ball, nobody is touching Ward. He’s dangerous when that happens.

Vannini: The World

If this was a year ago and you could put players like Jayden Daniels, Brock Bowers and Malik Nabers on the South team, that would be hard to beat. But the World so clearly has the better skill position here outside of the quarterback position.

Ward was the best quarterback in the country, but the drop-off from him to Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders isn’t that big. Meanwhile, the World has the three best running backs in the country in Ashton Jeanty, Cam Skattebo and Kaleb Johnson. It has the two best wide receivers in Jeremiah Smith and Travis Hunter. And it has the two best tight ends in Tyler Warren and Harold Fannin Jr. The formations we could create out of this are endless.

I am concerned about the South blowing everything up with that defensive front. The Super Bowl was a reminder of how skill takes a back seat to the trenches. We didn’t select offensive line individuals, but I’ll take the deep and talented Notre Dame offensive line here, which handled its business against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. And the World’s defense, anchored by Abdul Carter, Mason Graham and Caleb Downs, sure ain’t bad.

On the whole, the South team might be better in most years, but with this specific group in this specific year, the World wins and the South falls to 0-2 when fighting the rest of the country.

(Photos of Dillon Gabriel, left, and Cam Ward: Getty Images)