2025 College Football Playoff Predictions

To college football regular season enthusiasts like myself, I don’t love thinking about the playoff before the season even starts; but as a journalist, who would I be without coming out with my preseason college football playoff predictions? Anyways, here’s my version of throwing blind darts at the wall to try and predict how the playoff will shake out before the season starts. Full analysis of every team in a power conference on my previous blog posts!

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The Field

1. Texas (12-1)

2. Clemson (12-1)

3. Penn State (11-2)

4. Georgia (11-2)

5. Ohio State (11-2)

6. Notre Dame (11-1)

7. Oregon (10-2)

8. Florida (9-3)

9. Illinois (10-2)

10. Alabama (9-3)

11. Texas Tech (11-2)

12. Memphis (12-1)

Just Missed: Ole Miss, Oklahoma, SMU, Michigan, Kansas State

First Round (Campus Sites)

No. 8 Florida 31, No. 9 Illinois 21

This matchup would consist of my two biggest playoff sleepers heading into the season, but I’m taking Florida’s talent level at most positions over the Illini’s, and if the Gators are in this position, DJ Lagway likely turned into one of, if not the best quarterback in America.

No. 5 Ohio State 42, No. 12 Memphis 13

While I do think Memphis will be the best group of five team this year, I don’t think they’ll have what it takes to challenge the defending national champions, especially on their home turf.

No. 6 Notre Dame 34, No. 11 Texas Tech 23

I think if Texas Tech were in this position, they’d put up a better fight than people think with its extremely high talent level, but we saw what Notre Dame did in front of its home crowd in the playoff last year, so that might be a little too much for the Red Raiders.

No. 7 Oregon 28, No. 10 Alabama 24

This would be the most intriguing matchup of this first round, at least on a national scale. An SEC powerhouse going west to Eugene in December would certainly be must-watch TV, and I think Oregon would pull a close win out in this scenario.

Quarterfinals

No. 1 Texas 31, No. 8 Florida 24 (Cotton Bowl)

Texas avenges its one regular season loss in this scenario, pulling away from the Gators in the fourth quarter in front of a somewhat-home crowd at AT&T stadium, and punching its ticket to the semifinals for the third year in a row.

No. 5 Ohio State 28, No. 4 Georgia 20 (Rose Bowl)

Despite Georgia getting the higher seed, I think Ohio State will be the better team by the end of the season. Quarterback Julian Sayin has all the talent in the world, and by this point, he should have the experience to be able to lead the Buckeyes to the semifinals and beyond.

No. 6 Notre Dame 24, No. 3 Penn State 21 (Sugar Bowl)

Similar to the game above, I think Notre Dame will be the better team than Penn State by the end of the season. The Nittany Lions may be the best team in the country for the first few weeks of the season because of their returning experience, but once elite teams catch up to them in this regard, I don’t see them winning a national title.

No. 7 Oregon 35, No. 2 Clemson 33 (Orange Bowl)

My thoughts on Clemson are basically identical to Penn State, although I like Cade Klubnik slightly more than Drew Allar. But I think Oregon wins a shootout here, with Clemson failing to cash in a two-point conversion to tie late.

Semifinals

No. 1 Texas 27, No. 5 Ohio State 24 (Peach Bowl)

In this 2025-26 version of the playoff, Texas gets revenge on Ohio State from last year’s semifinals and books a trip to the national title game, and Steve Sarkisian avoids a narrative forming that he can’t get past the semifinals.

No. 7 Oregon 23, No. 6 Notre Dame 21 (Fiesta Bowl)

In a battle of two elite defenses, I think Dante Moore will be the difference in this matchup, as I believe he’ll be better than whichever Irish quarterback we may see this year.

National Championship

No. 1 Texas 34, No. 7 Oregon 17

Yes, I believe that Arch Manning will lead Texas to a national championship in January. Steve Sarkisian wins his first title and enters the conversation as maybe the best coach in college football, and the Longhorns are finally back on top of the college football world. Am I confident in this pick? Absolutely not, but if I were to pick any team to win the national championship at the moment, it would be Texas.

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