The 2025 college football season is around the corner, which means it’s time to talk about the College Football Playoff. Because why not predict who’s going to make it before a single game is even played yet, right? Last year featured the largest CFP playoff field since the format’s inception in 2014. Coincidentally, each time changes have come to the postseason format, Ohio State has won a national championship.
But as the defending champion, will the Buckeyes defend their title? It won’t be easy, but they also have the most explosive player in college football in Jeremiah Smith, which gives them a massive advantage. The SEC has struggled to make an impression on the CFP the last few years. The Big Ten has won each of the last two championships.
The SEC didn’t have a team play in the title game for the second straight year last year. Certainly, they’ll get back to the top this year right? But will it be a blue-blood SEC team that breaks the drought?
LaNorris Sellers and the South Carolina Gamecocks are drumming up a lot of attention ahead of this season and after coming up just short of the CFP last year, Shane Beamer has a lot of pressure to break through this year. But will they? Here’s who I think will get into the CFP this year, who will play in the title game and who might win it all.
The top four teams
SEED | TEAM |
|---|---|
1 | Ohio State Buckeyes |
2 | Clemson Tigers |
3 | Penn State Nittany Lions |
4 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
This year, the top four teams don’t have to be conference champions, which opens the door for the true best four teams to earn a first round bye. This upcoming season, Ohio State and Penn State should be two of the teams with Clemson and Notre Dame rounding out the top four.
Clemson and Notre Dame have the easiest schedules of probably any team currently ranked in the top 10. I’d be shocked if either didn't finish inside of the top four. Ohio State, as always, will come down to the Michigan game and reach the Big Ten Championship game. As for Penn State, they will probably land in the Big Ten Championship game again, but even with a loss could get the benefit of the doubt and still get the first-round bye.
The next eight teams in the CFP field
SEED | TEAM |
|---|---|
5 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
6 | Texas Tech Red Raiders |
7 | Texas Longhorns |
8 | Oregon Ducks |
9 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
10 | LSU Tigers |
11 | Texas A&M Aggies |
12 | Memphis Tigers |
South Carolina is my favorite to crash the College Football Playoff this year at the hands of a phenomenal season by Sellers. The Gamecocks have been known to choke away opportunities throughout the season, but this year feels different. They have a lot of expectations and they should live up to them. As for the other SEC teams that should get in, well it could get crowded.
I could see the CFP committee taking a handful of SEC teams this year. While there will be a strong argument for strength of schedule, I just don’t see an SEC team getting one of the top four spots. There’s a lot of parity that could happen where they beat on each other and end up being ranked anywhere from No. 5-12.
Arch Manning and Texas should crack the top 12 this year. Though Manning’s inexperience could hold the Longhorns back, they should have a strong enough season to get in. Alabama will most likely make their return after a late season collapse kept them out last year.
LSU and Texas A&M are wild cards here. They’re both two teams that could get in and it wouldn’t be a surprise. That said, both teams could also fall apart like they did last year and come up short. Because of SEC bias, as long as they don’t have more than three losses, they should land in the CFP.
Memphis is my Group of 5 team that wins their conference and crashes the party. The Tigers came up short last year after shocking losses to Navy and UTSA. They finished ranked in the top 25 last year and are one of the first few teams that should receive a bid if they start strong in 2025.
Texas Tech is my dark horse team to get in from the Big 12 and wreak havoc on the CFP. Strange things always happen with the Big 12, but I think Tech makes the strongest argument to get in and should be the conference’s champion. Oregon should return to the CFP, but probably won’t be as strong as they were last year.
The Ducks’ offense is a question mark right now, but their schedule gives them enough time to figure it out. They’re only preseason ranked opponents are Penn State and Indiana. It shouldn’t be too tough for them to get back to the CFP, but their road will probably be tougher than it was a year ago.
Who will win the 2025 CFP national championship?
Ohio State and Clemson will meet in the CFP national championship. Games aren’t played on paper, but as of now, it feels like the Tigers and the Buckeyes are on a crash course to the title game at this point. I don’t see a team stronger than either of them right now. The SEC won’t have that one team that will carry it in my opinion.
None of those teams will be good enough to beat out the field. The only team that feels way too good to lose are the Buckeyes. I hate saying they’re going back-to-back, but I just don’t see any team in this field thwarting Ohio State’s momentum.