Urban Meyer is so caught up in Arch Manning hype, he's not being an Ohio State homer

With it being the heart of the college football offseason, we need to find ways to entertain ourselves before the greatest sport in all of humanity returns in about 6.5 months. Right now, it is all the rage to make way-too-early picks to win next year's national championship. For the sake of argument, I like Penn State, Texas and Ohio State to win the national title, in that order, with Clemson as a dark horse.

This is right in line with what Urban Meyer was asked to do as part of The Triple Option Podcast. The former Ohio State head coach had Texas as his pick to win the national championship, followed by his beloved Buckeyes. After that, he had Oregon at No. 3, which I vehemently disagree with, followed by Tennessee as his dark horse, which I can sort of get behind. Yes, Meyer picked Texas over Ohio State.

It may have something to do with Arch Manning being somewhat more of a known commodity over Julian Sayin, or whoever wins the Buckeyes' starting job. In reality, Texas returns quite a deal from last season, while Ohio State has suffered great roster and coaching attrition. It is why I also have the Longhorns ahead of the Buckeyes. To me, this is Penn State's year to just go out and win the thing.

Here is a visual of Meyer's three picks to win the College Football Playoff, as well as his dark horse.

So with that in mind, let's try to figure out how many teams can realistically win the playoff next fall.

Urban Meyer likes Texas to win College Football Playoff over Ohio State

All offseason long, I have been saying there are roughly eight teams that I think can win the playoff next year. I have said that Ohio State, Penn State and Texas are locks to make the field, with Clemson, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon and Tennessee as almost locks in my mind. You add them all up, and those are the eight teams I think can win it all. To get to 10, let's add LSU and, I guess, Alabama next.

Of the eight teams I have listed, I would probably take Clemson, Georgia and Notre Dame over Oregon, and definitely over Tennessee, as well as Alabama and LSU for the sake of argument. There are other teams that I like a lot, such as Arizona State and South Carolina, but I am essentially hedging my bets by saying Alabama and LSU are far more likely candidates to pull that feat off, which they are.

So to bring this all back home with regards to Meyer's list, I think he is looking at it from a combination of recruiting prowess and potential upside of their soon-to-be starting quarterbacks. The Buckeyes, Ducks and Longhorns have all recruited at a elite level. Tennessee has to a high one. However, it all comes down to how Manning, Sayin, Dante Moore and Nico Iamaleavea play next football season.

Part of the reason why I am so high on Clemson and Penn State is that I have seen Drew Allar and Cade Klubnik start a ton of games, in addition to James Franklin and Dabo Swinney having gone on deep playoff runs before. Because I do not know what to expect out of Moore, I cannot in good faith trust Oregon. Dan Lanning needs to also get his defense in check, as Oregon regularly looks soft.

Outside of the Oregon pick, I could get behind everything that Meyer put forth on the podcast.