Less than four months remain before the 2025-26 college football season kicks off. With the conclusion of spring practices across the country, the teams that will be contenders for a national championship are slowly coming into view.
Although the first round of the College Football Playoff is still eight months away, it’s time to take stock of what the end-of-season tournament may look like.
The ensuing rankings will follow the 12-team Playoff format from a season ago, with the four highest-seeded conference champions assuming seeds 1-4 and a first-round bye. The next highest-ranked conference champion will have a guaranteed spot within the top 12, alongside seven at-large bids. Without further ado, let’s reveal the picks.
College Football Playoff Predictions | First Round
- No. 5 Penn State Nittany Lions vs. No. 12 UNLV Rebels
- No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs vs. No. 11 Miami (FL)
- No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. No. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide
- No. 8 LSU Tigers vs. No. 9 Oregon Ducks
The Nittany Lions, led by their star senior trio of quarterback Drew Allar and running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen — who are just recently joined by former second-team All-ACC wide receiver Trebor Pena — will roll past the Rebels, who made a surprise playoff appearance off the back of former Michigan Wolverines QB Alex Orji.
The biggest storyline out of this iteration of the playoff would be Miami QB Carson Beck’s return to face Georgia a year after he left the Bulldogs. Revenge is sweet — but he won’t get his revenge in this one, as Georgia’s defense will be too much to handle.
Behind expected starting QB C.J. Carr and dynamic RBs in Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, the Fighting Irish once again benefit from not having to play a conference title game and end up with a home playoff game, this year against the Crimson Tide.
Alabama WR Ryan Williams almost assuredly will have a tremendous season, but one man won’t be enough for Alabama to pull off the upset. Unfortunately for them, their season will end in South Bend.
The 8-9 matchup has a chance to be an all-time classic. Neither team is expected to have a top-tier defense and will be driven by the offensive production of QBs Garrett Nussmeier (LSU) and Dante Moore (Oregon). They’ll duel it out under the lights in Death Valley, with the Ducks storming out of there with an upset victory on the final drive.
College Football Playoff Predictions | Quarterfinals
- No. 4 Kansas State Wildcats vs. No. 5 Penn State
- No. 3 Clemson Tigers vs. No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs
- No. 2 Texas Longhorns vs. No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. No. 9 Oregon Ducks
The 2026 quarterfinals bring some highly-intriguing matchups, starting with the Avery Johnson-led Big 12 champion Wildcats facing off against the Allar-led Nittany Lions — two QB prospects to keep an eye on regarding the 2026 NFL Draft.
Although Kansas State had a storybook season and claimed their conference title, they’ll be no match for Penn State, which, in a perfect world, would probably be ranked No. 2 or No. 3 but fell to No. 5 after losing to Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game.
QB Cade Klubnik performed extremely well in the playoff a season ago and it’ll be no different here, as he’ll surprise the nation and pick apart the Bulldogs’ highly-touted SEC defense. Klubnik is ready for the pros and he shows it off, leading the Tigers to victory.
The matchup between the SEC champion Longhorns and the Fighting Irish could go either way. But considering Arch Manning will have started less than 15 games in his career at this point, he’ll falter against a ferocious Notre Dame D.
Carr will take care of the ball and Love will breakaway for one — maybe two — back-breaking chunk plays down the stretch, leading the Irish to a huge victory as they continue their playoff run.
Essentially a reverse of last season’s Rose Bowl — sadly for Duck fans — the result will be much the same as last season. WR Jeremiah Smith still can’t be stopped. Couple that with the fact that the Buckeyes know how to win, and Ohio State will be one step closer to defending their national title after downing Oregon.
College Football Playoff Predictions | Semifinals
- No. 3 Clemson vs. No. 7 Notre Dame
- No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Penn State
The 3-7 matchup here is interesting. The Fighting Irish reached the national championship game in 2025 and know how to win, but will they make it that far this year? I’d be willing to bet they don’t. After a run that they should be proud of, Klubnik and the Tigers will be on a heater offensively come the postseason and will dismantle the Notre Dame defense in the second half and win going away.
The two best teams throughout the college football season will end up being the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions, who face off in the semifinals here. Simply put, that’s how things go in tournaments without seeding based directly on best to worst teams.
These teams play each other in Ohio Stadium on Nov. 1, 2025. The Nittany Lions stunned the nation and pulled out a victory — but the Buckeyes got their get-back, defeating Penn State in the Big Ten title game and securing the top seed and a bye. Now, they find themselves playing for an unprecedented third time this season.
This 2022 offensive recruiting class for Penn State has been talked about ever since the highly-rated Allar, Singleton and Allen came to town. Now in their senior season, they’ll put forth all the effort they have to defeat Ohio State — and they will, securing their spot in the national title game against Clemson.
College Football Playoff Predictions | National Championship Game
- No. 3 Clemson vs. No. 5 Penn State
This matchup is everything a college football fan could want — Klubnik vs. Allar. Both will have risen up draft boards and could even be considered the top two QBs in the 2026 draft.
While Klubnik will add another outstanding playoff performance to his resume, the physicality and running game of the Nittany Lions will be the headliner of this one. Clemson is no slouch along the defensive line, trotting out EDGE T.J. Parker and defensive tackle Peter Woods. Despite that, Penn State and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki will have answers on the interior.
KEEP READING: Clemson Tigers See a Shocking 5 Players Selected in First Round of CSN’s 2026 NFL Mock Draft
Sprinkle in a few connections down the sideline from Allar to Pena, and the Nittany Lions will claim the program’s first national championship since 1986, capping off a storybook season and storybook careers for Allar, Singleton, and Allen.
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