An announced overhaul of the College Football Playoff format has led to speculation over how it will impact the potential Playoff schedule.
While there is still a full season to play out, let’s predict who will make the 2025-26 College Football Playoff, how the seeding alterations will affect it, and who could win the National Championship.
Changes to the College Football Playoff Format
The announced changes to the College Football Playoff were anticipated, and seedings are now determined by a team’s ranking in the CFP poll. It means the top-ranked conference champions won’t get an automatic bye like they did in 2024; instead, they will be reserved for the top four teams in the final poll.
Therefore, the four highest seeds will get an automatic bye regardless of conference championship status, but how the field is created will remain the same. The 12 teams comprise the top five ranked conference champions and the next seven highest ranked sides.
College Football Playoff Predictions | First Round
- No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. No. 12 Boise State Broncos
- No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions vs. No. 11 Illinois Fighting Illini
- No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs vs. No. 10 Arizona State Sun Devils
- No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. No. 9 LSU Tigers
In this prediction, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish finish just outside the bye week seedings and are currently ranked No. 5 in CSN’s early college football top 25 power rankings. But, they should feel relatively comfortable with their matchup. They would host the Boise State Broncos, who clinched a playoff berth by winning the Mountain West Championship. However, the Irish will have too much for the Ashton Jeanty-less Broncos to handle in South Bend.
The Illinois Fighting Illini have one of the easiest schedules in the Big Ten, having avoided the Oregon Ducks and Penn State Nittany Lions during the regular season. If Brent Bielema’s team can maintain their strong home form from 2024, where they lost only one game, a 10-2 season could be on the horizon, securing a playoff berth.
In this prediction, the Illini would head to State College to face the No. 6 Nittany Lions, who boast an impressive offensive lineup led by quarterback Drew Allar and running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. This rushing duo will lead a rushing attack that ranked 17th in the nation, averaging 202.3 rushing yards per game.
The Georgia Bulldogs had a disappointing year in 2024 despite making the college football playoff and winning the SEC. A similar trajectory is anticipated in 2025, with a potential home game in the first round against Arizona State, who are expected to win the Big 12 for a second successive year.
Meanwhile, the most anticipated matchup in the first round would be an all-SEC battle between the eighth and ninth seeds. This scenario would see the LSU Tigers traveling to Tuscaloosa for a rematch in 2025, with a similar outcome expected.
College Football Playoff Predictions | Quarterfinals
- No. 4 Texas Longhorns vs. No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
- No. 2 Oregon Ducks vs. No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs
- No. 1 Clemson Tigers vs. No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide
The quarterfinals stage would see the top four seeds enter the postseason after a first-round bye. The games are due to take place over Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, with the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl slated as the quarterfinal stages.
Notre Dame will be facing the Texas Longhorns, who are predicted to win the SEC during Arch Manning’s first season as a starter. Jeremiah Love is expected to dominate the ground game, building on his impressive total of 17 rushing touchdowns last season, which ranked 12th in the country.
Meanwhile, Steve Sarkisian’s offense, which ranked 13th in the nation with an average of 278.8 passing yards per game in 2024, is anticipated to be even more dynamic with Manning under center.
The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions would lock horns again, with Penn State heading to Columbus on Nov. 1. While the committee usually tries to avoid rematches when considering their final rankings, this is one that everyone would be happy to see again.
Ohio State lost a boatload of talent to the NFL Draft, but big things are expected of Julian Sayin, who will still have the top receiver in the nation, Jeremiah Smith, to throw to.
Oregon vs. Georgia is also set up perfectly. The Ducks were the CFP committee’s No. 1-ranked team in 2024, and now they turn to Dante Moore at quarterback. He has big shoes to fill, but he has a relatively favorable schedule.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs will operate with Gunnar Stockton as the predicted starting quarterback, and Kirby Smart always has his team in contention. Georgia has hit the portal hard to fix their receiving core, and Zachariah Branch and Noah Thomas could be too much for Dan Lanning’s side.
The Clemson Tigers are stacked with talent on both sides of the ball. Five Tigers landed in the first round of a recent CSN 2026 NFL Mock Draft, and a negotiable schedule could lead Dabo Swinney to be the No. 1-ranked team in the nation in the final poll for the first time since 2018.
QB Cade Klubnik’s 36 passing touchdowns in 2024 are the most of any returning player, and his connection with WR Antonio Williams could prove to be too much for Kalen DeBoer’s Crimson Tide.
College Football Playoff Predictions | Semifinals
- No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. No. 4 Texas Longhorns
- No. 1 Clemson Tigers vs. No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs
Ohio State and Texas meet in Week 1, a game that is ranked at the top of CSN’s top 50 games of the 2025 college football season. For one of these teams, they will hope that they don’t bookend their season with defeats to the same side.
Ohio State is the reigning national champion, but this prediction sees them fall short in 2025. The Arch Manning/ Ryan Wingo-led offense will be turbocharged in 2025 despite the 2024 Buckeye defense being the best in the nation, conceding an average of just 254.6 yards per game.
Georgia has won nine of the last ten meetings against Clemson, dating back to 1991, including the opening game of the 2024 season when UGA ran out as 34-2 winners. However, the Tigers look like a different beast in 2025, and their superior talent should be enough to overcome the Bulldogs for the first time since 2013.
College Football Playoff Predictions | National Championship Game
- No. 1 Clemson Tigers vs. No. 4 Texas Longhorns
Clemson and Texas contested the first round of the college football playoff last season, with the Longhorns running out 38-24 winners against Swinney’s side. Two very different rosters in 2025, this would be a great National Championship lineup.
Both Klubnik and Manning are two of the most exciting QBs in the nation, both sport exciting receivers in Williams and Wingo, respectively, while both defenses boast elite players. Manning will have T.J. Parker and Peter Woods disrupting the pocket, with Aveion Terrell locking down the secondary. On the other hand, Anthony Hill Jr. is an elite linebacker, and Colin Simmons ranked 20th in the country with nine sacks as a freshman.
This contest is too close to call, but the Clemson defense is predicted to win the Tigers’ first national championship since 2018, keeping the Texas offense from building up the score, while Klubnik conducts the offense alongside Williams, and Gideon Davidson is a breakout star in his true freshman season.
KEEP READING: How the College Football Playoff Selection Process Works: 2025 Field Explained
It will usher in all the discussion and speculation that Manning will return to Austin in 2026 and not declare for the NFL Draft.
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