The college football landscape is forever changing with NIL (name, image, and likeness) and the transfer portal. This season, there are around eight teams that have a chance at winning the national title. The playoff last year proved that the best time to catch fire is during the playoffs. Ohio State’s previous season will be a model for other teams this season. They had many veteran players on both sides of the ball, in addition to young superstars like Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs. They return this season looking to repeat.
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) contenders include: Clemson, SMU, Miami, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina. North Carolina will most likely be removed from this list after their horrific performance against TCU. SMU and Clemson are both coming off of playoff appearances last season. I predict that Clemson will beat SMU in the ACC championship. This would put Clemson as the two seed and receive a bye during the first round.
The Big Ten has won back-to-back national titles and is on the hunt once again. Contenders from the Big Ten include: Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Illinois, Nebraska, and Michigan. I believe that Penn State will beat Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship and will receive the fifth seed. The conference will have five teams make the playoffs with Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Illinois, and Nebraska. Nebraska did not look good in week one, leaving the possibility that they aren’t as successful.
The Big 12 was a very entertaining conference last year that had many underdogs. Many of these teams have not looked great to start the season. The top contenders of this conference are Arizona State, Kansas State, and Texas Tech. TCU may be an underrated team to look out for this season. Kansas State is off to a concerning start to the season and is now trending down . I believe that the hometown Colorado Buffaloes are going to finish 8-4 this season. This is the weakest Power Four Conference, as I think only Arizona State will represent the conference in the playoff after they beat Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship game.
The last Power Four Conference is the SEC. Every week in this conference is brutal. There is no time for a tune-up game in this conference. The teams competing for a conference title are going to be Texas, LSU, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas A&M. I predict Texas will beat LSU in the conference championship. Both teams should receive a bye in the first round due to the difficulty of the SEC schedule.
The rest of the conferences will only have one team represent them in the playoffs. I thought that the team representing these conferences would be Boise State, but they were blown out in their first game by South Florida. That team is very dangerous after two ranked wins. The other teams to look out for will be Navy, Army, and Liberty. Now what’s going to happen in the absolute madness of the playoffs?
There are some great first-round matches between historic programs in the college football world. Georgia at Oregon will result in a Georgia Bulldog win. The weapons at wide receiver and the defensive scheme will make it difficult on both sides of the ball for the Ducks. Boise State and Penn State will rematch in this year’s playoff as well. This time at Beaver Stadium, where the atmosphere is too challenging for the Mountain West’s beloved team. The defense and dual running back threat will blow out Boise State. Illinois and Ohio State will face off in the first round as conference opponents. The Buckeyes have too much playoff experience for the Illinois Fighting Illini to keep up with. This game will be very competitive, but Ohio State has the slight advantage: they have better athletes. Nebraska will head to Tempe and face Arizona State. The lights will be too bright for the Cornhuskers, as they will barely lose to an experienced playoff team. The Cornhuskers are nowhere near as good on the road as they are at Memorial Stadium.
The second round looks very similar to last year’s. The transfer portal will forever have this impact in football, and basketball because of NIL money. Georgia and Texas will play, where Texas’ defense will dominate, and the offense will be good enough with Arch Manning. The next matchup is between Clemson and Ohio State. Ohio State’s experienced staff and roster will steal this game, ultimately ending Clemson’s season. Cade Klubnik’s effort will not be enough. Notre Dame will take on Arizona State and blow them out. Knowing Jeremiyah Love, he’ll run all over their defense and take the win with him. The best game of this week will be between Penn State and LSU. These teams have very experienced groups and coaching staff. The Nittany Lions will take this one, as the two-headed monster of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen will be unstoppable.
The final four teams of the College Football Playoff are very similar: great defenses and coaches. Texas and Penn State will be the best battle of defenses in a long time. Arch Manning will be good enough to get Texas past them as the defense limits Penn State. Ohio State and Notre Dame’s quarterbacks are going to struggle in this game. However, Julian Sayin has more weapons and will get the job done.
The rematch of last year’s semifinal: Ohio State and Texas. Texas is returning many defensive players, but Ohio State is coming off a National Championship. Arch Manning is not the reason Texas is going to win this game; it is Colin Simmons and Anthony Hill Jr. who are going to dominate the Buckeyes’ front seven. The Buckeyes will not be able to get the offense going and will lose. This makes Texas this year’s National Champions.
