The 2025 college football season is set to be a thrilling one, with several teams vying for the top spot. However, it seems that Texas is the team everyone wants to beat. As our preseason predictions show, the Longhorns are the favorite to win the national championship, with over 64% of the vote.
But can anyone stop Texas’s reign? Our panel of experts has some bold predictions for the season. Here are a few:
* Austin Meek predicts that Minnesota, Kansas, Syracuse, or Baylor will make the College Football Playoff.
* Pete Sampson thinks USC will fire Lincoln Riley after a 7-5 season, possibly even before then.
* Eric Single believes Clay Helton’s Georgia Southern will upset Lincoln Riley’s USC 31-35 in Week 3.
Meanwhile, Seth Emerson is confident that the College Football Playoff committee will match up Georgia with Carson Beck and Miami in a first-round game. Christopher Kamrani, on the other hand, thinks Carson Beck will be replaced as Miami’s quarterback by late October.
Ralph D. Russo predicts Penn State will be knocked out of the quarterfinals of the CFP, while Jill Thaw believes Rutgers will go 2-1 against any combination of Oregon, Penn State, and Illinois. Jason Kirk thinks that after Notre Dame wins the national title, everyone else will immediately restore the “You Must Win A Conference To Get A Playoff Bye” rule.
Scott Dochterman predicts that the Big 12 will have four or five teams tie for first place with a 7-2 record. Matt Brown thinks Texas will beat Texas A&M to close the regular season, but then lose to them in the SEC championship game.
Finally, Grace Raynor believes that the loser of Ohio State-Texas will win the national title.
Only time will tell if any of these predictions come true. One thing is for sure: it’s going to be a wild ride in college football this year.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6560979/2025/08/19/college-football-playoff-heisman-conference-predictions