ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit makes 2023 College Football Playoff picks

The 2023 college football season officially begins on Saturday, leading the ESPN College GameDay crew to make its playoff picks public on the leading college football show.

Analyst Kirk Herbstreit submitted his picks and has a handful of familiar faces reaching this year’s College Football Playoff.

But just because there are some familiar faces doesn’t mean there isn’t still plenty of intrigue with the picks, so let’s dive into Herbstreit’s 2023 playoff selections and break down how things might shake out this fall.

Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama missed the College Football Playoff for only the second time since their inception last year, let down by a couple defensive miscues in key games against LSU and Tennessee. Now quarterback Bryce Young is gone and the Crimson Tide must reset.

But few things are harder to stop than a motivated Nick Saban team, and there should be no shortage of motivation for this bunch. Will that be enough for Alabama to reach the College Football Playoff, even breaking in a new starting quarterback. Herbstreit seems to think so.

Georgia Bulldogs

The two-time defending national champion also must replace a starting quarterback in Stetson Bennett, but few teams will have the talent around him that Carson Beck will in 2023. That starts with do-it-all tight end Brock Bowers, one of the biggest mismatch threats in the country.

Couple that with an always stout Georgia defense and a team that somehow, again, feels like it has to prove itself and the Bulldogs are a pretty good pick to get back to the College Football Playoff. Oh yeah, and the schedule sets up really nicely without too many real challenges.

Michigan Wolverines

The Wolverines have reached the College Football Playoff in back-to-back years now, proving much more competitive in 2022 than 2021. Can they finally get over the semifinal hump? That may well be up to quarterback JJ McCarthy.

While McCarthy will be able to lean on one of the best ground games in the country, anchored by Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, he’ll still need to be able to make clutch plays in key moments in big games like Ohio State and Penn State. Is he ready to lead Michigan past the semifinal stage?

Ohio State Buckeyes

The third team of Herbstreit’s four playoff picks replacing an elite starting quarterback, Ohio State has one of the best sets of skill position players in the country. There’s a solid one-two punch in the backfield, while receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka are likely the best duo in the country.

Can Ohio State wade through a difficult schedule that includes playoff hopefuls Michigan and Penn State? That wasn’t an issue last season, but replacing CJ Stroud could be difficult.

Title Game: Alabama vs. Ohio State

In a rematch of the COVID-19 year title game in 2020, Alabama takes on Ohio State, according to Kirk Herbstreit. The last time these two teams met it was lopsided, with Alabama claiming a national title with a 52-24 win in front of a crowd of less than 15,000.

A meeting in 2023 would be much more highly anticipated. The Buckeyes are feeling a little bit of frustration after falling to the rival Wolverines twice, and getting back to the pinnacle of the sport by reaching the title game would silence a lot of doubters. Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide have heard nothing but Bulldogs all offseason and will be looking to shut down the talk of Georgia taking over as the SEC’s top dynasty. This would be a heck of a matchup, and Herbstreit sees Alabama coming out on top as the winner.

Herbstreit wasn’t the only one to make his College Football Playoff picks on the set of ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday. Be sure to check out the rest of the College GameDay crew’s playoff picks here.