Joel Klatt predicts College Football Playoff 12-team field, national champion

The expanded College Football Playoff is coming and it promises plenty of intrigue, not the least of which is seeing which teams some of the top analysts have penciled in with their playoff predictions.

FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt is the latest to provide his picks for this year’s Playoff field and he’s got mostly powerhouses included in the mix.

Let’s take a look at Klatt’s College Football Playoff predictions below, going game-by-game through the playoff field to see what matchups might shake out.

CFP First Round Games

5 Notre Dame vs. 12 Boise State

Boise State is the popular choice to make the field as the Group of Five’s representative, coming off a season that was a little up and down but provided a lot of hope for the future. Starting quarterback Maddux Madsen is a big part of that.

One the flip side, Notre Dame once again went to the transfer portal well for a quarterback, this time taking Duke transfer Riley Leonard. How well he meshes remains to be seen, but Marcus Freeman has considerably upgraded the talent on the roster. This would be an intriguing first-round battle.

8 Penn State vs. 9 Ole Miss

In a potential rematch of last year’s Peach Bowl, Joel Klatt’s playoff predictions has the Nittany Lions and Rebels squaring off again. The first game was never really in doubt, as Jaxson Dart and Ole Miss carved up Penn State to the tune of 394 passing yards and three touchdowns.

Of course, both teams have done some retooling since. Ole Miss has reloaded heavily through the transfer portal, while Penn State turned over some of its offensive staff in hopes of sparking things. Should both reach the playoffs it’d probably be fair to say both strategies were effective.

7 Oregon vs. 10 Alabama

This game would be intriguing for several reasons, not the least of which is that Dan Lanning is probably as close to the Nick Saban and Kirby Smart mold as you can get. So this game would pit two very SEC-like entities against each other.

It’d also be a sort of referendum on two of the newest but most promising head coaches to the major college football ranks. This is a game we hope Klatt’s playoff predictions prove true on, because it’d be a fun watch and an interesting contrast of personnel.

6 Texas vs. 11 Michigan

Two teams that made the playoffs in the four-team format last year, neither is in the top four this year … failing to earn a bye. But it’s the fans who would stand to benefit, getting a matchup of two historic titans that have recently turned things around to re-emerge on the national stage.

Michigan looks to barely eke into the playoffs in these playoff predictions from Joel Klatt, but that’d still be a successful first season under Sherrone Moore. Texas also positions itself to make a deep run by grabbing a high seed, if not a first-round bye.

CFP Quarterfinals

4 Miami vs. 5 Notre Dame

After the first round of the playoffs are done, Joel Klatt’s playoff predictions move on to the top seeds getting into the mix. Klatt has a somewhat surprising team earning a bye: Miami. The Hurricanes, of course, will be leaning heavily on quarterback Cam Ward who, by all indications, is going to immediately lift the quality of play offensively.

There will also be another interesting angle to a game like this. One team will have played already in the playoffs and might be heated up, while the other is coming off a bye week. Will the extra preparation time prove an advantage vs. having shaken off the rust? To be determined.

1 Ohio State vs. 8 Penn State

Another interesting angle to the College Football Playoffs in the expanded edition is the potential for conference rematches. It’s going to happen. And when it does, can you imagine the level of hype it will produce?

This matchup of Ohio State vs. Penn State would likely occur after a regular season meeting at the Horseshoe that presumably the Buckeyes won based on earning the top seed. Would the revenge factor be enough to push the Nittany Lions over the top?

2 Georgia vs. 7 Oregon

In the other side of the bracket we get a matchup that would pit coach vs. mentor, to a certain extent. We’ve already talked about how Dan Lanning runs a program that is surprisingly similar to an SEC powerhouse. Now he’d get to prove it against arguably the best in that mold.

It’d also be a return to the playoffs for Carson Beck and the Bulldogs, who missed out on them last year after falling to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. That’s much less a risk going forward in the new playoff era, as conference championship game losers can still easily fall among the top 12 teams.

3 Utah vs. 6 Texas

Perhaps the single most surprising pick among Joel Klatt’s playoff predictions is Utah, earning a top-four seed, at that. It’s not that the Utes aren’t good; they’re excellent. They also have Cam Rising back and healthy again. It’s just that not many are picking Utah to be quite that successful this fall.

They’d certainly get a chance to prove they deserve the nod against a Texas team that has plenty of playoff experience by that point. Quinn Ewers will have shook off the dirt from last year’s playoff loss and beaten Michigan to advance, so you have to figure the Longhorns would be riding high.

CFP Semifinals

1 Ohio State vs. 5 Notre Dame

The top-seeded Buckeyes made short work of the Nittany Lions in Klatt’s bracket, advancing to the semifinal to take on Notre Dame. This would be such a classic matchup of college football powerhouses that it’s hard not to be excited already.

The real question likely boils down to whether Notre Dame can actually stop Ohio State. The Buckeyes, if they’ve advanced this far, have likely powered through any learning curve offensively with transfer quarterback Will Howard and are rolling on all cylinders. It’d be an interesting contest, to say the least.

2 Georgia vs. 6 Texas

Georgia vs. Texas feels like one of the games college football fans simply deserve. Two powerhouses with two veteran quarterbacks who are among the nation’s best. Skill position talent across the board, retooled by the transfer portal on both sides. Two excellent coaches.

Klatt surprises here and takes the underdog to win, with the Longhorns advancing to the national championship game to take on the Buckeyes. Another matchup of absolute powerhouses in the works. Sensing a theme yet? Yeah, this expanded playoff thing might just be a little fun.

CFP Championship Game

1 Ohio State vs. 6 Texas

For the national championship game Joel Klatt ends his playoff predictions by pitting Ohio State against Texas. Both teams have a host of reasons why they could conceivably win, but Klatt has the Buckeyes coming out on top as this year’s national champs.

It’d be a heck of a season for coach Ryan Day, one that would presumably take a huge chunk of pressure off. Even to advance this far would likely buy him some more time, especially if a regular-season win over Michigan precedes it… which it very well might as the top-seeded team in the field.

So there you have it, the complete playoff predictions from FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt. It’s a pretty traditional-power-heavy field from him, but one that would certainly provide college football fans with nearly a dozen excellent playoff games to watch. Can the games hurry up and get here already?