The Sporting News predicts 12-team College Football Playoff, National Championship

The 2025 college football season is swiftly approaching, meaning the march toward a potential College Football Playoff bid has begun. The 12-team format will be utilized for the second season, with some notable changes. 

This season’s College Football Playoff format will move to a straight-seeding model, meaning the top four teams in the final CFP rankings will receive a first-round bye. The changes come after the selection committee faced criticism when last season’s final rankings saw ninth-ranked Boise State (Mountain West) and 12th-ranked Arizona State (Big 12) earn first-round byes as conference champions.

With those changes in mind, The Sporting News recently took a stab at predicting this season’s 12-team College Football Playoff field, along with the entire bracket and national champion. The predicted bids from each conference break down as follows: SEC (4), Big Ten (3), ACC (2), The American (1), Independent (1) and Big 12 (1).

First Round Byes:

No. 1 seed – Texas Longhorns (Cotton Bowl)

The Sporting News predicts Texas to be the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff in the first year of the Arch Manning era. The Longhorns return a plethora of talent, including 1000-yard rusher Quintrevion Wisner, star wide receiver Ryan Wingo, Athlon Sports‘ eighth-ranked offensive line and Athlon‘s top-ranked defensive line.

Building on its first 13-win season since 2009, Steve Sarkisian is projected to lead Texas to its best regular season in many years.

No. 2 seed – Ohio State Buckeyes (Rose Bowl)

Reigning National Champion Ohio State is projected as the No. 2 overall seed in the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes were the No. 8 seed in last year’s Playoff, where they took down No. 9 Tennessee (42-17), No. 1 Oregon (41-21), No. 5 Texas (28-14) and No. 3 Notre Dame (34-23) to win their first National Championship since 2014.

Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin is entering his first season as the starter, but has a strong core of wideouts consisting of EA College Football 26 cover athlete Jeremiah Smith and 700-yard receiver Carnell Tate. The Buckeyes also boast Athlon Sports‘ ninth-ranked offensive line Athlon‘s seventh-ranked defensive line.

No. 3 seed – Georgia Bulldogs (Sugar Bowl)

Following a disappointing 23-10 loss to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl last season, Georgia is projected as the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff. Quarterback Gunner Stockton will have had an entire season of experience at this point, as he was thrown to the wolves late last season following Carson Beck‘s injury.

Lead running back Nate Frazier (671 rush yards in 2024) returns to Athens this season, along with senior wide receiver Dillon Bell and end zone threat tight end Oscar Delp. Georgia‘s defensive line is also ranked fourth in the country by Athlon Sports, boasting star linebacker CJ Allen and DT Christen Miller. The Bulldogs have won two of the last three SEC Championship games.

No. 4 seed – Clemson Tigers (Orange Bowl)

Clemson snagged the No. 12 seed in last season’s College Football Playoff, where it fell to No. 5 Texas 38-24 at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium. The Sporting News however is predicting a stronger year for Dabo Swinney‘s program, capped off with a first-round bye.

Quarterback Cade Klubnik is the popular preseason pick to be selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, flanked by strong returners in star wide receiver Antonio Williams and talented EDGE rusher T.J. Parker, DT Peter Woods and DB Avieon Terrell on the defensive side. The Tigers have reloaded and anything short of a CFP appearance would be a disappointment.

First-Round Matchups (Campus Sites):

No. 9 seed Oregon at No. 8 seed Arizona State

Oregon vs. Arizona State would be an interesting development, as a classic Pac-12 matchup has turned into a clash of Big 12 vs Big Ten. These programs could have met in last season’s College Football Playoff Semifinal (Cotton Bowl), but the Ducks lost to Ohio State and the Sun Devils lost to Texas in 2OT.

Kenny Dillingham‘s program returns one of the best quarterback-receiver duos in the country in Sam Leavitt and Jordyn Tyson, while Oregon brought in star running back Makhi Hughes from Tulane and surrounded him with a strong offensive line. These teams last met on November 18, 2023, where Oregon came out on top 49-13.

No. 12 seed Navy at No. 5 seed Penn State

This 5-12 seed matchup would mark the 39th ever meeting between these two programs (first since 2012). With Navy predicted to make its first ever College Football Playoff appearance as the Group of 6 representative, they face stiff competition on the road in Beaver Stadium against Penn State.

The Midshipmen had a strong 2024 season (12-2), but they were unable to catch Ashton Jeanty and Boise State as the Group of 6 representative. That could very well change this season. This matchup would mark the second Playoff game at Beaver Stadium, as the Nittany Lions downed SMU 38-10 in the First Round last season.

No. 11 seed LSU at No. 6 seed Notre Dame

In what is likely the juiciest matchup of this College Football Playoff prediction, Brian Kelly and LSU are projected to travel to Notre Dame and face his former program. This would mark LSU‘s first College Football Playoff appearance since it won the National Championship in 2019, while this would serve as a chance for Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame to redeem itself after falling just shy last season.

No. 10 seed Miami at No. 7 seed Alabama

Alabama is projected to reach the College Football Playoff in the second season of the Kalen DeBoer era, hosting former SEC-foe Carson Beck and the Miami Hurricanes. This would mark the first ever appearance in the event for Miami, while Alabama would be making its first appearance since 2023.

These programs last met in 2021, where the Crimson Tide dominated the ‘Canes 44-13 to kickoff the season.

Predicted National Champion

The Sporting News doesn’t straight up pick a National Champion, but it predicts the two programs that reach the title game. Their prediction is very chalky, as they have No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Ohio State meeting in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

This would mark a rematch of the two programs’ season-opening clash at Ohio State on August 30. They also met in last season’s College Football Playoff (Cotton Bowl), where the Buckeyes came out on top 28-14. They then went on to down Notre Dame 34-24 in the 2025 College Playoff National Championship Game.