College Football Playoff predictions: Who's most likely to make the field

In 2024, Oregonsurvived a stressful, narrow early win over Boise Statebefore going undefeated in the regular season and winning the Big Ten while the Broncos also reached the College Football Playoff.

Does Week 1's 34-27 win for the Ducks mean a similar trajectory? We'll see. Ducks QB Dante Moore threw for 378 yards while receiver Dakorien Moore had the game-winning TD.

Among those teams looking to get back to the CFP, Oregon had the toughest ordeal. Ohio State, Georgia, Indianaand Miami, all playoff teams in 2025, won by a combined score of 216-28.

Texasand Notre Dame, both outside the top 12 last season, also started strong. Arch Manning threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns in the Longhorns' 59-7 win over Texas State.

Here are our experts' top 12 College Football Playoff picks:

Andrea Adelson: 1. Notre Dame, 2. Ohio State, 3. LSU, 4. Miami, 5. Georgia, 6. Indiana, 7. Texas, 8. Alabama, 9. Oregon, 10. USC, 11. BYU, 12. Boise State

Kyle Bonagura: 1. Ohio State, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Texas, 4. Indiana, 5. Georgia, 6. LSU, 7. Miami, 8. Texas Tech, 9. Alabama, 10. Oregon, 11. BYU, 12. Boise State

Bill Connelly: 1. LSU, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Ohio State, 4. Oregon, 5. Georgia, 6. Miami, 7. Texas, 8. Ole Miss, 9. Indiana, 10. Texas Tech, 11. Pittsburgh, 12. UMass

David Hale: 1. Notre Dame, 2. LSU, 3. Ohio State, 4. Texas, 5. Miami, 6. Georgia, 7. Indiana, 8. Texas A&M, 9. Ole Miss, 10. Oregon, 11. BYU, 12. Boise State

Eli Lederman: 1. Ohio State, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Miami, 4. Georgia, 5. Oregon, 6. Texas, 7. Texas Tech, 8. Indiana, 9. LSU, 10. BYU, 11. Ole Miss, 12. Boise State

Max Olson: 1. Ohio State, 2. Miami, 3. LSU, 4. Notre Dame, 5. Texas, 6. Oregon, 7. Georgia, 8. Indiana, 9. Texas Tech, 10. Oklahoma, 11. USC, 12. Boise State

Adam Rittenberg: 1. Ohio State, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Miami, 4. Georgia, 5. Texas, 6. Oregon, 7. Indiana, 8. BYU, 9. LSU, 10. Alabama, 11. USC, 12. Boise State

Mark Schlabach: 1. Ohio State, 2. Georgia, 3. Notre Dame, 4. Texas, 5. Oregon, 6. Indiana, 7. Miami, 8. LSU, 9. BYU, 10. Texas Tech, 11. Oklahoma, 12. North Dakota State

Jake Trotter: 1. Texas, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Ohio State, 4. Georgia, 5. Miami, 6. Indiana, 7. Oregon, 8. LSU, 9. Oklahoma, 10. BYU, 11. Alabama, 12. Boise State

Paolo Uggetti: 1. Ohio State, 2. Georgia, 3. Texas, 4. Oregon, 5. Notre Dame, 6. Miami, 7. Indiana, 8. LSU, 9. BYU, 10. USC, 11. Alabama, 12. Boise State

Dave Wilson: 1. Ohio State, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Miami, 4. Georgia, 5. Texas, 6. Oregon, 7. Indiana, 8. Texas Tech, 9. LSU, 10. Texas A&M, 11. USC, 12. Boise Statebr/]