With Week 0 quickly approaching, the final College Football Playoff and national champion predictions are on their way. Thursday night, Josh Pate revealed his projected bracket for the 2025 season. This year marks another change for the CFP after it expanded to 12 teams last season. It will now include a straight-seeding model rather than […]
With Week 0 quickly approaching, the final College Football Playoff and national champion predictions are on their way. Thursday night, Josh Pate revealed his projected bracket for the 2025 season.
This year marks another change for the CFP after it expanded to 12 teams last season. It will now include a straight-seeding model rather than giving byes to the four highest-ranked conference champions. As a result, two SEC teams were in Pate’s first-round byes.
The 12-team CFP also presents opportunities for some intriguing matchups. Here are Pate’s full predictions, as revealed on Josh Pate’s College Football Show.
First-round byes
1. Penn State
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Oregon
The teams who played in both Josh Pate’s projected SEC and Big Ten championships also received first-round byes in his prediction. Penn State and Texas were the projected winners of those respective games.
The Nittany Lions enter the season with plenty of expectations, and Pate picked them to knock off Oregon in Indianapolis this year. As for the Crimson Tide, they knocked off Texas in the predicted SEC title game, though the Longhorns still earned the No. 3 seed in the field.
No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Clemson
Boise State earned a top-four seed in last year’s College Football Playoff, fueled by a rushing attack led by Ashton Jeanty. The Broncos will take on a new look this year now that Jeanty is in the NFL, but Josh Pate projects them to once again make the CFP as the final conference champion.
Clemson, meanwhile, is the favorite to win the ACC again this year with the most returning production in the country. The most notable returner is Cade Klubnik, who will look to take another step forward in Garrett Riley’s offense after a breakout 2024 season.
No. 11 Nebraska at No. 6 Notre Dame
Last year, Nebraska ended its bowl game drought and saw Dylan Raiola surge down the stretch to help get there. Josh Pate is high on the Cornhuskers this year, predicting them to make the College Football Playoff given the momentum Matt Rhule and Co. are building in Lincoln.
His prediction has the Huskers traveling to South Bend to take on Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish rattled off an impressive run to the national championship a year ago will lean heavily on a running game headlined by Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price.
No. 10 Arizona State at No. 7 Ohio State
One of the stories of the 2024 season, Arizona State not only has its coaching staff back, but also its key playmakers. Sam Leavitt and Jordyn Tyson will look to lead the Sun Devils back to the College Football Playoff, and Josh Pate has them coming in as the No. 10 seed.
That would send Arizona State to The Horseshoe for the first round against Ohio State. The defending national champions lost a record number of NFL-caliber players from last year’s team, but Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs are both back as the focal points of the offense and defense, respectively.
No. 9 Georgia at No. 8 Florida
The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party becomes a College Football Playoff game in Josh Pate’s projections. However, he has Georgia traveling to Gainesville to take on Florida in the opening round.
The Bulldogs reloaded this year as they look to once again make a run on a jam-packed SEC, fueled by another strong defense. As for the Gators, DJ Lagway will look to stay healthy after showing flashes of his potential as a true freshman in 2024.
Quarterfinals: No. 9 Georgia vs. No. 1 Penn State
The College Football Playoff moves to bowl sites starting with the quarterfinals, and Josh Pate predicts Penn State and Georgia to win their first games. That sets up an exciting matchup with a spot in the semifinals on the line.
The Nittany Lions are the Big Ten favorite this year with a slew of returners on offense, led by quarterback Drew Allar. The Bulldogs saw some roster turnover and have a new quarterback in Gunner Stockton, but still have a talented defense led by CJ Allen after last year’s SEC Championship berth.
No. 7 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Alabama
Another Big Ten vs. SEC clash puts Caleb Downs against his former team. Josh Pate predicts Alabama will take on Ohio State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
The Crimson Tide and Buckeyes both have new quarterbacks under center this year in Ty Simpson and Julian Sayin. They’re also seen as interesting teams in their respective conferences, adding to the intrigue around the projected matchup in the CFP.
No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 3 Texas
Texas and Notre Dame headline the third quarterfinal game in Josh Pate’s College Football Playoff predictions. That would put two of the top defenses against each other – but all eyes are on the Longhorns’ offense.
Arch Manning is officially the full-time starter and will make his debut in Week 1 against Ohio State. Notre Dame also has a new quarterback in CJ Carr, who came out of the next recruiting cycle, after he beat out Kenny Minchey for the starting job this week.
No. 5 Clemson vs. No. 4 Oregon
The final College Football Playoff quarterfinal features a coast-to-coast matchup, according to Josh Pate. Clemson would take on Oregon for a spot in the semifinals.
The Tigers boast plenty of continuity this year with 81% of its production returning, according to ESPN. As for the Ducks, they’ve got a slew of new faces and will have a new quarterback as Dante Moore and Austin Novosad battle it out for the starting job.
Semifinals: No. 1 Penn State vs. No. 4 Oregon
Josh Pate predicts his top four seeds to advance to the semifinals in his College Football Playoff bracket. He also has two rematches of conference title games.
Pate predicted Penn State to defeat Oregon in the Big Ten Championship, meaning this would be the third meeting of the year between the two teams. This time around, he thinks things will go differently with the Ducks coming out on top to reach the national championship.
No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Texas
Once again, Josh Pate predicts a championship game rematch. This time, it’s Alabama vs. Texas – though this time, he sees a repeat performance from the Crimson Tide.
Pate predicted Alabama to take down Texas once again in the CFP semifinals, sending Kalen DeBoer to his second national championship in three seasons after getting to the title game at Washington. It would also set up two of the most interesting teams in the country to battle it out on the big stage.
National Championship: Alabama vs. Oregon
In his national championship, Josh Pate has Alabama and Oregon making the trip to Miami. He picked the Crimson Tide to get the victory.
Alabama’s last national title came in 2020 under Nick Saban, his last before retirement. The Crimson Tide just missed out on the College Football Playoff a year ago, but Pate thinks the program will not only make it back into the bracket, but return to the mountaintop.
The 2025 college football season officially gets underway this weekend with the Week 0 slate of games. From there, it’s on to Week 1 – and the race to Miami begins.
Category: General Sports
