The 2025 college football season has now officially arrived.
Yes, in the coming days-and-weeks, college football will be back for the start of the 2025 season, kicking things off nationwide with a loaded Week 1 that will feature the nation’s top two teams, per the US LBM Coaches Poll, playing each other.
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Following that matchup will be countless games throughout the following months, which will include some of the top rivalries in college football, ranked showdowns, and more to ultimately determine which teams will end up make the College Football Playoff (CFP) come December.
With the top individual award in college football, the Heisman Trophy, also announced in December, why not make a few preseason predictions surrounding both of those to predict what might happen, as well as to see if the Alabama Crimson Tide will be included?
Here are some preseason predictions for the College Football Playoff field, national champion, the Heisman Trophy winner, and more this upcoming season.
2025 12-team College Football Playoff field
Jan 19, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; A College Football Playoff logo helmet at a press conference at The Westin Peachtree Plaza, Savannah Ballroom. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Prediction: Alabama Crimson Tide, Arizona State Sun Devils, Boise State Broncos, Clemson Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oregon Ducks, Penn State Nittany Lions, Texas Longhorns (teams listed in alphabetical order)
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Alabama is likely projected to return to the College Football Playoff this upcoming season after barely missing a year ago. The conference breakdown for the predicted CFP field are four SEC teams, three Big Ten, two ACC, one Big 12, one MWC, and one independent.
2025 College Football Playoff National Championship Game
Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin leads the team out before the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Prediction: Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Texas Longhorns
As for the two teams to make it to the national title game out of that aforementioned field, I’ll go with the Big Ten vs. SEC showdown in Penn State and Texas. This matchup would feature an intriguing quarterback showdown between Drew Allar and Arch Manning, as well as countless other college football stars such as Nick Singleton, Anthony Hill Jr., Dani Dennis-Sutton, and Colin Simmons, among others.
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2025 College Football Playoff national champion
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian leads his team onto the field prior to the game against the Clemson Tigers during the CFP National playoff first round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Prediction: Texas Longhorns
Led by head coach Steve Sarkisian, Texas has fallen just short of the national championship the last two seasons, as the Longhorns have fallen in the CFP semifinal each of the previous two years. I’ll go with the Longhorns to win-it-all this season, which would be Texas’ first national championship since 2005.
2025 Heisman Trophy finalists
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) takes the field before the game between the Texas Longhorns and the Clemson Tigers in the CFP National Playoff First Round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Prediction: Arch Manning (Texas, Quarterback), Cade Klubnik (Clemson, Quarterback), Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State, Wide Receiver), Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame, Running Back)
The predicted Heisman Trophy finalists for later this season included two quarterbacks from the ACC and SEC, as well as a running back and wide receiver both from the Big Ten. None of these four predicted finished in the Top 10 of Heisman voting a year ago, while Manning will be a first-time starter this fall.
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2025 Heisman Trophy winner
Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (4) celebrates a touch down in the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Prediction: Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame, Running Back)
As for the eventual winner from those four aforementioned finalists, Love certainly has a chance to become Notre Dame’s first Heisman Trophy winner this season since Tim Brown back in 1987. Expected to be one of top premier running backs in college football yet again this season, Love is coming off a 2024 campaign in which he led Notre Dame to the national title game by rushing for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns on 163 attempts.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: 2025 preseason College Football Playoff, Heisman Trophy predictions