College football predictions: Second-chance expert picks for 2025 national champion, playoff field, more
Taking a close, detailed and opinionated look at the top of college football at the halfway point
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7 min read
When the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams, Bracketology fully entered the sport. With the CFP now using a straight-seeding model -- giving the top four teams in the rankings first-round byes -- the battle for at-large bids and the committee's bubble decisions have started to reshape how we view the second half of the season.
Before the year, we each took our shot at predicting the first 12-team Playoff and the eventual national champion. Some of those picks couldn't have aged worse -- I was one of three who tabbed Penn State as the No. 1 overall seed and national champion.
Thankfully, our editors are giving us a midseason mulligan to re-pick our CFP bracket and national champion. We've also updated our Heisman Trophy and Coach of the Year selections.
And while it's unlikely our new champion pick will have fired its coach by season's end, college football in 2025 has proven that just about anything is possible when it comes to the sport's elite programs.
College Football Playoff predictions
Top four seeds get first-round byes
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Rest of field (No. 5-12)
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2025 national champion
Ohio State: As other contenders stumble in the first half of the season, Ohio State's almost made it look easy in cruising to 6-0. Yes, Texas and Washington pushed the Buckeyes a bit, but those games were never in any serious doubt. And a very good Illinois team couldn't do anything against OSU until garbage time. The Buckeyes have a top five defense and a top 20 offense, and it really does feel like that offensive unit can hit another gear or two. Given the path for Ohio State to the playoff (no remaining Top 25 opponents on the schedule) and its talent, I think Ohio State is the obvious pick at the midway point to win the national title. -- Chris Hummer (also Shehan Jeyarajah, Tom Fornelli, Brandon Marcello, Brad Crawford, Richard Johnson)
Miami: Miami could get to the College Football Playoff blindfolded at this point, as the Hurricanes are likely to be favored by at least a touchdown in their final seven games. Once the 'Canes get there, they have all the ingredients of a team that can win it all. In Year 4 under coach Mario Cristobal, Miami finally has the heft and talent on both lines of scrimmage to withstand the rigors of a 16-game grind. Miami's capability of offensive explosiveness is also standing out. Georgia transfer quarterback Carson Beck is looking like the 2023 version of himself, thanks in large part to the emergence for star receivers Malachi Toney and CJ Daniels. Few, if any, teams have been tested as thoroughly as Miami, and the Hurricanes have passed each assignment with flying colors. There is no reason to doubt this team's bona fides as a championship contender. -- David Cobb (also John Talty)
Alabama: The season opening loss to Florida State was the wake-up call that this Alabama team needed to remember the thin margin for error when it comes to playing at the top of the sport. And this prediction is not to say that Alabama will win the rest of its games, either, as recent wins against Georgia, Vanderbilt and Missouri put that thin margin on full display before the Crimson Tide came up with the game-winning plays late. But when you are operating on the margins you need a difference-maker, and to me that's Ty Simpson. He's playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the country right now and according to the players in that locker room he's one of the team's leaders and most important voices. After years of sticking with the Tide, and not transferring, I think his moment here in 2025 includes leading Alabama back to where fans believe they belong: at the top of college football's mountain. -- Chip Patterson
Midseason Coach of the Year
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech: It's one thing to have a talented roster, it's another to win the games, and Joey McGuire is doing nothing but win early this year. The Red Raiders are 6-0 and have the highest average scoring margin (30.4 points) of any team in college football. Yes, McGuire had the offseason resources to go out and get players. But it looks like he's made all the right calls. The roster upgrades are almost all hits, and both of Texas Tech's new coordinators have excelled. The Red Raiders are in the conversation to be the best team in the country. That's remarkable given where that program's been over the last decade -- Hummer (also Jeyarajah)
Curt Cignetti, Indiana: Cignetti has guided Indiana to a 6-0 start and its highest-ever ranking in the AP poll while proving that last season's 11 wins and CFP appearance were anything but a fluke. The Hoosiers' Week 7 triumph at Oregon is in the running for best college football victory of the season, and it brings the possibility of 12-0 campaign closer to reality. This isn't just the best coaching job of the season; what Cignetti is doing at Indiana may be the best coaching job of the 21st century. -- Cobb (also Johnson, Marcello)
Tony Elliot, Virginia: It's admittedly close with Indiana's Curt Cignetti, but Elliott has done more with less than nearly any coach in college football this season. The Cavaliers are one red-zone conversion away from being unbeaten and ranked inside the top 10 at midseason — something no one saw coming two months ago with a 31-player transfer class ranked outside the top 25 nationally. The fact that this team still controls its ACC title and playoff hopes in mid-October is an impressive feat on its own. The home win over then-unbeaten Florida State was special. -- Crawford (also Talty)
Mario Cristobal, Miami: One of the pieces of coaching that can be the most valuable is the ability to successfully imprint an identity on your locker room. Miami fans might have been dreaming of the old days when Cristobal stepped to the podium at his introductory press conference, but in reality what he wanted from this program was the foundational element of physicality pushed into the future for a new era. You can't spend all your time trying to recreate Miami's success from a bygone era, and Cristobal has successfully gotten the entire program to buy in on the blend of old school physicality in the trenches while embracing the on-field and off-field aspects of modern football. Miami's got one of the best offensive line-defensive line combinations in the entire country, and that's a byproduct of four great years of recruiting and developing the part of the field that Cristobal values the most. Getting the entire program to buy in on the plan and seeing it play out in an undefeated 5-0 start and No. 2 national ranking? That's just great coaching. -- Patterson (also Fornelli)
Heisman Trophy frontrunner
Ty Simpson, Alabama: -- Not only has Simpson been statistically great, he's also been on point in key situations during Alabama's five-game winning streak. He was dialed in during a game-defining first half in a victory at Georgia, steady and accurate in a win over Vanderbilt and clutch again late in a win at Missouri. All three of those wins came against top-20 opponents, and two of them were on the road. Simpson's pinpoint accuracy is his best trait, and when you combine that with some mobility and confidence, you get elite quarterback play. That's what Simpson has been providing for the Crimson Tide, especially in big moments against quality opponents. -- Cobb (also Johnson, Fornelli)
Carson Beck, Miami: Filling the shoes of a Heisman finalist is no easy task, especially given how 2024 ended for Carson Beck, but he's been terrific for the Hurricanes. In three wins over top-25 opponents, Beck has thrown nine touchdown passes with a sparkling completion rate. Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson identified his guy early in the portal, and the Hurricanes made it happen. Expect to see Beck in New York a few months from now — likely with Miami preparing for its first playoff appearance as a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the final regular-season rankings.-- Crawford (also Marcello, Talty)
Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss: The Heisman Trophy is a story award at heart, and there is no better story in college football than Chambliss. The senior did not start at Division II Ferris State until 2024, but has taken the sport by storm since transferring to Oxford. He has averaged more than 390 yards per game as a starter, which would lead the nation. If the Rebels can finish the job and earn a trip to the SEC title game and College Football Playoff, few will have better or more compelling cases when the award is finally handed out. A road trip to No. 9 Georgia this weekend marks a pivotal opportunity. -- (Jeyarajah)
