The 2024-25 College Football Playoff bracket has entered its second phase. With the first round now in the books — and every betting favorite advancing to the quarterfinals — there are just seven games remaining to crown a national champion.
The action began Friday night with (7) Notre Dame winning 27-17 over (10) Indiana, a game nowhere near as close as the score indicated. (6) Penn State’s 38-10 victory over (11) SMU earlier Saturday was precisely as dominant as the score suggests, while (5) Texas looked ready to pull away from (12) Clemson only to fall back a bit in the second half before decisively prevailing 38-24. The nightcap saw (8) Ohio State cruise to a devastating 42-17 win over (9) Tennessee.
What’s still left to determine is which team is most likely to win the national title. Seven of our 11 experts below have (1) Oregon becoming the first 17-0 team in college football history. None of the other four remaining experts picked a team that received a first-round bye meaning they all expect a program to win four straight postseason games on the way to a national championship.
As for what’s coming next week, the Ducks rematch the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl, (2) Georgia takes on the Fighting Irish in the Sugar Bowl (they previously met there in 1981), (3) Boise State aims to fend off the surging Nittany Lions in the friendly confines of the Fiesta Bowl (Broncos won there in 2007, 2010, 2014), and (4) Arizona State meets the Longhorns in the Peach Bowl.
Will it be another clean sweep for the favorite, or might someone finally spring an upset in this edition of the CFP? With 134 FBS teams now whittled down to eight, all that’s left to do is take a second look at our picks. CBS Sports experts did exactly that below. We’ve spent…
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