This is not a drill. It is finally happening. The first ever 12-team College Football Playoff begins this week. Let me jog your brain on how this round will work. For starters, the four highest-ranked conference champs all received bye weeks. You won’t watch conference champions Oregon, Georgia, Boise State, or Arizona State this weekend. The rest of the teams will play on the higher-ranked teams home campus. The four winners this week will then face the four conference champs in the quarterfinals and those winners advance to the semi-finals, so on and so forth. Here is our 2024 College Football Playoff Round 1 preview and predictions.
No. 12 Clemson vs No. 5 Texas
Texas lost a heartbreaker in the SEC Championship, allowing Georgia to hang around even without Carson Beck. They still had the best season of the non-conference champs and got the 5-seed. Good for them as they get to face the only team in the CFP with three losses. Texas’ defense shouldn’t have that much of an issue slowing down this Clemson offense. They are the best defense in coverage and third-best in pass-rush so Clemson QB Cade Klubnik is going to need the game of his life to pull an upset. Not happening this week. Prediction: Clemson 20 Texas 35
No. 11 SMU vs No. 6 Penn State
This is a major home-field advantage for Penn State who will completely dominate the crowd. In fact, I think this is probably the most lopsided advantage in this first round given geography and fan base. I want to believe in SMU, I really do. But in their biggest and maybe only true tough test of the season, they lost to Clemson. Penn State hasn’t overly impressed me. James Franklin teams often no-show in big games. However, QB Drew Allar has been the real deal. Their defense is as legit as it gets. They scrape by with a win. Prediction: SMU 26 Penn State 28
No. 10 Indiana vs No. 7 Notre Dame
How about an in-state game to kick off this first-ever round one? Two proud Indiana schools battle it out in what I think should be one of the best games of the weekend. This is the only game that will be played on Friday. Indiana will score. Second best offense in the nation and the most efficient. Notre Dame must keep pace with the Hoosiers who will likely come out and put a score up early. Indiana’s defense is not to be messed with, they are second in yards allowed and sixth in points allowed. This is my upset of the weekend. Prediction: Indiana 31 Notre Dame 28
No. 9 Tennessee vs. No. 8 Ohio State
A powerhouse in the SEC versus a powerhouse in the Big Ten. This is what we’ve wanted all year, right? Which conference’s heavy weights are truly better? When Tennessee struggles this year, it’s an offensive struggle that causes them to score less and play from behind. That’s a bad spot for the Vols who are 0-14 since 2019 when scoring 20 points or less. The Buckeyes have the best defense in the nation, and should slow down the Vols. Prediction: Tennessee 17 Ohio State 28