College Football Playoff picks after Week 1 - ESPN
After a tantalizing appetizer in Week 0, college football returned in full swing over the holiday weekend. We are months from the first College Football Playoff rankings, but some of the top teams showed up in big ways.
How will Saturday's top games affect the College Football Playoff chase? What are the current odds for the top four? The Allstate Playoff Predictor has the answers. Check back every week as the odds are updated following that week's games.
Week 1 featured a good mix of big names in intra-conference matchups and warmup games. The Georgia Bulldogs, the top-ranked team in the AP Top 25, bottled up the No. 14 Clemson Tigers. In the 34-3 win, UGA quarterback Carson Beck had 278 passing yards and two touchdowns while the Bulldogs' defense held the Tigers without a touchdown for the first time since 2021. The No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes, No. 4 Texas Longhorns, No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide and No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels all crushed unranked nonconference opponents. The Oregon Ducks, ranked No. 3 last week, started slowly before holding on for a 24-14 win over the Idaho Vandals. Before Saturday, Oregon had defeated FCS opponents by an average of 43.6 points per game.
In total, the top six teams in the AP Top 25 won by a combined score of 301-23.
In the top game of the weekend, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, No. 7 in the rankings, and the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies played a tough, defensive game. After trading fields goals in the first half, the Irish and Aggies matched scores in the second half until Jeremiyah Love's 21-yard score with under two minutes to play gave Notre Dame the win. It was just the second career touchdown run for Love and his first against an FBS opponent. The Irish defense limited the Aggies to 246 total