In Week 1, Ohio State and Texas will face off. The simple fact that only one of them can win and will at least have one loss means it's hard to envision them rematching in the national title game, but it is certainly a matchup between two of the top title contenders. It is perhaps the best matchup of the entire season, and it's happening right off the bat.
Ohio State is the defending champion. Texas has Arch Manning and seems poised to be the team to beat in 2025. An immovable object and an unstoppable force, if you will. It's an incredibly difficult matchup to predict for most people not named Paul Finebaum. He didn't hesitate to pick the Longhorns.
"Well, that's pretty boring, but I'm sticking with Texas," Finebaum said on Get Up this morning. "They just have it all across the board. Now, some of these people reading magazines at the grocery store are going, 'How can you say that, because they've had to replace so many skill position players?' That's all true. Just watch the NFL Draft. But Steve Sarkisian has recruited, and he has mined the portal better than anyone in the land, so his roster is superb."
The Buckeyes lost more talent than Texas did, including their star quarterback Will Howard. While Texas QB Quinn Ewers also joined Howard in the NFL, some would say Manning should've been starting over Ewers anyway. Finebaum is one of those people. He went so far as to say earlier this month that Manning would've beaten Ohio State in the College Football Playoff last year, so perhaps it's not a surprise at all that he's going with the Longhorns.
This also comes after he said Manning is a better quarterback in college than Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Cam Newton, Bryce Young, and everyone not named Tim Tebow since 2006.