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.
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 Jeremiah 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 yards, their fewest since the start of last season.
Other teams in the top 20 and conference favorites showed why they could find themselves into the expanded, 12-team playoff field. The No. 19 Miami Hurricanes had one of the biggest outcomes of the weekend with a 41-17 win over the Florida Gators. Canes quarterback Cam Ward threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns. The No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions showed the big-play potential that was lacking in 2023. In a 34-12 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers, Penn State had two scores of 40 or more yards. It had three such scores all of last season.
Here are our experts’ top 12 College Football Playoff picks (Power 4 conference champions get the top four seeds):
Top 12 playoff picks, by seeding (remember, the top four conference winners get the top four seeds and a fifth conference winner is guaranteed into the field)
Andrea Adelson: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Kansas St. 5. Alabama 6. Texas 7. Notre Dame 8. USC 9. Penn St 10. Ole Miss 11. Missouri 12. Memphis
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Utah 4. Miami, 5. Alabama 6. Texas 7. Notre Dame 8. Oregon 9. Michigan 10. Ole Miss 11. Arizona 12. Boise State
Bill Connelly: 1. Georgia 2. Penn State 3. Miami 4. Oklahoma State, 5. Texas 6. Alabama 7. Notre Dame 8. Ohio State 9. Missouri 10. Ole Miss 11. Oregon 12. Memphis
David Hale: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Kansas, 5. Notre Dame 6. Texas 7. Oregon 8. Alabama 9. Penn State 10. Ole Miss 11. Utah 12. Memphis
Eli Lederman: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Kansas State 5. Notre Dame 6. Texas 7. Oregon 8. Penn State 9. Ole Miss 10. Alabama 11. Missouri 12. Memphis
Chris Low: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Utah 5. Alabama 6. Texas, 7. Notre Dame, 8. Penn State 9. Ole Miss 10. Tennessee 11. Oregon 12. UNLV
Harry Lyles Jr.: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Utah 5. Texas 6. Alabama 7. Notre Dame 8. Penn State 9. Missouri 10. Ole Miss 11. Oregon 12. Memphis
Ryan McGee: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Utah 4. Miami, 5. Alabama 6. Texas 7. Notre Dame 8. Oregon 9. NC State 10. Ole Miss 11. Kansas 12. Boise State
Max Olson: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Oklahoma State, 5. Alabama 6. Texas 7. Notre Dame 8. Ole Miss 9. Oregon 10. Penn State 11. Utah 12. Boise State
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Utah 5. Notre Dame 6. Alabama 7. Penn State 8.Texas 9. Ole Miss 10. Kansas State 11. Oregon 12. Memphis
Mark Schlabach: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Utah, 5. Alabama 6. Texas 7. Notre Dame 8. Penn State 9. Ole Miss 10. Oregon 11. Kansas 12. Memphis
Jake Trotter: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Oklahoma State 5. Texas 6. Notre Dame 7. Oregon 8. Penn State 9. Alabama 10. Ole Miss 11. Kansas State 12. Boise State
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Utah 5. Notre Dame 6. Texas 7. Alabama 8. Oregon 9. Kansas 10. Ole Miss 11. USC 12. Boise State
Dave Wilson: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Miami 4. Utah 5. Notre Dame 6. Alabama 7. Texas 8. Penn State 9. Ole Miss 10. Oregon 11. Oklahoma State 12. Boise State