Another year, another set of staff Heisman and College Football Playoff picks.
Though maybe there was some bias attached considering this is an Ohio State-centered website, every single one of us correctly predicted the Buckeyes to win the national championship in our 2024 predictions. But whatever you do, don't go back and look at our Heisman projections, yeesh!
Alas, there's a lot more variety this year with the staff's picks for the eventual national champion, with only one of the six panelists picking Ohio State to repeat for the 2025 season.
Anyway, check out our CFP and Heisman predictions below, then tell us yours in the comments.
Dan Hope
Heisman pick
Winner: Jeremiah Smith, wide receiver, Ohio State
Breakdown: It’s hard to win the Heisman as a wide receiver, but it’s much more possible if your Heisman campaign starts in the preseason. Like Travis Hunter last year, Smith enters the season as the biggest star in college football. I expect Smith to dominate opponents all year long and become Ohio State’s first Heisman winner in 19 years.
12-team CFP
Big Ten champ: Penn State
SEC champ: Alabama
Big 12 champ: Arizona State
ACC champ: Clemson
Group of Five bid: UNLV
Seven at-large teams: Texas, Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Georgia, LSU, Illinois
Darkhorse playoff contender: South Carolina
National championship game and winner: Penn State over Clemson
Breakdown: A Big Ten team with a bevy of standout seniors won the national championship after each of the last two seasons, so I’m picking the Nittany Lions to continue that trend. Clemson also has a roster full of experienced upperclassmen, led by one of the nation’s best quarterbacks in Cade Klubnik and two stud defensive linemen in T.J. Parker and Peter Woods, and I expect Dabo Swinney’s program to re-emerge as one of the nation’s best now that the Tigers are finally embracing NIL and the transfer portal.
Chase Brown
Heisman pick
Winner: Cade Klubnik, quarterback, Clemson
Breakdown: He's the most experienced quarterback in college football. Why not pick him to win the glorified Quarterback of the Year award?
12-team CFP
Big Ten champ: Ohio State
SEC champ: Texas
Big 12 champ: Arizona State
ACC champ: Clemson
Group of Five bid: Boise State
Seven at-large teams: Notre Dame, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, LSU, Miami, Illinois
Darkhorse playoff contender: Florida
National championship game and winner: Texas over Clemson
Breakdown: Steve Sarkisian has guided Texas to back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinals. This season, Arch Manning will help him break through with a win over Clemson in the national championship — a rematch of last December’s CFP quarterfinal.
Andy Anders
Heisman pick
Winner: Jeremiah Smith, wide receiver, Ohio State
Breakdown: Jeremiah Smith is going to take a year one to year two leap, and he has the hype built in this season as the presumptive favorite. He's the most complete young receiver I (or Ryan Day, in his words) have ever seen, and it's time for an explosion.
12-team CFP
Big Ten champ: Ohio State
SEC champ: Texas
Big 12 champ: Kansas State
ACC champ: Clemson
Group of Five bid: Tulane
Seven at-large teams: Penn State, Georgia, South Carolina, Illinois, Oregon, Alabama, SMU
Darkhorse playoff contender: Washington
National championship game and winner: Penn State over Clemson
Breakdown: After returning a bulk of their key pieces from a CFP semifinal run (yes, they had the easiest road to get there in the playoffs), the Nittany Lions have what I think could be the most complete roster in college football. Coaches have shed narratives about their careers frequently the last few years (see Ryan Day), and if there was ever a team to take Big Game James over the top, it’s this one.
Kyle Jones
Heisman pick
Winner: DJ Lagway, quarterback, Florida
Breakdown: While he had some issues staying healthy as a freshman last year, Lagway showed that he might be the most physically talented QB in the nation. While the Gators face a brutal schedule that may ultimately limit their win-loss record, it should provide Lagway with a big stage every week to impress voters if he can lead his team to an upset or two.
12-team CFP
Big Ten champ: Ohio State
SEC champ: Texas
Big 12 champ: Iowa State
ACC champ: Clemson
Group of Five bid: James Madison
Seven at-large teams: Penn State, Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, Kansas State, LSU
Darkhorse playoff contender: Oklahoma
National championship game and winner: Clemson over Alabama
Breakdown: After a regular season in which the only undefeated team is from the Sun Belt, and the Power 4 beat the life out of one another, two of the deepest teams along the line of scrimmage ultimately outlast everyone else. Dabo completes his return from the wilderness with a stunning CFP run that includes a dominant win over Georgia in the Orange Bowl, a last-second comeback to beat the Buckeyes in the Peach, and a high-scoring shootout against his alma mater to take him another title.
Ramzy Nasrallah
Heisman pick
Winner: Cade Klubnik, quarterback, Clemson
Breakdown: It sets up perfectly for him. Opener against LSU at home with the deepest and most experienced roster they’ve had there in awhile. Schedule is full of fake good teams Clemson should obliterate, like Georgia Tech, Syracuse, SMU, Duke, Louisville and Florida State before they finish with his closing argument, South Carolina.
12-team CFP
Big Ten champ: Ohio State
SEC champ: Florida
Big 12 champ: Arizona State
ACC champ: Clemson
Group of Five bid: Tulane
Seven at-large teams: Penn State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, Kansas State
Darkhorse playoff contender: Indiana
National championship game and winner: Ohio State over Penn State for a third time in a Frames Janklin trifecta
Breakdown: Buckeyes will also face Texas twice. A chalky, largely unsurprising season dominated by #brands.
Garrick Hodge
Heisman pick
Winner: Garrett Nussmeier, quarterback, LSU
Breakdown: LSU has the perfect storm of being awful on defense and having weapons everywhere, so the TIGAHS are going to be throwing, a lot. We just had two non-quarterbacks finish in the top-two in Heisman voting a season ago, so I expect a course correction this year.
12-team CFP
Big Ten champ: Ohio State
SEC champ: Alabama
Big 12 champ: Arizona State
ACC champ: Clemson
Group of Five bid: Boise State
Seven at-large teams: Notre Dame, Georgia, LSU, Penn State, Texas, Oregon, Miami
Darkhorse playoff contender: Georgia Tech
National championship game and winner: Texas over Penn State
Breakdown: For what it's worth, I think Ohio State is going to beat Texas in the season opener, but the Longhorns are going to be a team that is much better at the end of the season than at the beginning. There's no reason to think Ohio State can't get better as the season goes on, too, but I just need to see how the defensive line unfolds before I project the Buckeyes to repeat. As for Penn State, it's now and never for Big Game James, and while I understand the Ohio State fan fatigue of seeing so much success projected for the Nittany Lions when they've always faltered in big spots, if they can't get to a title game this year, no one is ever going to pick them again.
