Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman reacts after losing against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the CFP National Championship college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Brett Davis-Imagn Images

JD Pickell Reveals Surprising College Football Playoff Picks

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By Nick Shepkowski | Last updated Jul 30, 2025 9:38 AM ET

College football teams all over the country are reporting for camp this week as we're a month from the 2025 season beginning. With that, more predictions for the year will come out and today we take a look at a rather unique one that's been freshly released.

JD Pickell of On3 released his preseason College Football Playoff projection on Tuesday evening and may leave Notre Dame fans rather disappointed.

Pickell gave Notre Dame the No. 11 seed overall and has the Fighting Irish losing at No. 6 Penn State in the first round of the College Football Playoff. He then has Penn State losing in the next round.

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

JD Pickell's Full College Football Playoff Projection

First Round:

Byes:
1. LSU
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Texas

9. Alabama over 8. Georgia
5. Oregon over 12. James Madison
10. Baylor over 7. Texas A&M
6. Penn State over 11. Notre Dame

Quarterfinals:

1. LSU over 9. Alabama
5. Oregon over 4. Texas
2. Ohio State over 10. Baylor
3. Clemson over 6. Penn State

Semifinals:

1. LSU over 5. Oregon
2. Ohio State over 3. Clemson

National Championship Game:

Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

1. LSU over 2. Ohio State

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaways:

Brian Kelly and LSU to win it all is certainly a choice, seeing as it'd have to win three-straight huge games to do it, but the talent level should be near any nationally. That's not what catches my attention in this one, though.

Instead, it's the five SEC teams that make the dance. One shy of half the field is SEC teams. Please save me from a fifth-place Alabama team making the field this and every year.

Also, it's tough to look at Notre Dame's season as being a success based solely on how long the postseason run goes, based solely on luck of the draw, but a first-round exit would certainly be disappointing.

This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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