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David Pollack Predicts Week 1 College Football Upset

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Nate Lunak | Last updated Aug 28, 2025 3:58 PM ET

Week 1 of the 2025 college football season features three top 10 matchups, including No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State, No. 9 LSU at No. 4 Clemson and No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 10 Miami.

The Fighting Irish, who are coming off a national championship loss, are the only team on the road not listed as underdogs, with ESPN BET placing them as 2.5-point favorites.

David Pollack Predicts Winner of Notre Dame-Miami

On Thursday, just days before Notre Dame and Miami's Sunday matchup, college football analyst David Pollack revealed his pick for this highly anticipated matchup.

“I’m going Miami and I know this is a change for people to believe in Miami,” Pollack said on the "See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack" YouTube channel. “It’s a change for me to believe in Miami.”

It would be a crushing blow to Notre Dame and head coach Marcus Freeman, and be the program's first season-opening loss since falling to Ohio State in 2022.

It would also break an impressive streak of four straight regular-season wins against ranked opponents, after defeating No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 15 Louisville, No. 24 Navy and No. 19 Army last season.

Notre Dame Can Still Make the College Football Playoff After a Week 1 Loss

Fortunately for Notre Dame, though a loss to the Hurricanes wouldn't immediately mean the end of the College Football playoff dreams.

Last year, the Fighting Irish still earned the No. 7 seed in the CFP despite a demoralizing Week 2 upset against Northern Illinois, where they entered the game as 28.5-point favorites.

If Notre Dame were to fall in Week 1, but then win out the rest of the year and sport an 11-1 regular season record, they'd essentially be a lock for a College Football playoff spot.

However, that's easier said than done, considering they will still have two ranked matchups, including against No. 19 Texas A&M on Sept. 13 and No. 25 Boise State on Oct. 4.

In the event of Pollack's prediction becoming true, Notre Dame can essentially afford just one more loss the rest of the season. The only three-loss team to earn a spot last year was the Clemson Tigers, who'd won the ACC.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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