JD Pickell Reveals Surprising College Football Playoff Picks

Would Notre Dame fans be OK with the Irish being one-and-done in the CFP?

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

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.

Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions running back Nicholas Singleton (10) runs the ball in for a touchdown in the second half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. | 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:

Dec 31, 2024; Houston, TX, USA; LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly celebrates after defeating the Baylor Bears in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl in the second half at NRG Stadium. | 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.