ESPN’s College GameDay opened its 2026 road season with a national title forecast that left preseason No. 1 Ohio State completely out of the picture.
Ahead of Saturday’s LSU-Clemson matchup, the panel was asked to name its College Football Playoff championship game, and the picks were spread across four different teams. Desmond Howard went with Texas over Notre Dame.
Nick Saban chose Miami over Texas. Pat McAfee picked Indiana over Ole Miss.
Kirk Herbstreit took Notre Dame over Indiana.
That meant no one on the desk selected Ohio State to reach the final.
Saban was the only regular panelist to put Miami in the championship game, and the only one to have the Hurricanes winning it. He kept it simple when explaining the choice: "The number of good teams that we talked about today, there's no magic in terms of who you pick and it's just your best guess, but I'm saying Miami versus Texas and Miami wins."
The pick fits a familiar pattern with Miami. Saban has already been high on the Hurricanes, saying last year that they deserved a spot in the CFP.
And Mario Cristobal, a former Saban assistant, is no stranger to the pressure that comes with being talked about this way. Still, the more attention Miami gets, the more the margin for error shrinks.
Most of the panel was also in on Miami as an ACC favorite. Howard, Saban, Herbstreit and Wilson all picked the Hurricanes to win the conference, while McAfee went with North Carolina.
Ohio State’s omission stood out all the more because the Buckeyes entered the weekend as the AP No. 1 team. Even so, none of Howard, Saban, McAfee or Herbstreit tabbed them for the title game. Saban did pick Ohio State to win the Big Ten, while Howard and Wilson went with Oregon, and McAfee and Herbstreit chose Indiana.
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The Seminoles had battled all the way back into position, tying things at 24-24 on Ashton Daniels 39-yard touchdown pass to Samuel Singleton Jr. before the games later decisive sequence. After all the swings that had come before it, Florida State was still right there with an upset chance, which made the finish sting all the more for a team that had already weathered a strange start and plenty of momentum changes. [Read more 🡒]