ESPN’s College GameDay opened the 2026 season with a championship forecast that left preseason No. 1 Ohio State completely out of the picture.
Ahead of LSU-Clemson on Saturday, the show asked its panel for College Football Playoff title picks, and the split was striking. Desmond Howard went with Texas over Notre Dame.
Nick Saban chose Miami over Texas. Pat McAfee picked Indiana over Ole Miss.
Kirk Herbstreit selected Notre Dame over Indiana.
That meant not one of the four regular panelists put Ohio State in the final game.
Saban’s call was the loudest of the bunch because he was the only regular on the desk to send Miami to the title game, and the only one to have the Hurricanes winning it all. As he put it: "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."
It’s the kind of pick that comes with a little extra buzz around it. Miami getting that kind of praise is one thing; handling what comes next is another. If the Hurricanes start believing the noise too much, things can go sideways fast.
Mario Cristobal, of course, has been around Saban before. The Miami coach is a former Saban assistant, so he knows the standard and the pressure that comes with it.
And this isn’t even the first time Saban has been high on Miami. Last year, he was saying the Hurricanes deserved a spot in the CFP.
Miami was also a popular choice to win the ACC on the show. Howard, Saban, Herbstreit and Wilson all picked the Hurricanes, 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. Still, none of Howard, Saban, McAfee or Herbstreit had them reaching the title game.
Saban did back Ohio State to win the Big Ten, while Howard and Wilson went with Oregon, and McAfee and Herbstreit picked Indiana.
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