Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt released his way-too-early top 10 rankings for 2025. Georgia makes his top five
Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt released his way-too-early top 10 for the 2025 season after Ohio State won the national championship.
Interestingly enough, Ohio State wasn’t the top team in his rankings. The Buckeyes weren’t even the best Big Ten team on his list. They were ranked 3rd.
Instead, Klatt ranks the Penn State Nittany Lions at the No. 1 spot. He cited the returning starters, like quarterback Drew Allar and the running back duo of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allan, as his reasoning.
Georgia ends up at the No. 4 spot in Klatt’s rankings, sitting two spots behind the best SEC team in the rankings, No. 2 Texas. With No. 9 LSU on the list, Klatt included three teams in the SEC.
That’s less than the amount of Big Ten teams included on the list. Penn State, Ohio State, No. 5 Oregon, and No. 10 Michigan are the four Big Ten teams Klatt has ranked in the top 1.
To round out the list, he put two ACC teams (Clemson and Miami) and Notre Dame. No Big 12 teams made Klatt’s rankings.
Joel Klatt’s top team ahead of the 2025 season might surprise Penn State fans.
Despite a College Football Playoff run capped with a semifinal appearance, Penn State fans might be surprised where Fox college football analyst Joel Klatt put the Nittany Lions in his way-too-early 2025 rankings.
Klatt released his top 10 rankings, with Penn State as his No. 1 team ahead of the 2025 season. Even with Drew Allar, Nicholas Singleton, and Kaytron Allen returning, Penn State is losing some defensive players, including Abdul Carter, to the NFL, and the wide receiver room is still a question mark.
Penn State definitely deserves a spot in the top 10, but it is surprising that PSU is Klatt’s No. 1 team. Texas, Ohio State, Georgia and Oregon round out the top five. Are teams like the Longhorns, Buckeyes and Bulldogs actually in a worse position than Penn State entering 2025?
It will be interesting to see how other traditional powers, especially national champions Ohio State, rebuild this offseason and if they can push to knock the Nittany Lions off the top spot.
Whether you agree with Klatt’s rankings or not, Penn State will enter the 2025 season with high expectations. If the various way-too-early rankings are any indication, people expect the Nittany Lions to be a legit title contender next year.
The Oregon Ducks rank as one of the top teams in the nation going into the 2025 season, according to Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt.
The Oregon Ducks started the 2024 season ranked as one of the best teams in the nation. They were expected to compete for a national championship and make it to the first 12-team College Football Playoff in the sport’s history.
They did just that, finishing the year as the No. 3 ranked team after earning the No. 1 seed in the playoff but losing to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
While they lose a ton of valuable players this offseason, with the likes of Dillon Gabriel, Tez Johnson, Jordan James, Jordan Burch, Jeffrey Bassa, and Jabbar Muhammad, among others, going off to the NFL, Oregon is expected to be right back in the mix once again next year. That’s thanks to elite recruiting, excellent coaching, and a program that has been moving up over the last several years under head coach Dan Lanning.
As the offseason gets rolling and media members start projecting next year’s schedule, we’ve seen many preseason rankings drop. As we do every year, we like to consult the opinions of trusted industry professionals to get a sense of where they see the Ducks going.
One of those industry professionals is Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt. Here’s where he pegs Oregon to open up the 2025 season in the rankings:
Those rankings are pretty hard to get upset with. While Duck fans may think they should be higher, it’s hard to argue against the fact that they will have a new starting quarterback in 2025, redshirt freshman Dante Moore, and a ton of new pieces on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
Over the past few years, Oregon has recruited as well as just about anyone in the nation, so the depth chart is stocked with blue-chip talent, and some of the best transfers in the nation are coming to Eugene to win a championship. This past offseason, we’ve seen the Ducks sign the No. 1 safety transfer Dillon Thieneman, No. 1 running back Makhi Hughes, No. 1 offensive tackle Isaiah World, and No. 1 offensive guard, Emmanuel Pregnon.
Those pieces, mixed with the home-grown talent in Eugene, certainly project to be pretty elite in 2025. Add that to a very favorable schedule, and there is little reason to believe that the Ducks can’t once again be in the playoffs with a great shot at a championship once again next season.
It was a season where the Irish showed to everyone across the country that they weren’t a fluke and played for a title because of how great the team was. There was a big college football analyst that Notre Dame impressed along the way, Fox Sports [autotag]Joel Klatt[/autotag].
Recently on his podcast, “The Joel Klatt Show,” he discussed what the future holds for the Irish, and he believes that it looks pretty good. Klatt mentioned that head coach Marcus Freeman has “elevated them to an elite program.”
He didn’t stop there, say that what they have already, and what they have coming in, “Notre Dame could absolutely win a national championship,” Klatt exclaimed.
It’s hard to argue with his assessment, as I thought that they were on the verge of one this year, they just happen to face the only team in the CFP they didn’t match up well with. The time is coming for Notre Dame and Freeman to break the championship drought that has lasted since the 1988 season.
Dec 4, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt during the Michigan Wolverines game against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Conference championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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Fox Sports college football expert Joel Klatt predicts the national championship between Ohio State and Notre Dame
Fox Sports college football expert Joel Klatt predicted who he thinks will win the national championship between Ohio State and Notre Dame. Klatt made his national title game prediction on “The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast”.
“Overall folks, I think this matchup lies in the Buckeyes’ hands. They’re the better team, they’re the better roster. They’re the better defense, they’re the better offense and the only avenue for Notre Dame to win is if they can take Ryan Day and they can take these Buckeyes and they can somehow bait them in to the type of game that they played against Nebraska and Michigan and in some ways Texas,” said Klatt.
Klatt thinks that Notre Dame’s offense will struggle to score against Ohio State’s defense. Klatt does not envision Notre Dame scoring much on Ohio State and thinks the Buckeyes’ high-powered offense could blow the championship wide open in the first half. Klatt doesn’t think that Notre Dame to score more than 20 points.
Klatt predicts that Ohio State will win the national championship 35-17 and cover the spread.
Here’s Klatt’s full national championship game preview on YouTube.
Why the SEC remains the top conference in college football despite a few recent struggles in 2023 and 2024
Following Georgia’s Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame, many college football experts are claiming that the SEC is no longer the best conference in the nation.
“The SEC is a great conference…the narrative that they are CLEARLY the best and deserve every benefit of the doubt needs to die,” said Fox Sports college football expert Joel Klatt via social media after the Sugar Bowl.
We have to disagree with this point. Yes, the SEC is in the middle of a couple of down years. Last season, the national championship did not feature a single SEC team for the first time since 2014.
“Is the SEC run over? It is,” said former Ohio State and Florida coach Urban Meyer recently. “The Big Ten has passed them (the SEC) for 2023 and 2024.”
Meyer’s argument is more valid. The Big Ten appears to have the national championship winner in two straight seasons.
This year, we would be surprised if Ohio State does not beat Texas to advance to (and win) the national title and eliminate the final remaining SEC team. Ohio State looks like the best time in the country.
Despite a few recent hiccups, the SEC is still the top conference in college football and it isn’t close.
So why is the SEC still easily the best conference in the country?
Most NFL draft picks
Detroit Free Press
The SEC has had the most players selected in the NFL draft for 18 straight seasons and that’s not going to change in the 2025 NFL draft. NFL teams are looking for the best players and if general managers miss on their draft picks, then they are often fired.
The NFL trusts SEC players more than those from any other conference. If the SEC were close to other conferences, then it would not have an 18 year NFL draft streak.
Most recent national championships
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The SEC has won six of the 10 national championships during the College Football Playoff era. The Big Ten and ACC (two national titles each) are the only other conferences to win during this span.
Overall, the SEC has won 14 of the last 19 national championships. During that time frame, the ACC has won three national championships, the Big Ten has won two titles, and the Big 12 and Pac-10 combined for zero titles. The national championships discussion isn’t close either.
Best recruiting
Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images
The SEC brings in the most talent of any conference. In fact, the SEC signed eight of the top 11 recruiting classes in the nation in the 2025 cycle.
An SEC has signed the top recruiting class for 17 straight years according to 247Sports. Miami (2008) was the last non-SEC school to sign a No. 1 class (we had to go to ESPN because 247Sports’ database did not go that far back). Again, if it were close, then an SEC team would not secure the best recruiting class every year.
When the SEC falters in recruiting, the NFL draft race, and the national championship race, then it may be time to consider the Big Ten as keeping up with the SEC, but until then I’m not buying that the Big Ten has surpassed the SEC.
Joel Klatt makes straightforward projection for Texas vs Arizona State.
FOX College Football analyst Joel Klatt discussed the remaining College Football Playoff games, including the Peach Bowl scheduled for January 1st, on his show “The Joel Klatt Show” on Monday.
Klatt was straightforward about the Peach Bowl matchup. He predicts that Arizona State will face challenges against “one of the best pass defenses in college football.” He believes that the Texas defensive will employ box style to slow down the Sun Devils running back Cam Skattebo. He points out that he thinks Arizona State could hold a lead at halftime, but has Texas overcoming and winning by a ten point margin, 31-21.
“While ASU might even have the lead at halftime, I think Texas pulls away in the second half…,” Klatt added. “I like Texas winning this game 31-21.”
Kickoff for the Peach Bowl is scheduled for 12pm on ESPN.
Joel Klatt gives his prediction for the Sugar Bowl between UGA and Notre Dame
The Georgia Bulldogs are set to play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day. Before the matchup, Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt gave his prediction on how the game will go via his podcast on YouTube.
Here is everything Joel Klatt had to say on the Sugar Bowl
On a way Georgia can win the game:
“Which Georgia do we get? I think that answer is very dependent on their defensive line,” said Klatt. “There are some games where their defensive line is totally dominant, and if that shows up, then they can win this game.”
On how teams take advantage of the Bulldogs run defense:
“I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that with Milroe and Haynes King (against Alabama and Georgia Tech), the quarterbacks can run, so the mobility of the quarterback became a real issue for Georgia.”
On the Georgia offense:
“This Georgia offense is just ok. Georgia was 15th out of 16 (SEC) teams in rushing this year, and they’re starting their backup quarterback. You can’t trust in the (Georgia) running game. It was very clear with all the hoopla in the second half (of the SEC championship) with Gunner Stockton that they were very scared to throw the ball.”
Georgia still moved the ball effectively in the second half against Texas with Stockton at quarterback.
On Notre Dame’s defense:
“Notre Dame is very good defensively. They’ve got the third best pass defenses in the country. Notre Dame is too good defensively. They’re very similar to Texas. They force a lot of turnovers, they’re exciting to watch defensively. Marcus Freeman has this team totally changed. This is a better defense than any of the defenses that Brian Kelly had.”
On Notre Dame’s offense:
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
“Now, they’ve got an offense that can lean on the run game and, namely, a quarterback that can run the football as well. I love Jeremiyah Love too, and you incorporate that with Riley Leonard’s ability to run the football, and I think Georgia could be in trouble.”
On why Notre Dame wins the Sugar Bowl:
“You’re going to face a Notre Dame team that is built to give Georgia’s defense problems. Yes, Georgia’s in trouble. I think Notre Dame can absolutely win this game.”
He predicted the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to win 24-17, even with Georgia being a 1.5 point favorite.
Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin learned the hard way on Saturday about how being a bad sport can rub people the wrong way.
Kiffin has been complaining on social media this weekend about how the College Football Playoff first-round blowouts were proof his team should have gotten in over the ones who did and struggled.
Well, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt wasn’t having any of Kiffin’s snarky posts.
“Way to keep us on the edge of our seats Committee …. Riveting” was the sarcastic quip Kiffin shared for Saturday’s lopsided SMU-Penn State game, and Klatt fired back with a devastating retort.
“If your team played half as well as you tweet you would likely be in,” Klatt sent back to Kiffin in a post of his own.
Yowza. If you are Kiffin, you might want to log off a bit after Klatt completely shut him down for being such a jerk.
If your team played half as well as you tweet you would likely be in https://t.co/tgpIFpxo8I
Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt shared his thoughts on Clemson’s matchup against Texas in the first round of the College Football Playoff, predicting a victory for the Longhorns but not by a wide margin.
Klatt foresees a 27-17 win for Texas, believing the Longhorns’ defense will be the deciding factor. However, he expects Clemson to keep it close enough to cover the 12-point spread.
“I like Texas to win this game. Texas, I think, is going to get close to 30 points. I think they score 27. Clemson does not score 20 points. I think they score 17,” Klatt said. “Thus, I actually think covering the (12 points) is the way I’m going to go with Clemson. I think I’m going to take the points with Clemson, just because of this offense and the lack of production from Texas down the back half of the year.”
While he praised Texas’ defense, Klatt noted that their offensive production has dipped late in the season. Despite that, he is confident in the Longhorns’ ability to advance. “27-17, Texas wins this game, and I’m taking the points for Clemson,” Klatt concluded.
Kickoff between Clemson and Texas is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday.
