2025 CFP National Championship Preview

As if we didn’t get enough excitement over the weekend in the NFL Divisional Round, we now switch our focus to the 2025 CFP National Championship. This year, the decider will be played in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Ohio State Buckeyes take on our 25/1 outright hopes, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It has been a tough season overall Jan Keys but he’s hoping to finish on a high note, his big match picks are below.

OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (13-2) VS NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (14-1)

Venue: Mecedes -Benz Stadium, Atlanta Georgia.

Kick Off Time (UK): 12:30am Tuesday 21st January 2025.

Vegas Line – Ohio State -8.5; Total Points 46

Jan Keys Ratings – Ohio State -4

Player Prop Lines

QB Passing Yards: Will Howard (OS) 245.5; Riley Leonard (ND) 177.5

RB Rushing Yards (Ohio): Quinshon Judkins 57.5; TreVeyon Henderson 56.5

RB Rushing Yards (Notre Dame): J Love 44.5; R Leonard 38.5; J Price 24.5

Receiving Yards (Ohio): Jeremiah Smith 80.5; Emelka Egbuka 57.5; Carnell Tate 38.5; TreVeyon Henderson 19.5; Gee Scoot Jr 14.5; Quinshon Judkins 6.5

Receiving Yards (Notre Dame): Jordan Faison 35.5; Mitchell Evans 33.5; Aneyas Williams 23.5; Jayden Greathouse 20.5; Beaux Collins 13.5; Jeremiyah Love 5.5

2025 CFP National Championship – Road To The Final

Ohio State

1st Round: Beat Tennessee 42-17 (Line: Ohio State -7)

QF: Beat Oregon 41-21 (Line: Ohio State -2.5)

SF: Beat Texas 28-14 (Line: Ohio State -6)

Notre Dame

1st Round: Beat Indiana 27-17 (Line: Notre Dame -7.5)

QF: Beat Georgia 23-10 (Line: Georgia -1.5)

SF: Beat Penn State 27-24 (Line: Notre Dame -1.5)

Match Preview

Ohio State come into the 2025 CFP National Championship with three good wins under their belt, the standout being their quarter final win over Oregon. Pre-match, I thought this was a 50-50 showdown but Ohio State won comfortably. The numbers suggest QB Will Howard will Pass for approximately 68 yards more than Riley Leonard and they have two talented wide receivers.

A fully fit Notre Dame team would probably just be favourites for this match but over the season they have lost ten players due to injury. Although Notre Dame have been plagued with injuries, they will still field a pretty strong team for the Final. Tosh Baker will come in for his first game of the season at linebacker, replacing the injured Antonie Knapp. Otherwise, it’s the same squad that beat Penn State in the Semi Finals.

Quarterback Battle

What to expect? Will Howard (Ohio State) has racked up more passing yards and he has a few talented receivers to go to. Notre Dame will need to keep Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka out of the game as much as possible.

Riley Leonard’s (Notre Dame) passing figures aren’t as good as Howard’s but Leonard is a mobile QB who can run the football and this is a plus for the Fighting Irish. When he does throw the ball he doesn’t have an outright strong receiver and he mixes it around.

Running Backs & Receivers

Over the season, Notre Dame’s running backs have the better figures with Jeremiyah Love rushing for 1122 yards and 17 TDs. He has been well supported by his QB Riley Leonard who has rushed for 866 yards and 16 Touchdowns. Ohio State rely equally on TreVoyan Henderson who has 967 yards and 10 TDs, and Quinshon Judkins who has 960 yards and 12 TDs.

Ohio State have two stand out WRs and Notre Dame have none. Jeremiah Smith (OS) has 71 catches for 1227 yards and 14 TDs, while his main partner Emeka Egbuka has 75 catches for 947 yards and 10 TDs. The Buckeyes also have Carnell Tate who has 50 catches for 698 yards and 4 TDs.

Ohio Top Rated

Ohio State have been exceptional in the playoffs and probably deserve to be the top rated team over the entire season but Notre Dame have maintained good numbers even though they have suffered injuries to ten squad players.

Both teams have players that can win games and Ohio State’s passing game is much stronger, the only issue is the 8.5 points spread. It just looks a shade too high for me. My ratings say Ohio State -4, so I’m going to back Notre Dame with the 8.5 point start.

2025 CFP National Championship Pick: NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH +8.5 POINTS @ 2.00

2025 CFP National Championship Ante-Post outright pick: 5 points Notre Dame @ 26.00

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-JanKeys