ESPN's College GameDay panel was split four ways on the national championship game and left preseason No. 1 Ohio State out of the final match entirely.
The first show on the road of the 2026 season, staged on Saturday ahead of LSU-Clemson, asked the desk for a College Football Playoff championship pick.
🚨 COLLEGE GAMEDAY NATIONAL TITLE PICKS 🚨
— The Buckeye Nut (@TheBuckeyeNut) September 5, 2026
🏆 Desmond Howard — Texas over Notre Dame
🏆 Nick Saban — Miami over Texas
🏆 Pat McAfee — Indiana over Ole Miss
🏆 Kirk Herbstreit — Notre Dame over Indiana
Not a single one picked Ohio State. 👀🌰 pic.twitter.com/VAo2zLBXq5
College GameDay crews' national championship picks
- Desmond Howard: Texas over Notre Dame
- Nick Saban: Miami over Texas
- Pat McAfee: Indiana over Ole Miss
- Kirk Herbstreit: Notre Dame over Indiana
- Guest picker Lainey Wilson, on her home turf in Baton Rouge, went LSU over Miami
Saban was the only regular panelist to put Miami in the final, and the only one to pick the Hurricanes to win it. Sounds like a little rat poison being thrown out there.
"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."Nick Saban
On one hand, the acknowledgement of being one of the top teams in the nation is nice to hear. But with everybody singing the praises of Miami, things can get interesting really quick if the Canes fall asleep at the wheel.
Mario Cristobal is a former Saban assistant, so he knows how to handle the expectations that will be on this year's squad. Even last year, Saban was hyping up Miami saying they deserved to be in the CFP. So this isn't anything too out of left field from him, but Miami must make sure they keep their focus in the right area.
Most of the desk picked Miami to win the ACC. Howard, Saban, Herbstreit and Wilson all took the Hurricanes to win the conference, while McAfee went with North Carolina.
The Ohio State snub deserves a mention
Ohio State entered the weekend as the AP No. 1 team and still did not draw a single title-game nod from Howard, Saban, McAfee or Herbstreit.
Saban picked the Buckeyes to win the Big Ten, while Howard and Wilson took Oregon, and McAfee and Herbstreit went with Indiana.
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