During College Football Countdown on ESPN on Monday, Nick Saban mentioned LSU, Miami football and Ohio State as three teams that impressed him in Week 1. Miami survived against Notre Dame with a late field goal to earn a 27-24 win over the No. 6 ranked Fighting Irish.
College Football Countdown is the equivalent of ESPN College GameDay and served as the pregame show ahead of TCU at North Carolina in the debut of Bill Belichick as the head coach of the Tar Heels. Miami should rise in the polls that will be released on Tuesday.
ESPN College GameDay was live from Columbus on Saturday as Ohio State beat Texas 14-7. Kirk Herbstreit got on an airplane from Columbus and flew to South Carolina to call LSU at Clemson with Chris Fowler. LSU won 17-10 at Clemson.
The 2025 season was the first time with three games in the opening weekend between Top 10 teams since 2017. Texas began the season ranked first in both polls, with Ohio State third in the Associated Press Top 25 and second in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
"The good news is every team has the best opportunity to improve from Week 1 to Week 2."
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 1, 2025
Coach Saban breaks down his expectations heading into Week 2 of college football 💪 pic.twitter.com/ePhTXCIExZ
Nick Saban was quite impressed with how Miami looked vs. Notre Dame
Clemson was No. 4 in the preseason AP Top 25 and No. 6 in the AFCA Coaches Poll. LSU was No. 9 in both preseason polls. Notre Dame opened the 2025 season No. 6 in the AP Top 25 and No. 5 in the AFCA Coaches Poll. Miami was 10th in both polls to begin the preseason.
Miami received 889 points in the AP Top 25 and 823 in the AFCA Coaches Poll. LSU had 1,174 points in the AP Top 25 and 1,056 in the AFCA Coaches Poll. Alabama was No. 8 in both preseason polls. Miami will certainly rise above Alabama, who lost 31-17 at Florida State on Saturday.
Saban expects Alabama, Clemson and Texas to have really good seasons if they make the progress they are capable of. Alabama hosts LSU on Nov. 8, but does not play Texas in the 2025 regular season. LSU does not play Texas during the 2025 regular season either.
The only preseason-ranked teams on the 2025 Miami schedule are No. 16 Florida on Sept. 20 at Hard Rock Stadium and at No. 16 SMU on Nov. 1. Florida State is a near lock to be in the rankings that will be released on Tuesday after the upset win over Alabama.