The hosts on "The Next Round Podcast" asked Fox college football analyst Joel Klatt, "If I told you one team this weekend will play for the national championship, who would it be?"
Klatt thought a long moment, just shy of an awkward silence in the podcast world, and said, "There isn't one." Meaning that in his 24/7, 365 view of college football, Alabama, Oklahoma, Tulane, Ole Miss, Miami, Texas A&M, James Madison and Oregon weren't making it past the semis. Klatt looked at the field and saw chalk.
He wore a Rose Bowl hat as he said it. "The closest one is Oregon," he said.
"It's the only team outside of the first-round byes that I think has a remote chance to make it to the national championship." A bold statement, realizing he was talking to three guys from Alabama.
"That game against Texas Tech should be an incredible game, because I think those are two really evenly matched teams."
Can any of the teams playing in the first round of the College Football Playoff reach the national championship game?@joelklatt says no.#CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/OUmfHWcnkO
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) December 15, 2025
These top four seeds-- and Oregon-- those are the five best teams in the country pretty easily."
Klatt's network isn't doing any of the playoff games. Those belong to ESPN and ABC, with a few farmed out to TNT and its partners, though the broadcasts will still be a Disney production. Oregon hosts James Madison on Saturday, 4:30 p.m. PT on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max at Autzen Stadium, where evening temperature will be 39 degrees with a 25 percent chance of rain.
As a guest on a Birmingham sports station, Klatt gives the Tide no chance
The hosts of the next round are Jim Dunaway, Ryan Brown, and Lance Taylor from WJOX sports talk radio in Birmingham. Klatt's frank answers might have shocked them a little, considering the Crimson Tide is entering the playoff in search of their seventh national championship since 2009, what would be the first in the post-Saban era.
Kalen DeBoer and Bama are working on a contract extension, which may hinge on the outcome of their rematch with the Sooners. In November they lost to OU in Tuscaloosa, 23-21.
In the clip didn't say when Klatt felt Oregon would falter, but on the "Joel Klatt Show" he's likely to elaborate, either in a close game at the Orange Bowl or a rematch with Indiana at the Peach Bowl on January 9.
What constitutes success for Oregon in these playoffs? At FanDuel Tuesday morning they are +800 to win the national championship, the fourth-best odds behind Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia, Texas Tech is next at +850, Texas A&M a distant sixth, +1900. The rest of the field is at long odds.
Odds to win 2025 National Championship, FanDuel
Ohio State +190
Indiana +320
Georgia +600
Oregon +800
Texas Tech +850
Texas A&M +1900
Ole Miss +2200
Alabama +2500
Miami Florida +2500
Oklahoma +5000
Tulane +75000
James Madison +7500