Paul Finebaum Names 2025 National Championship Contender Without Hesitation originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The 2024 college football season was filled with unpredictability, especially with the debut of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
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While the Oregon Ducks entered as the No. 1 seed and were widely viewed as the nation’s best team, it was the No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes — despite two regular season losses — who dominated their way to a national championship. The Buckeyes rolled through Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame en route to the title.
Now, as Ohio State aims to go back-to-back in 2025, ESPN personality Paul Finebaum made a bold statement Tuesday on “Get Up,” identifying one of the Buckeyes’ playoff opponents as a major threat this season.
That team? Texas — led by quarterback Arch Manning, who Finebaum believes could not only contend for a national championship but could also have Manning sitting front and center at the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
“I think there’s a reasonably good chance that Arch Manning will be sitting on the front row in New York at the Heisman ceremony — that’s assuming his team does what it’s supposed to do and competes not only for the SEC, but the national championship. And I really believe they will,” Finebaum said.
Finebaum continued, “I think Steve Sarkisian, who’s one of the most amazing play-callers I’ve ever seen, made a critical mistake late in the year. He was far too loyal to Quinn Ewers, who was banged up and really ineffective. Had Arch Manning been put in during the second half of that game, I think there’s a strong chance Texas would have beaten Ohio State and won the national championship.
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“They’re capable of doing it again this year. I also believe Arch Manning is the best college quarterback we’ve seen since Tim Tebow in 2006.”
ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum.Shanna Lockwood-Imagn Images
Arch Manning has certainly generated plenty of buzz in Austin. After spending the last two seasons behind Quinn Ewers, he’s now finally getting the keys to the program — something Longhorn fans have eagerly awaited since he committed to Texas as a five-star prospect and the top-ranked quarterback in the 2023 high school class.
Related: Arch Manning’s 2025 Heisman Trophy Odds Revealed
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
