Week 1 of the 2025 college football season is finally here. Week 0 action was a good appetizer, but now it’s time for the real colossal matchups to begin.

The Texas Longhorns and defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes kick their seasons off with a bang this week as two of the top three favorites to win it all in 2025 battle it out in Columbus.

Steve Sarkisian and his new starting quarterback Arch Manning could make a major statement with a victory in Ohio State’s house, but their revamped offensive line and interior defensive line are both going to have to prove they’re ready to beat the best if the Longhorns want to win.

Ryan Day and Ohio State are trotting a new quarterback with even less experience than Arch Manning. The former five star QB recruit Julian Sayin does have a couple future first round wide receivers to throw to in Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, but Ohio State will be plugging in new starters across the majority of the rest of their roster.

Heading into this epic Week 1 bout between blue bloods, media members of A to Z Sports who cover both teams decided to weigh in, sharing their predictions for this incredible game. Who will win? The picks are in. Enjoy!

Texas 26, Ohio State 23

Both Texas and Ohio State have absolutely stacked rosters once again in 2025. The Buckeyes have the best wide receivers in the country with Jeremiah Smith coming off the greatest true freshman receiving season al all time and Carnell Tate set to explode in year three. Texas returns a ton of elite talent on defense and Arch Manning as their quarterback. This should be a close game throughout.

The entire result will likely depend on how well Julian Sayin plays in his first start for Ohio State. Yes, he’ll have great weapons to throw to, but even some of Ohio State’s best future first round QBs struggled in early action. Sayin is a wildly talented five star passer and will do enough to move the ball down the field, but I predict they’ll fail to punch it in for touchdowns, settling for a few too many field goals. Some may believe Manning is in virtually the same spot as Sayin, but he isn’t. Although Manning only logged two starts last season for Texas he played more than 230 snaps. He’s hardly “inexperienced” here. Longhorns win a close one 26-23. – Travis May, College Football & NFL Draft Managing Editor

Texas 27, Ohio State 24

It doesn’t get much bigger than this Week 1 matchup, which already feels like a potential College Football Playoff preview. Arch Manning begins his full-time starter era at Texas with a massive road test in front of more than 100,000 fans in Columbus. On the other side, Ohio State kicks off the Julian Sayin era at quarterback. While the Buckeyes lost plenty from last year’s roster, they may return the two best players in college football with Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs.

One of those is Jeremiah Smith, who was held to just one catch for three yards the last time he faced Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Expect Ohio State to feed him early and often this time, with the star receiver set to play a major role in the opener. Beyond Smith, however, there are some concerns with Ohio State in Week 1. The Buckeyes are breaking in not only a new quarterback but also a revamped running game. On defense, they’re replacing their entire starting defensive line along with several other key contributors. This game has the makings of a back-and-forth battle, but I see Texas holding on by a field goal—just enough to add fuel to the hype around Manning. – Brandon Little, Ohio State Beat Writer

Ohio State 20, Texas 17

There’s a ton of talk about how many starters Ohio State has replaced, but the bigger concern for the Buckeyes in Week 1 is how they’ll adjust to new coordinators (replacing both Chip Kelly and Jim Knowles. The good news for Ohio State is the promotion of Brian Hartline to offensive coordinator likely means that head coach Ryan Day is more involved in play calling. If he brings the aggressiveness we saw in the College Football Playoff, the inexperience along the Buckeyes’ offense will be mitigated a bit.

Texas has the physicality and enough offensive playmaking to win this matchup, but it’s important to remember they were outclassed and out-coached in all phases against the Buckeyes in January. Even with both teams unveiling significantly different lineups, the confidence in the Longhorns essentially comes down to Arch Manning’s presence. I don’t think Arch has shown nearly enough to earn that respect when the Buckeyes had so much success against Texas’ returning defensive stars. – Ian Valentino

Texas 27, Ohio State 17

In without question the biggest matchup of Week 1, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns will travel to No. 3 Ohio State for a CFP semifinal rematch. As I do with every prediction, I start at the quarterback position. Texas has Arch Manning and Ohio State has Julian Sayin. One has at least started a college game and the other is starting his first game ever for the defending national champions.

This alone has me leaning Texas. Sure, it’s on the road, but the combination of experience (albeit a little) at quarterback, a better running back room, and possibly the best defense in college football, I think the Longhorns take care of business to kick off the college football season. Ohio State has superstar Caleb Downs on defense, but damn near the rest of the entire unit is now gone to the NFL. This is going to be a tough thing to overcome for Ryan Day and Co., and I think where things shift Texas’ way.

As long as Jeremiah Smith doesn’t go full 2022 Rose Bowl Jaxon Smith-Njigba, I think Texas has enough to outlast the Buckeyes and get a monster CFP resume win. – Zach Berry

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It looks like the A to Z Sports staff are expecting Texas to win, but perhaps by only a small margin. On average, our team predicts that the Texas Longhorns will win by a score of 24 to 21 over the Ohio State Buckeyes. The betting markets favor Ohio State by just a point. We’ll see who’s right soon enough!

We’ll be back with more College Football coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!