No. 9 Alabama vs No. 8 Oklahoma | College Football Playoff | First Round Preview & Prediction

Ty Simpson, Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide face John Mateer, Brent Venables in a regular season rematch. This first round college football playoff game, kicks off the 2025 CFP and will do so emphatically with two blue bloods throwing down.

The R Mason Thomas injury may keep one of the best defensive players in college football on the sideline, meanwhile LT Overton, who missed the SEC Championship is a crucial part of the Tide’s defense, they’ll need him on the field Friday Night. Isaiah Sategna has been the most electric player on OU’s offense and he must be limited by the Bama secondary, guys like Keon Sabb and Domani Jackson need to have a sound day in coverage behind the two great linebackers Justin Jefferson and Deontae Lawson.

Oklahoma has Kip Lewis another great defender, there is no surplus in this game & the winner who will move onto the Quarterfinals to play Indiana in the Rose Bowl will showcase another great defensive matchup, along with the top of the bracket where you could see a top 10 Oregon or Texas Tech defense.

Ryan Williams has not been reliable this season, if he can shift into a gear like he had in him as a freshman the Alabama offense can have Ty Simpson looking the way he did when he was a Heisman contender. Germie Bernard and Isaiah Horton are also huge threats but the Josh Cuevas injury may keep their really good tight end off the field.

The running game will likely be limited but crucial in this game, the Jam Miller injury still looms but the Sooners will almost have to rely on 15-20 carries from Mateer, as not only Blaylock can be enough to move the ball down the field, after all Alabama out-gained Oklahoma by almost 200 yards in the first matchup. 2 Blue Bloods battling on-campus under the lights in Norman, this will be special.