"Old geezer" - Paul Finebaum doubles down on his Arch Manning fandom while dropping prediction for Texas vs Ohio State blockbuster

The Arch Manning era in Texas will officially begin with a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Week 1 of the 2025 college football season. The Steve Sarkisian-coached Longhorns will face off against Ryan Day's Ohio State Buckeyes in a rematch of last year's college football semifinal.

Veteran college football analyst Paul Finebaum is putting all his chips on Manning and the Longhorns picking up the win. On Friday's episode of "Get Up," Finebaum gave his two cents on the clash of college football titans.

"I am as married to Arch Manning as an old geezer like me can be to a young, great college quarterback, but I like everything about him and I think you said something," Finebaum said. "The Manning name matters, but it isn’t going to matter that field in a couple of weeks at Ohio State.

"The experience of being an understudy to (Quinn) Ewers and understanding Sark’s system is what’s going to get them over the top and probably — well, not probably — but definitely beat Ohio State in the opener.”

The Buckeyes and the Longhorns are stacked with NFL-bound talent going into the 2025 season. They both have young and exciting quarterbacks ready to take the stage in Week 1.

The Longhorns are set to have Heisman Trophy favorite Arch Manning at center while the Buckeyes will likely start Julian Sayin in the crunch matchup. The game will be a great chance for either team to lay down a marker for the rest of the campaign.

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The Buckeyes and Arch Manning's Longhorns are the joint favorites for the national championship

According to BET MGM, the Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes have equal odds to win the 2025 national championship. Both teams will start the season with +500 odds.

Texas had a solid 2024 campaign with Quinn Ewers at quarterback and Manning mostly watching from the sidelines. They lost just two games in the regular season, both against Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs. However, their national championship hopes were ended by the Buckeyes in a two-score College Football Playoff semifinal defeat.

Ohio State had a sensational 2024 campaign with Will Howard at quarterback. They lost just two games on their way to the CFP: against the Oregon Ducks and their archrivals, the Michigan Wolverines. However, no team could stop them on their way to the national title, crowned by a win against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the final game.