There was no drama for the CFP selection committee after Saturday’s conference title games, which announced its choices on Sunday after deliberating throughout the weekend in Grapevine, Texas. But just this once, it feels appropriate.
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The final-four concept is working so far.
College football is what Alabama is all about, a pride and tradition that goes back to the 1960s when the state needed something to feel good about, and Paul “Bear” Bryant delivered.
When Oklahoma and Clemson met last December in the Russell Athletic Bowl, Oklahoma did not have a completely healthy Sterling Shepard and they did not have Mayfield, who perhaps has made the single biggest difference in the Sooners’ turnaround this season.
The college football playoffs show begins at noon on ESPN. With Stoudt graduated and Watson healed, Clemson went 13-0 this season.
Coach Bob Stoops says this team might be the best he’s had in 17 seasons at Oklahoma in terms of practice habits and collective desire to improve. Venables coached one of the nation’s best defenses in 2014, but with players like Vic Beasley, Grady Jarrett and Stephone Anthony headed to the National Football League, it seemed the defense would take a huge step back.
-DE Shaq Lawson is Clemson’s defensive mainstay this season, coupling with Kevin Dodd to give the Tigers a pair of formidable ends.
Meanwhile, that humiliating beating crystallized a decision Oklahoma coach Stoops had been mulling. That was sufficient. When pressed in Saturday night’s ACC title game against North Carolina, however, the Heisman Trophy candidate cranked it up to 42 pass attempts with three touchdown passes and two scoring runs. So, he chose to fire co-coordinators Josh Heupel and Jay Norvell and hire Lincoln Riley from East Carolina. Cougars coach Mike Leach won’t let Christmas in El Paso be boring either. Come to find out, an excellent quarterback turned up strolling around campus in the winter, having transferred from Texas Tech.
“I promise you we will need to be at our best”, Dantonio said. Center Ty Darlington, an Apopka, Fla., native who got whipped basically in his hometown, set the 40-6 score as the background on his phone this past summer.
USC has a Rose Bowl matchup, too, against Wisconsin in the Holiday Bowl. Michigan State is seeking its first national title since 1966. No, because I don’t think there was a reaction in Tuscaloosa, while Clemson threw a big pizza party, and there was general happiness on the Oklahoma and Michigan State campuses. When Saban left for LSU, Dantonio stayed on under current UA tight ends/specials teams coach Bobby Williams.
Dantonio wouldn’t have any fun reviewing film of his only previous game against the head coach he worked for from 1995-1999 at Michigan State, Saban. Meanwhile, Shillique Calhoun, Malik McDowell and the rest of Michigan’s State’s defensive line pressure the quarterback as well as Alabama’s nine-deep stable of hand-in-the-dirt monsters. Henry has carried at least 38 times in three of Alabama’s last five games, and because Michigan State should be able to pressure Tide quarterback Jake Coker, it’s likely Henry will have to carry the load again in the Cotton Bowl. The winners will meet for the College Football Playoff National Championship at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday, January 11, at Glendale, Arizona.
Down the stretch, Watson’s running became an even bigger part of Clemson’s offense.
But Ohio State didn’t make it into the bracket this season, for which I imagine Saban and Alabama partisans are vastly grateful. The progressives and the purists will get a chance to hash things out on the field for all the marbles, which is definitely going to be fun. “They beat last week’s No. 4 team in the nation”.
“As chair, I instruct the committee members prior to that portion of the meeting, we’re to rank the top four teams, the best four teams, in ranked order, and we do not have any discussion about those pairings and where they would end up playing at that point in time”, Long said. How many miracles do they have?
But we can’t have everything we want.
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Would bringing in an additional four teams into the College Football Playoff mix drastically alter the new era of Division I College Football?
