“This year I think they’ve got a little more focus and, of course, they’ve got the iron man in the backfield”, said Jerry Arnold. “We’re going to have to handle that”. “Durron and I were just excited”.
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Oklahoma was No. 3 last week after it finished its regular season as the Big 12 champion, but Michigan State’s Big Ten championship game victory over previously unbeaten Iowa pushed the Spartans past the Sooners in the end. “It has been a fun season for us, and it’s great to be able to go pole to pole as the No. 1 team”.
But maybe Neal and Shepard knew something instead of feeling slighted.
Alabama and Michigan State are different teams schematically, but similar in identity thanks, in part, to building blocks put in place by Nick Saban two decades ago.
But no team has been to the Orange Bowl more than Oklahoma.
“I do believe at some point it’s going to be an eight-team playoff”, he said.
After the semifinal matchups were announced, ESPN had CFP committee chairman Jeff Long on to try to explain how MSU jumped idle Oklahoma in the final rankings. The Crimson Tide prevailed in their most recent trip, topping Texas Tech 13-10 after the 2005 season, and they will continue their 2015 season at the same AT&T Stadium that hosted their 35-17 opening win over Wisconsin. A big difference from last season, when the committee had to choose from Ohio State, Baylor and TCU, and ticked off the Big 12 by jumping the Buckeyes past the Bears and Frogs in the final rankings.
Still, Oklahoma is in, but can they duplicate Ohio State’s playoff run? “You could see Alabama being No. 1 or whatever”.
“Oregon is a team that if they hadn’t had all their injuries would’ve been a Top-4 team”, TCU coach Gary Patterson said.
Saban said the challenge there are both physical and emotional challenges when keeping players focused with such a long break between games.
What if Michigan State didn’t return a fumbled punt snap for a game-winning touchdown on the final play against Michigan?
“What a great opportunity for our young men who have worked so hard over the last 11 months”, Gundy said. As the season goes on, weekly ratings of the top four teams are released to the public.
And now the Tigers are two wins away from becoming the first 15-0 team in FBS history – not to mention national champions as well.
The Sooners are favored over the No. 1 Tigers despite the result of their last meeting. Clemson annihilated Oklahoma in last year’s Russell Athletic Bowl 40-6.
“No matter what the score is, no matter what the circumstance is, we’re going to go out there and play, and if we’ve got to go 22 plays, we’re going to go 22”.
Saban hopes last year’s experience serves as motivation and a lesson learned this time around. “It was very embarrassing and it hurt”.
It is the second straight season the Crimson Tide made the CFP. Smart has been hired to replace Mark Richt at Georgia.
A 41-year-old Iowa native, Ash spent the past two years forging one of the nation’s best defenses at Ohio State.
However, he’ll need to use some time for recruiting and building a coaching staff in what figures to be a balancing act over the next month or so.
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“Our culture started in 2007 when we came here”, Dantonio said about what he’s built in East Lansing. I think you’ve got to keep putting quality football teams in a position where it gets talked about, and you know, hopefully there continues to be an appetite for college football at a deeper level.
