Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops joined ESPN’s Mike & Mike on Monday morning, a day after learning that his Sooners would take on Clemson in the Orange Bowl on December 31 in a College Football Playoff semifinal. “When we saw Clemson vs. Oklahoma, we were ecstatic about bringing two out-of-state teams to South Florida, with their history and tradition”.
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It’s never smart to bet against a Saban-led squad, which is why the early money has been heavily placed in favor of Alabama over Michigan State.
Also, Alabama fans who buy packages with tickets to the championship game in Glendale, AZ can get refunds if Alabama doesn’t make to the championship game. A swat saved Oklahoma’s season. I love the fact that the Sooners are playing the “lack of respect card” after being bumped from third to fourth in the final CFP poll, but are still a 2 ½ point favorite over the #1 Tigers.
WHAT: Cotton Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal game).
No drama. No complaints.
Cook eventually had to make one big throw – the type of play he’s made all season but had proved elusive on this night.
In addition to bowl wins over TCU, Stanford and Baylor, Michigan State has been to three Big Ten title games and won the last two. It means that, somebody might get screwed, but in most years, nobody will get ROYALLY screwed-if four teams end up ahead of you, then you probably messed up somewhere along the way. That’s what Ohio State did in waxing Wisconsin last season and it worked. Because the Big 12 doesn’t have a conference championship game, the Sooners played one fewer game than the Hawkeyes and their loss was to Texas, which concluded its season with a losing record.
Oklahoma had five turnovers, including an interception returned 47 yards for a touchdown, and was held to 275 total yards by Clemson. The junior had at least 22 carries against each of Alabama’s remaining SEC opponents, including a whopping 90 in the last two games. – Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio. They have much more favorable game against Michigan State rather than having to play Oklahoma.
The Tigers have arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Heisman Trophy candidate Deshaun Watson. The gifted dual-threat quarterback was coming off a major knee injury. “The Cardinal’s 38-36 loss to OR on November 14 might be the only thing preventing them from reaching the playoff”. He surpassed 100 yards on the ground in four of the last five games. Unlike the Clemson-Oklahoma matchup, this game will be sure to please the defensively-inclined college football fans, as it pits the second-ranked defense of the Crimson Tide against the 26th-ranked Spartans.
Michigan State is not in the Playoff because it is a lot better than Ohio State, but because the Spartans found a way to beat the Buckeyes. Heck, I even remember muttering to myself after that last touchdown that the Spartans’ hopes for a meaningful bowl game were down the drain. “Those players there have been unbelievable, and I would not feel right if I didn’t help them finish the job that I started”. They seem to embrace adversity and delight in being the underdog. Keep in mind, however, they have only faced one team in the top-20 of total defense and that was Akron.
There was nothing complicated about what went wrong in Dallas. They missed tackles and blocks.
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Alabama, which won its second consecutive SEC championship Saturday with a 29-15 win over against Florida, finished No. 2 in the committee’s final rankings.
