Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and either Iowa or Michigan State appear to be locks for the College Football Playoff.
Advertisement
Ohio State: The Rose Bowl bid goes to the loser of the Big Ten Championship, and the Buckeyes aren’t shipped off to face Florida State or the highest-ranked group of five team. If Clemson wins, Clemson is your champion.
The same is true for Alabama, which is 11-1 and takes on Florida in the SEC championship game Saturday. This week’s rankings will be the last set released before the ones that actually matter. They’re number 18 on the committee poll. Iowa has had a dream season and hats off to the Hawkeyes. Only monumental wins could shake the prevailing wisdom.
Take, for instance, this season. Ohio State’s loss to Michigan State was only by three points in a game that Ohio State led or was tied for 59:59 of the game.
Not to worry, the semifinals of the College Football Playoff are on television. Clemson had 6 first-place votes from the AP and 2 from the Coaches.
Clemson has been ranked atop the CFP poll all along, and they figure to keep that spot if they beat North Carolina in the ACC Championship game on Saturday. Ohio State, 7. Stanford, 10.
As it stands now, the sports betting experts are predicting that three of the current top four will participate in the playoffs: Clemson, Alabama and Oklahoma. But if Michigan State beats Iowa? 4 and 5 teams playing for the final spot.
What I’m hoping for is the best four teams in the playoffs, recognizing none fit my description of greatness. They already did so once in Week 3, but that was when Steve Sarkisian was still the opposing coach. The victor will make it into the Playoff.
The Trojans have played four games against ranked teams, and they’re 1-3 in those four games. Checking in behind the Big Ten duo are Oregon, Oklahoma State and Florida. The Irish, last week’s No. 6, dropped to eighth. What is the two wins you may ask? The Seminoles rode their 27-2 victory to a No. 9 ranking this week. Nebraska played Florida State, the Noles won, and Florida State ended up as national champion.
There is no argument you can make that would put Alabama over Clemson. Ohio State might be looking to get in, but without a conference championship game to play in (Iowa vs Michigan State in the Big Ten) they shouldn’t be getting in.
Florida State is 4-1 in bowl games under Jimbo Fisher. While the latter scenario is possible and as much as I’d love to see someone get upset Saturday, More has to go right for Carolina to pull off the upset and Clemson seems to have its special season in full force.
The takeaway from this? The matchups for the bowls outside of the New Year’s Six are determined by the conferences and the bowls.
Advertisement
North Carolina should not expect to be in the playoffs even it it beats the No. 1 team. Clemson will either chase away the ghosts of past failures and win big or, they will finally do its “Clemsoning” act and implode on the big stage. But if you want an actual chance, we’re living in the golden age. Iowa fans could turn that into 50 years of rage. Embrace it, because there’s no guarantee we’ll ever be here again.
