The season has been played and the bowls are set. We have the a college football playoff bracket in place.
The Rose Bowl playoff game features last years Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston and #3 Florida State#2 Oregon led by this years presumed Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota. Oregon was able to avenge an early loss at the hand of Arizona by dismantling the Wildcats in the Pac 12 Championship Game to the tune of 51-13. Florida State comes into the playoff as possibly the least impressive undefeated of all time. The Seminoles were able to squeak through an unimpressive schedule but when you start the season #1 and don’t lose a game, you’ll usually get in. So we have East Coast vs West Coast, Trendy vs Tradition, a quarterback who the worst thing you can say about is that he got a speeding ticket vs … Jameis Winston.
To nobody’s surprise Alabama stayed at #1 and will play in the Sugar Bowl against #4 Ohio State. While no one can make an argument that Alabama doesn’t deserve to be in, Ohio State is not so unanimous. The Buckeyes won the Big 10 Championship game decisively over Wisconsin 59-0. The win propelled Ohio State over TCU and Baylor who both added good wins to their already strong resumes. So why did Ohio State get the final sport in the 4 team playoff? The Buckeyes play in a weak conference and had a horrible loss at home to Virginia Tech early in the season. Well their beat down of the Badgers probably had something to do with that. And when you look at the 2 teams they leap frogged, its surprising but it makes sense.
Baylor had a great season with 3 big wins and most of their wins came convincingly, but they played a pitiful non conference schedule and suffered a devastating 41-27 loss to West Virginia on October 18th.
TCU was the other Big 12 team Ohio State jumped and left out of the playoff. The Horned Frogs had a terrific season with 4 quality wins. But a loss at Baylor on October 11 proves that there’s no such thing as a “good loss.” To make things worse, TCU led Baylor 58-37 in the 4th quarter and blew the lead in route to the loss.
We’ve been calling for it for years and now that college football has a playoff, there’s nothing left to do but sit back and enjoy the show.
