ESPN
The long road to the College Football Playoff reached its conclusion this past Saturday and after a crazy regular season, four teams have emerged to contend for the national championship. There was no doubt who the top four teams were by the end of Saturday night however Oklahoma State was six inches away from creating serious drama and making the committee make a tough decision. Had the Pokes taken care of Baylor, there would have been a serious debate between Georgia, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma State for the final two spots in the playoff.
Since Baylor came up clutch at the goal line the top four teams were clear and the only dilemma the committee had was how to rank the teams. Many have criticized the committee for ranking Alabama over Michigan however this is a rare instance where I think the committee got everything right. Georgia was by far the best team throughout the regular season and the Tide rolled them so I have no issue with Bama being the top team in the nation. No matter what Michigan did against Iowa it wouldn’t be enough to stay ahead of Alabama which now has two blowout wins over top ten teams and appeared to have put their regular season woes behind them.
As far as the team the Crimson Tide beat on Saturday, Georgia is clearly not the unstoppable force many thought after a historically good regular season. I still have faith in this defense that held its own on Saturday with the exception of an atrocious second quarter. Don’t put this loss on the defense, they held Alabama to ten second half points and set the offense up to come back and potentially win if it wasn’t for a pick six and some red zone shortcomings. Alabama exposed the elephant in the room(no pun intended) with Georgia, they need JT Daniels under center to win it all. Daniels’s mysterious injury situation has led to Stetson Bennett starting the majority of the season however Bennett has severe limitations and won’t be able to win in a shootout should Georgia get a rematch with the Tide. Daniels has played in recent weeks and the long break should give him plenty of time to be healthy for Michigan but it ultimately comes down to Kirby Smart to put his best quarterback out there and make sure the best roster in college football doesn’t go to waste.
If the Dawgs want to get another crack at Alabama, they first need to take care of Michigan who has looked as good as any team in the country as of late. Entering the year many questioned Jim Harbaugh’s job security and just a few months later, Michigan is the first team in the playoff era to make it in after starting the season unranked. I never got the disrespect for Jim Harbaugh who is easily the most over-hated coach in all of football. Excluding last year’s condensed Big Ten season, Harbaugh has won at least ten games in four of six seasons and has now won the Big Ten, beaten Ohio State, and gotten to the playoff.
The Wolverines weren’t even bowl eligible the year before Harbaugh arrived and in just his second season they were a bad call away from winning the Big Ten and being in the final four. Michigan has been the better team in all 13 of their games including their lone blemish against Michigan State. With an elite ground game and two of the best pass rushers in the nation, the Wolverines are not just capable of beating Georgia, but hoisting the trophy at season’s end in Indianapolis.
We can’t talk about the upcoming College Football Playoff without mentioning Cincinnati which completed their Cinderella run with a win over Houston in the AAC Championship. It took the stars and moon to align
but a Group of Five team has made the playoff and Cincy is not just some feel good story, they more than earned their way into the top four. The Bearcats showed they were a force to be reckoned with last season, going 9-1 with their one loss coming to Georgia on a game winning field goal as time expired. The Bearcats took advantage of several blue chip programs having step back seasons and it didn’t hurt that they handed Notre Dame their only loss of the season in South Bend. Skeptics will say that Cincy has no shot against Alabama and that a blowout loss would confirm the Bearcats don’t belong however the playoff has already been filled with blowouts. Cincinnati was without a doubt one of the top four teams in college football this year and a loss to Bama won’t change that.
While the playoff and the rest of bowl season are quickly approaching, we had another big coaching change this week as Mario Cristobal is taking his talents to South Beach in hopes of putting Miami back on the map as a national power. Not only is this hire a huge win for Miami which just landed one of the best recruiters in the sport, it is also a huge win for Lincoln Riley and USC. Oregon is the only program that can compete with USC as far as recruiting is concerned and not having to out recruit Cristobal makes Riley’s job that much easier. USC will run this conference under Riley and now there isn’t a program to challenge them on a consistent basis in the Pac-12.
College Football Top 25 Rankings
1.Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1) W vs Georgia 41-24, last week-5
2.Michigan Wolverines (12-1) W vs Iowa 42-3, last week-2
3.Georgia Bulldogs (12-1) L vs Alabama 41-24, last week-1
4.Cincinnati Bearcats (13-0) W vs Houston 35-20, last week-3
5.Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-1) Bye Week, last week-6
6.Baylor Bears (11-2) W vs Oklahoma State 21-16, last week-9
7.Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) Bye Week, last week-7
8.Ole Miss Rebels (10-2) Bye Week, last week-8
9.Oklahoma State Cowboys (11-2) L vs Baylor 21-16, last week-4
10.Utah Utes (10-3) W vs Oregon 38-10, last week-15
11.Pittsburgh Panthers (11-2) W vs Wake Forest 45-21, last week-19
12.Michigan State Spartans (10-2) Bye Week, last week-10
13.Oklahoma Sooners (10-2) Bye Week, last week-11
14.Houston Cougars (11-2) L vs Cincinnati 35-20, last week-14
15.Iowa Hawkeyes (10-3) L vs Michigan 42-3, last week-13
16.Oregon Ducks (10-3) L vs Utah 38-10, last week-12
17.Arkansas Razorbacks (8-4) Bye Week, last week-17
18.BYU Cougars (10-2) Bye Week, last week-18
19.Clemson Tigers (9-3) Bye Week, last week-20
20.Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (12-1) W vs Appalachian State 24-16, last week-22
21.Wake Forest Demon Deacons (10-3) L vs Pittsburgh 45-21, last week-16
22.Texas A&M Aggies (8-4) Bye Week, last week-23
23.NC State Wolfpack (9-3) Bye Week, last week-24
24.Kentucky Wildcats (9-3) Bye Week, last week-25
25.UTSA Roadrunners (12-1) W vs Western Kentucky 49-41, last week-unranked Dropped out of rankings-San Diego State