Another season of the best sport in the world is in the books, and the final chapter was one for the ages. Many fans have grown apathetic towards bowl season, but this year’s slate of games had plenty of instant classics.
After weeks of Liberty Bowl drama surrounding Mizzou (maybe the most irritating story of the entire season), the actual Liberty Bowl delivered a thrilling match up that saw Arkansas down Kansas in triple overtime.
We also got a battle between two of the 2023 Heisman frontrunners as Bo Nix and the Ducks were able to outlast a Drake Maye-led UNC squad in the Holiday Bowl. Speaking of the Heisman, this season’s winner was upset in a wild comeback from Tulane to cap off the greatest one year turnaround in FBS history.
In what was my favorite moment from bowl season, Mississippi State prevailed in an emotional victory in the Reliaquest Bowl over Illinois just weeks after losing legendary coach Mike Leach. Leach was a one of a kind personality that was known for his love of pirates, so it was only fitting that his team capped off their season by winning a game with a pirate ship inside the stadium.
This year’s playoff semifinals had an incredible season to follow up, and it’s safe to say they did not disappoint.
TCU continued its Cinderella run in the Fiesta Bowl, fending off an undefeated Michigan to become the most improbable team to reach a National Championship. The Hypnotoads didn’t care that people thought they didn’t belong, and they capitalized off some costly Michigan turnovers to advance on.
It appeared we were going to get another upset in the Peach Bowl as Ohio State had the defending champs on the ropes for the majority of the game. A clutch timeout from Kirby Smart to prevent a fake punt followed by a pair of quick touchdown drives from Stetson Bennett quickly flipped the script.
Ohio State would get one last chance to play spoiler, however the potential game winning kick sailed wide left at the stroke of midnight to send the Dawgs to LA.
Georgia didn’t face nearly as much trouble with the underfrogs (see what I did there) as it demolished TCU 65-7 to claim its second consecutive National Championship.
After being a punchline for not winning a title for over four decades, Georgia cemented itself as college football’s newest dynasty. In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Dawgs, they managed to improve on their 2021 campaign by being just the 5th FBS team ever to finish a season 15-0.
Georgia was unstoppable in the championship game, scoring virtually every drive, however they pleased. If there’s any comfort for TCU fans, you can know that there wasn’t anything you could have done differently that would have changed the result of this game.
The SEC has been looking for a program that can consistently perform at Bama’s level, and it has finally found one in Athens, Georgia.
Stetson Bennett proved all the doubters wrong and cemented himself as a college football legend and one of the greatest Bulldogs of all time.
While TCU’s embarrassing defeat on the biggest stage will sting for a long time, it shouldn’t take away from an incredible turn around in year one under Sonny Dykes.
A program like TCU shouldn’t be able to go from 5-7 to a title appearance in just one season, but that’s why we gotta play the games.
The Horned Frogs’ 58-point loss isn’t evidence that the committee messed up; TCU earned its way in the playoff.
After the championship, many fans were claiming that Alabama should have gotten in on account that itwould have been favored over TCU if it played.
I can’t believe I’m having to say this, but playoffs are supposed to reflect on-field regular season results, not hypothetical matchups. The committee did their job and put the four best teams in based off of the actual results.
If you are upset with the title game that we got you shouldn’t blame the committee, instead blame Michigan, Alabama, USC, Clemson and Tennessee for being unable to capitalize down the stretch, paving the way for TCU to make it as far as they did.
I don’t want to live in a world where we disregard games and instead determine our national champions based on who we think would win a hypothetical game.
I always base my rankings off of results from actual games which is why these are called rankings not power ratings. I have nothing against power ratings and think they can be a useful tool to measure teams, however they shouldn’t be used to determine rankings in a sport where the way we determine the playoff is purely subjective.
With the 2022 season drawing to a close, us diehard fans are taking a way too early look at 2023.
Georgia is the early favorite to three-peat, and the other usual suspects follow them in the early odds to win it all. We know that Alabama, Ohio State and Michigan will be in the mix again, but what about potential surprise teams?
Look for LSU and USC to make a push under their respective second year coaches after reaching double-digit wins in 2022.
Florida State has been everyone’s early darkhorse pick after a breakout 2022 season. The Noles return most of their key contributors and added more talent in the portal than anyone.
For all we know Colorado has a historic turnaround in year one under Deion, maybe another first year coach finds similar success that Sonny Dykes just did.
Regardless of what happens next fall, we will all be happy to have a full slate of games every Saturday after eight long months.
Chris’ College Football Top 25 Rankings
1.Georgia Bulldogs(15-0) W vs TCU 65-7, W vs Ohio State 42-41, Preseason-3
2.TCU Horned Frogs(13-2) L vs Georgia 65-7, W vs Michigan 51-45, Preseason-unranked
3.Michigan Wolverines(13-1) L vs TCU 51-45, Preseason-5
4.Ohio State Buckeyes(11-2) L vs Georgia 42-41, Preseason-2
5.Tennessee Volunteers(11-2) W vs Clemson 31-14, Preseason-20
6.Alabama Crimson Tide(11-2) W vs Kansas State 45-20, Preseason-1
7.Penn State Nittany Lions(11-2) W vs Utah 35-21, Preseason-19
8.Washington Huskies(11-2) W vs Texas 27-20, Preseason-unranked
9.Oregon Ducks(10-3) W vs North Carolina 28-27, Preseason-22
10.Utah Utes(10-4) L vs Penn State 35-21, Preseason-4
11.Florida State Seminoles(10-3) W vs Oklahoma 35-32, Preseason-unranked
12.Tulane Green Wave(12-2) W vs USC 46-45, Preseason-unranked
13.USC Trojans(11-3) L vs Tulane 46-45, Preseason-13
14.Kansas State Wildcats(10-4) L vs Alabama 45-20, Preseason-unranked
15.Clemson Tigers(11-3) L vs Tennessee 31-14, Preseason-7
16.Oregon State Beavers(10-3) W vs Florida 30-3, Preseason-unranked
17.LSU Tigers(10-4) W vs Purdue 63-7, Preseason-unranked
18.Notre Dame Fighting Irish(9-4) W vs South Carolina 45-38, Preseason-12
19.Mississippi State Bulldogs(9-4) W vs Illinois 19-10, Preseason-25
20.Troy Trojans(12-2) W vs UTSA 18-12, Preseason-unranked
21.UCLA Bruins(9-4) L vs Pittsburgh 37-35, Preseason-unranked
22.South Carolina Gamecocks(8-5) L vs Notre Dame 45-38, Preseason-unranked
23.Pittsburgh Panthers(9-4) W vs UCLA 37-35, Preseason-23
24.Duke Blue Devils(9-4) W vs UCF 30-13, Preseason-unranked
25.Fresno State Bulldogs(10-4) W vs Washington State 29-6, Preseason-unranked
Preseason Top 25 teams that finished unranked- NC State, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Miami, Kentucky, BYU, Ole Miss