After weeks of riveting college football culminating in a conference championship Saturday for the ages, the second-ever 12-team College Football Playoff bracket has been revealed! With Duke winning the ACC
Championship Game over Virginia, two Group of Five teams have crashed the CFP, which was something that nobody thought would be possible coming into the season.
The CFP committee may have had its toughest decision ever, trying to decide between Miami, Notre Dame, and Alabama for the final two at-large spots. They ended up leaving the Fighting Irish out in the cold, with the head-to-head result (a 27-24 Miami win over Notre Dame) coming into play in the eleventh hour. More surprising (but also was it?)- the decision to leave Alabama at #9, not penalizing them for dropping the SEC Championship Game 28-7 against Georgia.
In any case, the 12-team field is set, the bracket is set, and the first-round matchups are set, with the countdown until playoff games sitting at just under two weeks! This is the final edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings Report- after this, I will shift to recapping every playoff game until a national champion is crowned in late January!
First Round Byes
- Indiana (13-0) has gone from worst to first, with head coach Curt Cignetti engineering a turnaround as we have never seen before in college football. With one (daunting) team in Indiana’s way, the Hoosiers remained undaunted, taking down the Buckeyes in a 13-10 grind-it-out game between the top two defenses in the country. While IU’s ferocious defensive line registered five sacks while the secondary covered Ohio State’s receivers well, Fernando Mendoza cemented his Heisman case by delivering the ball to wide receiver Charlie Becker multiple times in key moments, including on a third down to keep a crucial drive alive and bleed the clock. Indiana is the Big Ten Champion, the undisputed #1 team in the country, and will have the #1 seed in the College Football Playoff. All this begs the question, when will it be Rutgers’ turn to be here?
- Ohio State (12-1) narrowly fell to Indiana, with the offense struggling to score points. A crucial stop on fourth-and-one with Sayin’s knee down behind the line to gain and a late missed field goal saw OSU give the ball back to IU late in the game and not receive it back until there were about twenty seconds left in the contest. For the Buckeyes, a loss could serve them well, as they had been coasting all year. The last time Ohio State fell 13-10, they roared back to win the national championship. We will see if they can do it again.
- Georgia (12-1) made an SEC statement, blowing the doors off of Alabama to avenge their lone loss this season. The Bulldogs benefited from a blocked punt from walk-on receiver Cole Speer to score their first touchdown on a short field, then saw safety KJ Bolden tip Ty Simpson’s pass into the hands of cornerback Daylen Everette. UGA went up 14-0 before cruising to a 28-7 victory over the Crimson Tide, dominating the line of scrimmage as Alabama was held to -3 rushing yards.
- Texas Tech (12-1) splurged on its roster this offseason, backed by billionaire booster Cody Campbell, and completed another short turnaround by winning the Big 12 Championship. The Red Raiders dispatched BYU for the second time this season despite the Cougars taking a 7-0 lead early in the game. From there on, it was all TTU, as the offense gave them a 21-7 lead before the defense wreaked havoc in the fourth quarter with a forced fumble and interception. Texas Tech won 34-7 and clinched the final first-round bye.
First-Round Matchups (Campus Sites)
#12 James Madison (12-1) at #5 Oregon (11-1)- December 20th at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM local
The Ducks ended the season with quality wins over former Pac-12 rivals USC and Washington, ranking 13th in total offense and 4th in total defense. They climbed past Ole Miss and Texas A&M to make three Big Ten teams in the top five, and their reward will be a home game against James Madison, who clinched the final at-large spot with a Sun Belt Championship win over Troy and a Duke win over Virginia in the ACC Championship Game. The winner is set to play #4 Texas Tech at the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day at noon Eastern.
#11 Tulane (11-2) at #6 Ole Miss (11-1)– December 20th at 3:30 PM ET/2:30 PM local
The first of two regular-season rematches, this game will pit two teams in coaching transitions against each other. Defensive coordinator Pete Goulding was elevated to permanent head coach for Ole Miss ahead of their biggest game in school history, with Lane Kiffin not being allowed to coach due to the conflict of interest taking the LSU job, while Jon Sumrall will coach Tulane through the playoff despite leaving for Florida after the season.
BYU transfer Jake Retzlaff has more rushing touchdowns (16) than passing touchdowns (14), while Trinidad Chambliss has risen from backup to star quarterback for the Rebels. Ole Miss defeated Tulane 45-10 in Oxford, but this rematch has the potential to look a bit different the second time around, even if the victor is the same. The winner will take on the #3 Georgia Bulldogs at 8 PM Eastern on New Year’s Day in New Orleans.
#10 Miami (10-2) at #7 Texas A&M (11-1)- December 20th at 12:00 PM ET/11 AM local
The selection committee finally decided to value the head-to-head result between the Irish and the Hurricanes, correctly ranking Miami ahead of Notre Dame by virtue of their identical records and the result on the field. After weeks of the Hurricanes looking like they were done, Duke winning the ACC Championship opened the door for two G5 teams, leaving Virginia out and allowing the ‘Canes to backdoor their way into the playoff.
As for Texas A&M, they nearly ran the table, but their loss to Texas means that the Aggies will host Miami at Kyle Field to begin their playoff campaign. Talk about an exciting matchup between big brands and better talent on the football field. The winner of this game will take on the second-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes at 7:30 PM Eastern at the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
#9 Alabama (10-3) at #8 Oklahoma (10-2)- December 19th at 8 PM ET/7 PM local
The College Football Playoff will start with a bang, as this regular-season rematch will pit two SEC squads against each other. The Crimson Tide did not drop a spot in the rankings despite falling to Georgia 28-7 in the SEC Championship Game, which was certainly a controversial decision.
But now they will head to Norman to take on the Sooners, who defeated them 24-3 last year and 23-21 in Tuscaloosa. Kalen DeBoer will have a chance to avenge Bama’s rare kryptonite, but the winner will head to the Rose Bowl to face the #1 Indiana Hoosiers, which will take place at 4 PM Eastern/1 PM local in Pasadena to ring in the New Year in style.
Other Big Ten Bowl Games
Rutgers did not make it to a bowl game, despite coming eerily close to knocking off Penn State, but many other teams around the Big Ten have qualified. Here are the details for the Big Ten teams in a bowl game outside the 12-team playoff, including which bowl game and their out-of-conference opponent.
Saturday, December 13th- Bucked Up LA Bowl (Boise State vs. Washington in Los Angeles)
Friday, December 26th- GameAbove Sports Bowl (Central Michigan vs. Northwestern in Detroit)
Friday, December 26th- Rate Bowl (New Mexico vs. Minnesota in Phoenix)
Tuesday, December 30th- Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl (Tennessee vs. Illinois in Nashville)
Tuesday, December 30th- Valero Alamo Bowl (USC vs. TCU in San Antonio)
Wednesday, December 31st- ReliaQuest Bowl (Iowa vs. Vanderbilt in Tampa Bay)
Wednesday, December 31st- Cheez-It Citrus Bowl (Michigan vs. Texas in Orlando)
Wednesday, December 31st- SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl (Nebraska vs. Utah in Vegas)
There are reports that Penn State will play Clemson at the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, December 27th, but that has not been officially confirmed at the time of this writing. Notre Dame has also elected to decline playing in a bowl game due to what they (rightfully) feel is a College Football Playoff snub after they were in the field from the first CFP rankings.
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