Michigan-TCU, OSU-Georgia are likely in the College Football Playoff
The College Football Playoff seems set—if the committee keeps the same energy—and so do the games on New Year’s Eve: Georgia vs. Ohio State in the Peach Bowl; Michigan vs. TCU in the Fiesta Bowl.
No. 4 USC’s 47-24 loss to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship game Friday night opened up the #4 ranking in the final CFP rankings, which will be announced Sunday afternoon on ESPN. Ohio State (11-1) should have the inside track, ranking No. 5 in Tuesday’s rankings, with Alabama No. 6. Neither of them played this weekend, and he watched the Trojans suffer their second loss to the Utes of the season.
No. 3 TCU’s undefeated season ended Saturday in overtime against No. 10 Kansas State, 31-28, in the Big 12 championship game, but 12-1 TCU shouldn’t be left out of the CFP and jumped out by both one-loss losing Ohio State or Alabama. which lost twice — again, didn’t even play in the conference tournament. Yes, the Crimson Tide lost close road games at Tennessee (52-49) and LSU (32-31 in OT), but this was their chance and they lost – twice. TCU defeated KSU earlier in the season and also won #20 Texas, 17-10, three weeks earlier. It also beat three other teams ranked in the top 25 at the time of the game (Oklahoma, Kansas, Oklahoma State).
Alabama (10-2) also beat Texas, 20-19, in the second game of the season, and beat No. 24 Mississippi State. But its resume, with two losses, is no better than TCU’s.
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That leaves Georgia as the top team and Michigan as likely the number two. The defending champion Bulldogs moved to 13-0 after dominating #14 LSU, 50-30, for the SEC championship on Saturday; The Wolverines battle Purdue with four losses for the Big Ten title (8 p.m., Fox).
The committee will likely want to select Michigan to avoid Ohio State in the semifinals — they played opponents last week and Michigan dominated the second half in Columbus to win 45-23. It would be bizarre to have Michigan beat Ohio State again just for the right to play for the national championship — and last year, the committee avoided rematching Alabama and Georgia in the semifinals after they played in the SEC title game. Alternatively, if Michigan and OSU win their respective games, then so be it, a well deserved rematch. But the committee would ostensibly favor a new matchup, meaning Michigan vs. TCU in a 2-3 affair and Georgia vs. Ohio State in a 1-4. Whether Michigan at that point was #2 or #3—perhaps it would drop below TCU if Purdue criticized it, but then again, it has the best win of anyone: at Ohio State—wouldn’t matter. And Ohio State shouldn’t be jumping on TCU, since its resume has two good wins (against Notre Dame in the opener and at Penn State) and one big loss for home runs.
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The No. 1 seed gets which bowl she likes best: the Peach Bowl in Atlanta or the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona. With Georgia solidifying the first seed, it will select the Peach Bowl in its home state, sending Michigan to Glendale, Arizona.
any questions?
Good. Now, relax and enjoy the soccer game.
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