Bowl predictions: Ohio State enters college football playoff after USC falls as Georgia, Michigan wins UCLA

We knew there wouldn’t be a lot of drama going into tournament week, at least in terms of the four teams that would eventually make the college football playoffs. It was simply a matter of which team would end up in fourth place, USC or Ohio State.

Well, Utah beat USC for the second time this season, 47-24 in the 2022 Pac-12 Championship Game, to knock the Trojans out of playoff contention. In fact, USC will likely be ranked behind Utah when the final CFP rankings are released on Sunday afternoon.

Thus, Ohio State will return to the College Football Playoff for the third time in the past four seasons, likely as a No. 4 seed. This will make the Big Ten only the second conference in CFP history to put two teams into a single four-team field, to join the SEC.

The Buckeyes’ situation only raises some questions as Kansas State handed TCU its first defeat of the season in the Big 12 Championship Game with the Wildcats avenging their regular season loss to the Horned Frogs in overtime.

I believe TCU will still be ahead of Ohio State In the CFP, but even if it doesn’t, forget any idea of ​​Alabama going along with Ohio State and replacing TCU. That would be completely unjustified. If TCU jerseys had “Oklahoma” or “Ole Miss Alabama” written on them, no one would even think of this discussion.

Filling the top of the four-team field, Georgia secured the number one seed in the playoff and its first SEC tournament win since 2017 in defeating No. 14 LSU, and Michigan secured the number two seed with its second straight big win. The ten championship game, this season over Purdue.

College Football Playoff

The Rose Bowl will feature Pac-12 champions Utah, who are again appearing in Granddaddy of Them All after winning their second straight league title. Penn State will represent the Big Ten in place of league champion Michigan as the highest ranked Big Ten team not playing in the CFP.

USC must remain high enough in the CFP rankings to earn a spot in the Cotton Bowl. This possibility arises because the Big Ten has placed a second team in the CFP. Ohio state outside the public pool for six New Year’s Eve opens the door to the Trojans.

Like Kansas State earlier in the day, Tulane also avenged a regular season loss in the AAC Championship Game. The Green Wave stifled UCF 45-28 to win the league title and advance to its first major game since 1939 when Tulane faced undefeated Texas A&M in the 1940 Sugar Bowl. Tulane will represent the Group of Five in this year’s Cotton Bowl against USC.

Speaking of the Wildcats, their Big 12 championship earns them a berth in the Sugar Bowl. Kansas State will face Alabama, an alternative to SEC champ Georgia.

The Orange Bowl would take home ACC Champion Clemson, who handled North Carolina 39-10 in the ACC Championship Game. Tennessee will be the opponent for Clemson as the highest-ranked team remaining from the SEC, Big Ten, or Notre Dame. The Clemson-Tennessee matchup appears to be suitable for orange Plate.

The Six Cup Games for the New Year

Buffalo and New Mexico State were the last two teams eligible to play this week, albeit in different ways. Buffalo defeated Akron 23-22 to claim their sixth win and earn a berth. NMSU received a waiver from the NCAA to participate as a five-win team.

New Mexico State came out and got a sixth win anyway over FCS Valparaiso in a game added this weekend but it doesn’t count in the six Aggies need because only one FCS opponent can count and NMSU beat Lamar earlier in the game this season. . Put the concession of the Aggies in the bowl anyway.

With the rest of the field set, Rice will only field as a 5-7 team this season. This may just be the case with the next team in line, UNLV, which fired its coach this week and was considering declining a bowl offer if one was offered.

Don’t you see your team? paying off Updated Jerry Palm pot forecasts as well as Track CBS Sports Bowl eligibility With all 82 spots filled for the 2022-23 cup games.