Quite a bit of stuff went down in the college football world this weekend. Conference Championship Games were played, the College Football Playoff teams were announced, and bowl games were as well. There has been a lot to digest in the last few days.

I obviously will discuss the playoff rankings and bowl matchups but first, the games this weekend that featured playoff contenders must be discussed to provide context.

The Games

Washington 10 Utah 3

With neither team in playoff contention, this game was definitely the one with the least on the line. Washington’s defense absolutely swallowed Utah’s offense, allowing just three points and 3.6 yards per play. Washington took advantage of Utah’s inexperienced backups at quarterback and running back and scored the only touchdown of the game on a pick six by Byron Murphy. Jake Browning, Myles Gaskin, and the Huskies offense did not have the best game, but it did not matter because their defense was so dominant.

Oklahoma 39 Texas 27

This game more or less became a battle of quarterbacks as neither team did too much running the ball. Oklahoma’s defense actually had a pretty good day, stunting Texas’s run game and getting an important safety in the fourth quarter. Sam Ehlinger threw for 349 yards and Collin Johnson had 177 receiving yards but it was just not enough. Kyler Murray was a cheat code for Oklahoma with 379 yards and three touchdowns. CeeDee Lamb was nearly unstoppable for Oklahoma with 167 receiving yards of his own.

Some Texas fans may complain about bad calls that went in Oklahoma’s way, but Oklahoma was just flat out better than Texas on Saturday. Oklahoma also must be worried about the health of Hollywood Brown after he left the game with a leg injury. Texas may have lost this game, but they definitely look ready to be an elite program in the near future.

UCF 56 Memphis 41

Anybody who does not believe momentum and home field advantage play a factor in football games would be proven wrong by this game. Memphis got out to be a big lead early, leading 38-21 at the half. UCF’s defense was getting completely gashed as Memphis running back Darrell Henderson had 207 rushing yards in the first half alone. Memphis started off slow in the second half, and UCF capitalized by scoring two touchdowns in the first 8:05 of the third quarter. Even though they were behind 38-35, I thought UCF was for sure going to win at that point. They had all the momentum and the home crowd on their side.

Memphis strayed away from what they needed to do, only giving Henderson 16 carries the entire game. While Henderson did only have three rushing yards in the second half, I still think he should have gotten the ball more. UCF backup quarterback Darriel Mack also deserves a shoutout as he completed 19/27 passes for 348 yards and had six total touchdowns.

Alabama 35 Georgia 28

Now we get to the game of the week. Georgia seemed to have Alabama’s number early in the game as they took a 28-14 lead with 12:39 left in the third quarter. Georgia held Tua Tagovailoa to just 10/25 passing and two interceptions. Part of this may have been due to Tua being banged up, but it was also an outstanding job by Georgia’s defense. Unfortunately the wheels just fell off after that point. After Tua left the game with an ankle injury, Jalen Hurts led the offense on their best drive of the game, and did not slow down from there as he ran in the game winning touchdown for Alabama with a minute left.

The watershed moment of the game to me was when Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, regarded by many as the best kicker in the country, missed a 30 yard field goal with eight minutes left in the third quarter that would have put Georgia up 31-14 if it went in. Georgia also gave Alabama great field position for their game winning drive by calling a fake punt on 4th and 11 at the 50. Not only was the fake punt a terrible call in general, but Alabama lined up in their base defense. Not only that but it was also executed poorly as when Justin Fields took the direct snap, he scrambled and ran right into Alabama’s defensive line instead of looking to throw (this was not a good play call for a coach named Kirby Smart, maybe he should be called Kirby Dumb now). What is so weird to me about this game is that this win for Alabama seemed to feel like a feel good story about an underdog. I have to say that regardless of fandom, it is hard not to feel happy for Jalen Hurts.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart deserves quite a bit of the blame for this. He kept disrupting offensive rhythm by putting Justin Fields in at quarterback and running mostly read options instead of keeping Jake Fromm in. Fromm had a pretty good day with 301 passing yards and three touchdowns. I still think bright days are ahead for Georgia, but this loss will hurt. Luckily for Alabama, Tua is said to be out of practice for two weeks, and then should be able to return to action.

Clemson 42 Pittsburgh 10

Clemson demolished Pittsburgh, and completely held their offense in check. Pittsburgh had just eight passing yards on the day, and just 3.1 yards per play. Isaiah Simmons and Dexter Lawrence led Clemson’s defense with 2.5 tackles for loss each. Travis Etienne led the Tigers with 156 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Clemson did exactly what was expected of them this game, and made mince meat of the ACC.

Ohio State 45 Northwestern 24

Ohio State got off to an early lead, survived a second half charge by Northwestern, before putting them away with a 45-24 win. Dwayne Haskins had a superhuman performance, completing 34/41 passes for 499 yards and five touchdowns. Northwestern did well against the run, but Dwayne Haskins was just on another level for this game. Northwestern seemed to want to run the ball more, but was forced to throw it once they fell behind early. This win for Ohio State is pretty impressive as Northwestern is definitely a plucky team.

The Playoff Rankings

Now that I have gone over the games, it is the next logical step to talk about the subsequent playoff rankings. So I will just go ahead and say that I think the playoff committee got it completely right this year even down to seeding the top four teams. To be honest, while they do some crazy things outside the top four and some questionable things during the season, I really do not think they have ever made a mistake in terms of leaving a deserving team out (I did think Baylor should have been in instead of Ohio State in 2014 but I accepted being wrong when Ohio State won the National Title and Baylor lost the Cotton Bowl). While I do think they nailed the top four, I think their rankings outside of it were pretty questionable.

First off, Alabama and Clemson are the two best teams in the country and you are delusional if you think otherwise. Alabama clearly is the number one team, and Clemson is right behind them. Alabama dismantled the SEC, and did not play a tight game until Saturday. Clemson played a weak schedule in conference but mowed down the ACC, and left no doubt that they are among the nation’s elite.

Notre Dame being ranked third has caused a slight uproar, but I agree with it. Many people criticized Notre Dame for playing a schedule that had just five teams on it who currently have winning records. Because of this, many people wanted them to drop down to the fourth spot or even be left out of the playoff completely. I think that while their schedule was not great, they do have two very impressive wins against Michigan and Syracuse. I also feel bad for Notre Dame as they could not have anticipated USC, Florida State, and Virginia Tech having very underwhelming seasons. While the Fighting Irish did play in five one-score games, they still did go undefeated, clearly have a lot of talent, and have a very good win over Michigan. For those three reasons, I think slotting them in the third spot was the right call.

The team that rounded out the playoff was Oklahoma at the fourth seed. While many would make the argument for Georgia or Ohio State, they would be wrong. Oklahoma does have their struggles on defense, but they can make stops when it matters. Their one loss was a neutral site game against a very talented Texas team that they later avenged. I do think it is a big deal that Oklahoma did beat every team on their schedule by defeating Texas on Saturday. The fact that they have three wins against good teams that are all away from home, which is very impressive. Oklahoma deserves their spot

Georgia had many people clamoring for them to be included in the playoff after they nearly upset Alabama. While I think that the idea that Georgia is actually a better team than Oklahoma or Notre Dame may definitely be true, at some point their on field performance has to matter. While LSU is a very good team and Death Valley is a tough place to play, teams have to beat good teams in tough spots to make the playoff, and they especially should not lose by 20 points and have their offense completely stagnate. Georgia definitely would have gotten in the playoff if they just did not blow a 14 point lead to a backup quarterback. All they had to do was win the game at the point, and they would be in. Their failure to do that is why they are and should be on the outside looking in. People were upset last year when Alabama lost one game and was in the playoff without winning their conference. Georgia lost two games and did not win their conference. To put them in over a one loss conference champ would be outrageous. I wanted Georgia to make the playoff as they are my preseason pick to win the National Championship (I do feel a bit smart after they gave Alabama a game) but they just do not deserve it over Oklahoma or Ohio State or actually even UCF. Georgia should have actually been ranked below Ohio State, but I think that how they rank non playoff teams is a pretty dumb subject to argue at this point.

Ohio State is another team that had some people arguing they should be in the playoff. While their win over Michigan was very impressive, and their win against Northwestern was something to applaud, their 29 point loss at Purdue was just too much to overcome. Not only did they lose to Purdue, but they also were a bad throw away from losing to Maryland, and trailed against Nebraska before gutting out a 36-31 win. Ohio State just did not play very well for large portions of this season and that is why they will be watching the playoff from home this season.

In a repeat of last year, UCF is undefeated and believes they should be in the playoff. Unfortunately for the Golden Knights, they do not play in a very good conference. Their strength of schedule was 71st in the country, while the four playoff teams had a strength of schedule of 3rd, 14th, 16th, and 26th. UCF did have a game cancelled against North Carolina, but they did not make an effort to make it up during their bye week. They also struggled against Memphis and Temple. Their average margin of victory was third in the country at 21.5 points per game, but they were behind Alabama and Clemson who had an average margin of victory of 33.1 points and 30.9 points respectively. They need to not just go undefeated, but mow down their AAC opponents. They also need to schedule better teams out of conference. While some teams may be opposed to scheduling them, UCF needs to not demand a home and home series and just be willing to go to another team’s stadium and try to beat them. Although it is very difficult, I believe there is a path for UCF they just need to be willing to take more risks.

NY6 Bowls

The Bowl Selection Committee needs to stop making Florida and Michigan play against each other. Florida has played Michigan more times since 2016 than they have played SEC opponents Arkansas, Auburn, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Mississippi State since 2010. That should never happen.

I am sure that I probably sound biased but Texas deserves to be in a NY6 Bowl. I also legitimately believe they will give Georgia a game.

LSU does not deserve a NY6 spot. They went 9-3, finished third in their division, and are the fourth SEC team in the playoff or a NY6 Bowl. I now fear they will lose to UCF and create more drama. That fear has been amplified after hearing that Greedy Williams will sit out this game.

They should have given LSU’s spot to Washington State. Washington State went 10-2, and both of their losses are pretty excusable, as one was a Friday night road game at USC where they lost by three points with very questionable officiating. The other was the Apple Cup against Washington where heavy snow neutralized their greatest strength and amplified the other team’s greatest offensive strength.

The Rose Bowl is featuring the actual Big 10 and Pac 12 Champions for the first time since 2013, and I am actually excited to watch Washington and Ohio State play each other.

Some Random Thoughts

1. USC hired Kliff Kingsbury as their offensive coordinator, which I think is a slam dunk hire.

2. Texas Tech hired Utah State’s Matt Wells, another pretty good move. Rumors came out that Dana Holgorsen was apparently interested in the job, and if he was, I think they should have hired him.

3. Virginia Tech is officially going bowling after a win against Marshall. This has been a rough season for the Hokies, and it is nice that they can still keep their bowl streak alive.

4. Iowa State nearly lost to Drake, a non-scholarship FCS team, and it bothers me that nobody is talking about this.

5. Northern Illinois overcame a 29-10 third quarter deficit against Buffalo to win 30-29 and be crowned MAC champions. Marcus Childers was very good for Northern Illinois with 300 passing yards and four touchdowns. Sutton Smith was a beast on the defensive line as well with two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss.

6. Stanford had an ugly win over California and extended their win streak to nine games against the Golden Bears.

7. UAB bounced back to beat Middle Tennessee 27-25 to win Conference USA. UAB has 10 wins, and is still an awesome story after not having a team in 2016.

8. Fresno State and Boise State played in a blizzard at the blue turf in Boise. Boise State had an extra point blocked that would have put them in the lead in the third quarter. Boise State had to rely a bit too much on running back Alexander Mattison, who had 200 yards on 40 carries. Fresno State finally won a game on the blue turf and are now Mountain West champions. Their defense made plays when it mattered and made it clear they were the better team.

9. After watching Fresno State celebrate the Mountain West Championship on Boise State’s field, I have to say it is very weird to watch teams celebrate on another team’s home field, but I do think it is awesome.

10. Nick Saban is now 16-0 against his former assistants after Alabama’s win against Georgia. This may seem crazy but I think Nick Saban’s record at Alabama is something like 10,000-5 so it is not too much of an outlier.

11. Longtime Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder retired after 27 years as head coach. Snyder completed in my opinion what was the best rebuild of all time, and has to be the best college football coach to not win a National Championship.

12. Former Colorado State and Florida head coach Jim McElwain was hired by Central Michigan, giving MeElwain his first head coaching gig since being fired at Florida midway through 2017. It will be interesting to see he does in a job that is not as high stakes.

13. The Belk Bowl blew it with their selection. They could have had former rivals Auburn and Georgia Tech play for the first time since 2005, but instead they chose Virginia and Mississippi State. They even had a poll on what two teams they should decide, and went against the overwhelming winner. I am a bit disappointed in the Belk Bowl selection committee.

14. Tua Tagovailoa, Kyler Murray, and Dwayne Haskins are this year’s Heisman finalists. While I think they should definitely be the top three in voting, I am a bit upset that Gardner Minshew and Jonathan Taylor are not invited. Minshew led a young Washington State team to a 10-2 record with great efficiency in the passing game and Taylor is the nation’s leading rusher with 1989 yards, and is 80 points ahead of second. There also should always be five Heisman finalists.

15. Former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant is transferring to Arkansas and I think it is a good move for him. I am excited to se how he does for the Razorbacks next season.

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