Staff Writer
Sunday sealed the fate for the six teams
who had a chance to make it in to the inaugural College Football Playoff. The
six teams in contention for four spots were Alabama, Baylor, Florida State,
Ohio State, Oregon, and TCU. Before getting into the four teams that will be
competing for a National Championship, let’s recap the weekend.
The postseason was kicked off on Friday
night when #2 Oregon faced off against #7 Arizona in the Pac 12 Championship
game. These two teams met in the regular season in Eugene where Arizona beat
Oregon. That was the Ducks’ only hiccup this whole season and they handled
Arizona pretty easily Friday night, beating the Wildcats 51-13. Oregon QB
Marcus Mariota strengthened his campaign to become the Heisman Trophy winner by
throwing for over 300 yards and two TDs while rushing for another three TDs.
The rest of the meaningful games were on
Saturday. The Big 12 Conference does not have a championship game since the
conference only has 10 teams; so TCU and Baylor finished out their regular
season. TCU went into the weekend ranked #3 in the nation playing an Iowa State
team that had two wins all season and zero wins within the conference. Not
shocking anyone at all, TCU won overwhelmingly 55-3. Baylor on the other hand
was ranked #6 going into the weekend facing #9 Kansas State. Baylor won
convincingly 38-27.
The SEC Championship and Big Ten
Championship games were both blowouts as #1 Alabama and #5 Ohio State came out
victorious. The ACC Championship was the closest game of the weekend with #3
Florida State taking on #11 Georgia Tech. The two teams went back and forth
exchanging touchdowns but the Seminoles came out on top to capture the ACC
crown for the second year in a row.
At the end of the weekend, every team
that was favored to win did, which didn’t make anything easier for the
committee. It was pretty obvious that Oregon and Alabama were going to stay at
#1 and #2 after becoming conference champions. Florida State was predicted to
move up to #3 after winning the ACC and finishing with an undefeated season.
The debate was between three one loss teams: TCU, Ohio State and Baylor. Going
into the weekend the rankings were TCU #3, Ohio State #5, and Baylor #6. Here
were the cases for and against each team:
BAYLOR
|
TCU
|
OHIO STATE
|
|
FOR
|
·
Beat #9 Kansas State
·
Beat #3 TCU, so why should TCU be ranked ahead?
|
·
Ranked #3 and beat Iowa State by 52. So why should
they move?
·
Best loss out of 3 teams (Baylor)
|
·
Won Big Ten Championship by 59 points
·
Best SOS out of 3 teams
|
AGAINST
|
·
Lost to unranked West Virginia
·
Did not play in Conference Championship game
|
·
Weak strength of schedule (SOS)
·
Not outright conference champion
|
·
Worst loss out of 3 teams (Virginia Tech)
·
Starting their 3rd string QB (Braxton
Miller and J.T. Barrett out with injuries)
|
In the end the committee, gave the last
spot to Ohio State. TCU dropped three spots to #6 while Baylor moved up to #5.
The first ever College Football Playoff
is now set. Here are the matchups and of course the winner of the two National
Semifinal games will play for a National Championship on January 12, 2015
ROSE
BOWL: #2 Oregon vs.
#3 Florida State (January 1, 2015 5pm ESPN)
Florida State has yet to put together a
complete game this year. So no matter who they play, it seems to come down to
the wire. Oregon, on the other hand, hasn’t had a close game since they last
lost to Arizona in the first week of October. The key for Florida State is
going to be their defense. Oregon is averaging 46.3 points per game and Florida
State’s offense will not likely keep up especially if Jameis Winston throws multiple
interceptions. If Florida State wants any chance to repeat as National
Champions, they are going to have to slow down the tempo and limit Oregon’s
offense. That is going to be very tough to do considering Oregon has,
potentially, the Heisman Trophy winner starting at QB. Marcus Mariota will give
Florida State fits on defense and Oregon will win this game 38-24.
SUGAR
BOWL: #1 Alabama vs.
#4 Ohio State (January 1, 2015 8:30pm ESPN)
Ohio State has had a very unfortunate
season regarding injuries. They lost starting QB Braxton Miller before the
season even started. Then his backup, J.T. Barrett, who had proved himself has
a great starting QB, went down in the regular season finale against archrival
Michigan. This left the Buckeyes with third stringer Cardale Jones. He did not
seem to have a problem in the Big Ten Championship throwing for over 250 yards
and three TDs. This game is going to be fun to watch as it is a strong offense
(Ohio State) vs. a strong defense (Alabama). It is not like Alabama is
incapable of putting up points either. With Heisman candidate Amari Cooper, the
Tide could get into a shootout if needed. The difference in the game will end
up being defense and Jones is going to make a couple of big mistakes which will
help the Tide roll and return to the National Championship game. 45-30 Alabama.
