December 8, 2016 v3 p67
The conference championships were supposed to help the playoff committee determine which teams should make it into the playoffs. They did that, for the most part. Here’s what I took away.
USA Today
MAC Championship – Western Michigan vs Ohio – PJ Fleck and his Broncos “Rowed the Boat” all the way down I-94 to Ford Field in Detroit for their first MAC Championship since 1988. They did have a couple of turnovers in the second half, which is not the norm for this team. The final score of 29-23 is actually closer than it seems as the Broncos scored on seven possessions, leading them to a birth in the Cotton Bowl against Wisconsin.
Pac 12 – Washington Huskies vs Colorado Buffaloes – In the game that was supposed to be one that would have the most impact on the final participants in the College Football Playoff, the Huskies took a 14-7 lead into the locker room at the half and turned it into a 41-10 drubbing. The playoff committee had the Huskies ahead of Michigan by a very slim margin at the end of the regular season. When Washington faces Alabama in the first round of the playoffs it will tell us just how good or bad the rest of the Pac 12 really is.
Big 12 – Oklahoma vs Oklahoma St – The Sooners fell behind early and had to comeback in the first half in order to go into the locker room tied with Oklahoma State at the half way mark of “Bedlam.” A dominating second half was enough to prove that they are the cream of the crop in the Big 12 Conference. Unfortunately being the best team in the worst of the Power 5 conferences won’t always get you an invitation to the playoffs.
SEC – Alabama vs Florida – Nick Saban has his team hitting on all cylinders at the right time. This game wasn’t really much of a contest even though Florida jumped out to an early 9-0 lead. From there the Gators were only able to muster one more touchdown as the Crimson Tide rolled their way to 54 total points, the most allowed by the Florida Gators in more than a decade.
Big Ten – Wisconsin vs Penn State – In a matchup of what many experts were saying was a game between the third and fourth best teams in the conference, it certainly wasn’t a disappointment. The Badgers from Wisconsin took an early lead and it looked like they were ready to move their season on to the Rose Bowl. Unfortunately for them Penn State has been playing their best football in the second half of games all season, and this game was not different as they outscored Wisconsin 24-3 to win and send themselves to Pasadena and Wisconsin to Dallas.
ACC – Clemson vs Virginia Tech – The final score in this one is another one where it looks like it was a closer game than it actually was. With a two touchdown lead after three quarters the Tigers scored one more in the fourth quarter to make sure they outlasted the Hokies. That type of defensive performance may not hold up well against Ohio State when they meet up in the playoffs.
When all the dust had settled pretty much nothing changed in the final rankings from the College Football Playoff committee. They did flip-flop Clemson and Ohio State in their rankings, putting the Tigers ahead. This doesn’t really change anything other than which color uniform each team wears and who gets to call heads or tails during the coin flip. The biggest question going in to the weekend was how well would Washington perform against Colorado. This mattered because the committee had made it known that they only had the Huskies ahead of the Wolverines by a slim margin. That probably meant that if Washington lost, or only beat Colorado by a small margin, then Michigan would get the nod. The criteria for the committee to determine how they rank teams includes a lot of things. They include record, common opponents, conference championships, etc. The group of four that the committee chose is close to the best four teams in the country, which is what they are trying to get. In the final rankings the committee put Penn State at five and Michigan at six. I have to believe that is a result of the conference championship. Although Michigan beat Penn State head-to-head, it wouldn’t have mattered where the committee put them because the winner of the B1G was going to end up in the Rose Bowl if they didn’t replace Ohio State as a representative in the playoffs. After all of the football I watched I believe the committee got it right, almost. If I were to rank the top six teams in the country, not necessarily for the playoffs but best teams, it would be (in order) Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Michigan, Washington, Penn State. Based on the weakness of the Pac 12 beyond the Huskies, Colorado, USC, and Washington State I have a hard time getting behind Washington. The semi-final matchup against Alabama should show you what I mean. I don’t think they’ll get blown out 38-0, but I don’t think it will be a very close game.
The most interesting thing that came out of the conference championship weekend is the matchup for the Cotton Bowl. The Wisconsin Badgers will face off against the only undefeated team in the country not named Alabama, the Western Michigan University Broncos. The betting line in Las Vegas opened at Wisconsin -6.5 points. For those of you who don’t bet professionally that means they are favored to win by less than a touchdown. Coach Fleck has been the hottest thing in college football over the last month of the season. ESPN had him on campus in Bristol Connecticut to run through their “car wash” where he appeared on almost every one of their sports talk shows in a single day. That betting line is really a show of respect for what the Broncos have accomplished this year. The MAC may be one of the weakest conferences in FBS level college football, but to run the table in any sport, at any level, is an amazing feat. The Badgers bring a very strong defense to the game on January 2, but the Broncos really aren’t a slouch themselves. They feature the all-time leading receiver in FBS history in Corey Davis, a Heisman Trophy finalist in Quarterback Zach Terrell, and defense that features one of the best cornerbacks in the country in Darius Phillips. I’m not going to say that the Broncos are going to win the Cotton Bowl, but I believe they will surprise a lot of people around the country and make it a very competitive game, possibly the best one of the day on January 2nd.
Quad City Times
After 13 weeks of regular season games, and a week of conference championships, the college football season is starting to come to a close. That makes me sad, but I’m ready to inundate myself with four solid days of football over New Year’s weekend. Be sure to check back here next week as I preview the bowl season.