The College Football playoffs are among us, and this year it comes with the twist of 12 teams, which calls for more games, more controversy, and even an even better championship.
First off, we’ll start with the first game on the bracket, which is Clemson at Texas. Texas has been a powerhouse this season, with their “Achilles Heel” being Georgia, which is responsible for both.
Clemson on the other hand limped into the playoffs, with their win in the conference championship against SMU, but have had some bad losses against Georgia, Louisville, and South Carolina. I do think Texas will win, and pretty convincingly, as I don’t think Clemson really has any chance of going anywhere.
Next we have Tennessee and Ohio State. Ohio State is coming off a bye, while the week before losing to Michigan. Tennessee, though, has won the last 6 of 7 of their games, their only loss being to Georgia. I do believe in streaks, like what happened to Pitt after their first loss, so I do think Tennessee will win.
Now we have Penn State and SMU. SMU was looking really good until their loss to Clemson, and after the Oregon game I am feeling a lot more confident about Penn State. Another factor is that the game right here at Penn State, and SMU has to come up all the way from Texas to play, all while they have never heard a stadium nearly as loud as Beaver Stadium. In the end Penn State will probably have a pretty strong game against SMU, and come away with a solid win.
Last in the first round is Indiana and Notre Dame, an in-state battle. So travel isn’t really a problem, but I do think Notre Dame has proven after the NIU loss that they belong in the playoffs, Indiana on the other hand has proved that they can beat mediocre teams and not any good ones. So I do think Notre Dame will win, and probably convincingly.