Hello, fair readers. If you may recall, the College Football Playoff is the ultimate championship of the ultimate sport. If you have not already, please read my before-playoff article in which I described exactly what this competition is and who is in it. This is my reaction to the events, which have so dramatically played out.
In case you didn’t watch all of the games, the playoff involved a weird combination of by the book games, upsets, and blowouts. In the first round, number 12 James Madison University made a crazy effort and scored 34 points while still falling to number 5 Oregon. Expected. Likewise, number 6 Ole Miss took care of Tulane at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium before a record-breaking crowd, possibly the greatest sporting event in the history of the state of Mississippi. But in the other two playoff games, strange things happened. Number 10 Miami and number 7 Texas A&M had a very slow, low scoring clown show of a game, in which the Canes prevailed 10-3 in College Station. At the “Palace on the Prairie” (more accurately known as the Shack in the Prairie Fire), Number 8 Oklahoma jumped to a 17-0 lead over the indomitable number 9 Alabama Crimson Tide. However, Ty Simpson and the Tide rolled back to victory in an improbable comeback victory that might have been one of the greatest games in playoff history.
The quarterfinals went somewhat shockingly, but then the shock kind of became expected. The deadly first round bye, giving teams way too much time off, killed 3 of its 4 victims. Number 10 Miami was able to beat pre-playoff favorite (of the sportsbooks, not I) Number 2 Ohio State in a heck of a Cotton Bowl, finally relieving the world of having to watch the team of the worst and most hated state of them all. Number 4 Texas Tech was also owned by their first-round bye, falling to Number 5 Oregon in a blowout, without the Raiders scoring a single point at Hard Rock Stadium in the Orange Bowl. In Pasadena, hopeful crowds awaited the highly anticipated matchup of the Tide and number 1 Indiana. Sadly, the soulless life-suckers of the Big 10 stripped the now-melancholy Tide of the will to play and ousted them 38-3 before a crowd of heartbroken fans in California. But the SEC wasn’t done yet. The last hurrah would be the most exciting and close quarterfinal of them all, the Sugar Bowl. Number 3 Georgia, the SEC champion, took on the Rebs of Ole Miss. Thanks in part to the great legs of Georgia kicker Peyton Woodring and Ole Miss kicker Lucas Carneiro, this was a heck of a game. It went back and forth, both Trinidad Chambliss and Gunner Stockton completing crazy passes in a game that went down to the last second. I mean “last second” literally, because Ole Miss kicked the game-winning field goal, but then had to kick off. The Georgia receiver dropped the ball which actually hit the pylon resulting in a safety with 1 second left after a review. This led to the already celebrating ceremony people having to disassemble the ceremony stage for one more play, which proved fruitless for Georgia, even though they recovered an onside kick. At least one SEC team remained to carry on the glory.
The semifinals were more disastrous. In the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona, the Ole Miss Rebs faced the somewhat underrated Miami Hurricanes. Despite some crazy touchdown runs and great plays by both teams, this game ultimately was decided by poor sportsmanship. An intentional pass interference by Miami stopped a Hail Mary pass by Ole Miss that could have won it for them. Well, that was a choice. By contrast, the Peach Bowl was a battle of the dark sides. Oregon played Indiana and got absolutely blown away in an all-Big 10 bloodbath. Dante Moore seemed more like a punching bag than a QB, but Fernando Mendoza appeared as the great star of the night.
At last, on a random Monday night came the National Championship Game. It was awesome. President Trump was there, Hard Rock was packed, and the Canes actually came out strong. They got a bunch of three and outs and were able to keep the game close the entire time. Unfortunately, a miserable 4th and 5 disaster led to an Indiana touchdown, and despite Carson Beck’s valiant efforts to come back the Canes fell at home, 27-21. It was not the greatest end to a season imaginable. Indiana was very lucky the committee did not give Vanderbilt a playoff berth, for the Commodores would have plied the stormy seas and achieved the greatest treasure of all – a national title. But for all the teams and fanbases, there remains the hope of the next year.
