Conference USA Championship
New Mexico State 35-49 (24) Liberty
(Liberty and the over) Perfectly back and forth for 3 quarters, then Liberty took off in the 4th and New Mexico State couldn't keep up. I watched none of this, seems like a fun game, though. Where does Liberty go from here? Undefeated conference champ, gonna barely scrape the top 20, I'd kinda love to see them against Iowa.
Pac-12 Championship
(5) Oregon 31-34 (3) Washington
(Washington and the over) Washington dominated for most of the first half, moved the ball at will, bottled Oregon's attack for the most part. But Oregon scored right before halftime and then again on the opening drive of the 2nd, so even though UW had felt dominant, the score was only 20-17. Oregon got a stop and then another TD and suddenly it felt like the Ducks had their flow going. I had visions of the Tennessee @ Alabama where the Vols dominated the 1st half and then did nothing in the 2nd as the Tide got rolling--but that did not materialize as the Huskies found their offense again, hung 2 TD's on the Ducks and stopped them a coupla times. Then with about 2 minutes to go, Oregon's first play on that drive went for a long TD, but, man, the Washington defenders all just stood around watching as the WR went 70 yards on them (weird play, they're all just waiting for someone else to make the tackle). And just like that, it was a game again. But Oregon whiffed on the onside kick and the Huskies were able to put together enough offense to seal the victory. Good W for the Huskies, I think they've got an argument for the #1 seed. Curious to see if the Ducks mail in their bowl game or show up to win.
Big 12 Championship
(18) Oklahoma State 21-49 (7) Texas
(Texas and the over) Two things were apparent within the first five minutes of this game: the refs were not interested in calling defensive penalties on Texas and the Oklahoma State defense was just not gonna stop the Longhorns. And....yeah....that's pretty much the game: you just knew that Texas was gonna score every time they touched the ball and the refs weren't going to do anything to even the playing field. Texas ran, passed and kicked like m'f'n champs and the Cowboys mostly just watched. On the one hand I clearly underestimated Texas; on the other, I overestimated the Big 12....which actually pulls Texas back down a bit, right? Good W but I don't see how Texas gets into the top 4 (well, a rematch with Alabama felt like the natural consolation prize, but that ain't happening).
SEC Championship
(1) Georgia 24-27 (8) Alabama
(Alabama and the under) Great game! UGA went straight down the field and scored on their first drive, Bama sputtered on their first two, felt like maybe the Bulldogs were gonna roll the Tide. But, no, from that point on Georgia had trouble moving the ball and Bama looked ever more confident on their side. It became apparent pretty early, too, that this Georgia team wasn't quite as dominant as the previous two years and that Bama's early season stumbles were long in the past. Alabama got better throughout the season while UGA merely grew lazier. I get it: in college sports you've got to see it before you know its real, so UGA was still the fave, the one everyone expected to win. But this version of UGA just wasn't as dominant on the defensive line and the offense is nice but not infallible. Bama laid in wait all year long and timed up their opportunity nicely. Good win for Bama, they absolutely belong in the top 4. Tough L for UGA, in most seasons they'd still be top 4, too, but there's too many undefeated conference champs laying around for that to happen.
American Athletic Championship
Southern Methodist 26-14 (22) Tulane
(SMU and the under) I only caught snippets of this game but I never caught Tulane doing anything at all. Even on their home field, it never seemed to me that Tulane ever had a chance. SMU came to play and they got it done convincingly. Good W for SMU. Tough break, Tulane, you annoyed me all year and now I'm officially done paying attention to you.
Big 10 Championship
(2) Michigan 26-0 (16) Iowa
(Michigan and the under) Wow, what a staggeringly dull game and a rather pitiful performance from the team that will likely be anointed #1. Yeah, I get it: Iowa has a good defense but the Wolverines are supposed to be the #1 team in the land, for them to muster up 4 FG's, a punt return and a gift fumble recovery from the refs (dang, how many times did Iowa get gypped by the refs for no reason this year?) was more than a little disconcerting. They're gonna take down Alabama with this squad that got nothing done against Iowa? Huh...I don't see that happening. I kept trying to make the case for Iowa this year but, man, their offense is so bad, I just couldn't do it. The score looks like a drubbing but not really, Michigan only found the end zone by accident a coupla times, otherwise this game was pretty even....depressingly even for Wolverine fans.
ACC Championship
(14) Louisville 6-16 (4) Florida State
(Florida State and the under) Jeez, another dull game. I get that FSU was on their 8th QB or whatever, but what happened to Louisville? Where was their unstoppable offense? Neither team could get anything going and on both sides it felt like zero offense was the main culprit. I like good defense as much as the next guy, but defenses are only good when they're forced to make stops against a good offense....and there was no good offense in this game. Pure slog from beginning to end. Louisville goes out with 2 bad L's and FSU inspired no confidence in their playoff resume.
My final top 12
(1) Washington
Beat Oregon twice, went undefeated through a tough Pac 12, love their QB, I'm all in on Washington.
(2) Alabama
One tough L, rolled through a tough SEC, clearly bested the two-time champ, vastly improved their QB play throughout the season, they are rolling right now, why shouldn't they be ahead of Michigan?
(3) Georgia
One L to a really good team and, yes, they weren't as good as previous years, but, too, why shouldn't they be ahead of Michigan?
(4) Michigan
Strong W's over Penn State and Ohio State, good enough I guess against Iowa, didn't fall apart during off-field controversy, steady top tier squad all season long. Likely #1 seed going into the playoff (but I don't think they survive a match with Alabama).
(5) Ohio State
Couldn't get it done against Michigan but otherwise a spotless season. Are they better than Texas? Their competition was better than UT's competition, so....yeah.
(6) Texas
Better than I gave them credit for but....were they? Yeah, we get it, they won at Tuscaloosa, great W, I hope those guys get free beers for life for that feat, here's one more (and final) round of applause for your win at Alabama, best win of the year. But can we move on to the rest of the season or, namely, the rest of the Big 12, which was not that strong this year (as proven by the fact that Oklahoma State played in the title game). Texas is nice but outside of that really great W months ago, I just don't see it with this team.
(7) Oregon
Good offense, but couldn't get by the Huskies. I know they're good but I can't help thinking their ridiculous margins of victory were too gaudy, too showy, maybe they ran it up on teams they knew were inferior. I dunno, Oregon had a good season and really had moments of looking like the best team in the country but they couldn't solve the Huskies.
(8) Florida State
Will the 1st string QB be back? If so, I give them a puncher's chance against a good opponent but if they've going with QB#3, then I'm out, that's not gonna get it done. The Seminoles won their games, I get that, but their wins seem awfully hollow--and, like Texas, their best victory (@LSU) was a long long time ago.
(9-12) Missouri, Penn State, Mississippi, Arizona
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