The field is set, the games are scheduled, and college football fans have an absolutely scrumptious holiday buffet of playoff games set out in front of them.
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee unveiled its final rankings and the bracket for the first-ever field of 12 teams competing for a national title in the expanded playoff format later on this month.
The top four seeds in the tournament – Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State – receive a bye in the tournament’s first round and will prepare for a game on either New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. They’ll be watching at home as the rest of the teams compete in the first round of games in a little less than two weeks.
Those matchups are: No. 7 seed Notre Dame hosting No. 10 seed Indiana at 8 p.m. ET on December 20, No. 6 seed Penn State hosting No. 11 seed Southern Methodist University at noon ET on December 21, No. 5 seed Texas hosting No. 12 seed Clemson at 4 p.m. ET on December 21 and No. 8 seed Ohio State hosting No. 9 seed Tennessee at 8 p.m. ET on December 21.
Here are five takeaways from the reveal of the College Football Playoff tournament on Sunday.
SMU is in, Alabama is out and the committee makes a statement
The SMU Mustangs were selected to the field of 12 despite a heartbreaking loss in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game to Clemson on Saturday, as the Tigers hit a 56-yard field goal as time expired to win the game.
But there were still some nerves. Were the Ponies good enough to make the field over three-loss Alabama, the traditional powerhouse that had only missed the playoffs twice since it began in the 2014 season? Only the selection committee knew.
The question set up a major test for the committee in the first year of the expanded field: Would teams be punished for playing in their conference championship game and losing in favor of brand names who sat at home on Championship Saturday?
By sending the Ponies to the playoffs, the committee set the precedent.
“We looked at the number of wins that Alabama had against ranked opponents. We looked at SMU’s schedule and they were undefeated in conference. Their losses were to ranked teams but we also looked at Alabama’s loss to unranked teams,” said Warde Manuel, the University of Michigan athletic director who is serving as chair of the committee.
“We value strength of schedule. That’s why Alabama is a three-loss team is ranked ahead of other teams that have two losses. … But in the balance of it, in the way SMU played in that game, losing on the last second field goal, great win by Clemson, a great game.
“We just felt that in this particular case, SMU still had the nod at 10 above Alabama, but it’s no disrespect to Alabama’s strength of schedule.”
It will be a tough pill for the Tide to swallow, but fans of the traditional conference championship games will rejoice as the committee ensures their importance in this new system.
Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State each won their conference championship games this weekend and now get to rest and recover for a few weeks before their quarterfinal matchups.
The top four seeds are relishing the rest
Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart made a point to note the upcoming break as he celebrated his team’s SEC championship game on Saturday, gesturing toward conference boss Greg Sankey as he remarked on the tough season his team had played.
“It means rest for a team that Greg Sankey and his staff sent on the road all year long,” Kirby said while being interviewed after the game. We get to take a little bit of a break and get ready for the College Football Playoff. Team needs some rest mentally.”
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said Sunday that he’s planning to use the next couple weeks to figure out what the Ducks need to fix before they take on the winner of Ohio State-Tennessee.
Since Oregon doesn’t yet know their next opponent, Lanning added that their preparation would focus on finding “potential issues for us down the road” that would remain the same for any opponent.
Ohio State vs. Tennessee set to be the marquee matchup of the first round
The first round game that immediately raised eyebrows is a battle of college football bluebloods.
The Ohio State University Buckeyes and the University of Tennessee Volunteers will play under the lights at 8 p.m. on December 21 in Ohio Stadium. The famous venue nicknamed “The Horseshoe” has been home to scores of classics over the years and will present an intimidating atmosphere as the final game of the first round – for both teams.
The last time the Buckeyes left that field, they had just lost in the final minute against their biggest rivals, the University of Michigan. It was the fourth straight loss in that rivalry and it was clear that the more than 100,000 fans in the Columbus stadium were beyond disappointed.
The atmosphere throughout the game was tense and strange. The Buckeyes could not put away a lesser Michigan team and lost their chance to play for a Big Ten championship and a first round bye.
The Volunteers, meanwhile, will be disappointed to not be playing at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, but will be ready for the test. Tennessee has been resurgent in recent years after a long, dark period in program history and head coach Josh Heupel is sure to have his team ready to play.
Ahead of the game, questions will be looming about whether Ohio State head coach Ryan Day will be able to do the same for his squad. After four straight defeats to Michigan and no national titles during his tenure as head coach, Day is on the hot seat despite being one of the most successful coaches in college football.
Texas may have the clearest path to a national championship
The University of Texas Longhorns lost a heartbreaker to Georgia in the SEC championship game Saturday night. Their spirits should be buoyed by their draw in the final playoff bracket revealed Sunday.
The Longhorns will take on Clemson, the ACC champion and only three-loss team in the field that snuck into the playoff thanks to a massive upset by Syracuse over Miami on November 30 and a clutch 56-yard field goal as time expired to top SMU in the conference championship game.
If Texas beats the Tigers, they’ll go on to the Peach Bowl to play Big 12 champion Arizona State, the unlikely fourth team to receive a first round bye. The Sun Devils have played inspiring ball this season behind the heroics of running back Cam Skattebo and quarterback Sam Leavitt. But the Devils have been known to make some mistakes and are untested on the sport’s biggest stage, while the Longhorns are appearing in the playoffs for the second season in a row.
The road gets a lot tougher from that point on, as would be expected. If Texas can win its first two games, the Longhorns would face a semifinal matchup against either Oregon, Ohio State or Tennessee.
A Hoosier-state showdown
There’s usually a stark divide in Indiana’s college athletics: Football is covered in gold and basketball is a deep crimson.
This year, Notre Dame’s gold helmets will clash with the Indiana Hoosiers’ crimson and cream in a first-round game that will not only be to advance in the playoffs but also for home state supremacy. It’ll be the first time the two teams have played each other since 1991.
“It’s exciting to say you’re a part of the first home playoff game in Notre Dame history,” said Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman.
“We’re grateful for the opportunity and looking forward to it.”
“We can’t help but notice what a terrific job they’ve done there this year at Indiana … we understand the challenge we have coming up,” Freeman added.
The Fighting Irish are one of the winningest college football teams in history and will enter the game as the favorite, but Indiana’s season has been one of the biggest stories of college football this year. The Hoosiers only loss came to Ohio State, and they rarely trailed in their 11 wins.
Still, beating Notre Dame on their own field in the playoff would be the biggest win in program history and the Hoosiers will be looking to overcome their own moribund football history along with Notre Dame’s talent and mystique.
