Where do we even begin in what was the most chaotic Championship Saturday in College Football history?
From sunrise to well after sunset, football was on the television screen. Yes, even that futbol with team USA losing 3-1 to the Netherlands in the World Cup’s Knockout Round of 16.
USA soccer is defined by a haphazard, controlled chaos scrappy style of play. Their lone goal was when someone finally got their foot on a crossed ball yards in front of the net. The ricochet from the deflection sent the ball scoring 18 feet in the air and with enough pace and backspin to drop into the goal right out of reach of the six-foot-eight purple goalie and accompanying orange defenders.
Hope, but only for a moment.
Meanwhile the Dutch were clearly more polished. Like the sun on the mountains of Kuzcotopia, when the Dutch hit the cross just right, the ball sung.
And sing it did. Three times, like a well-oiled machine.
Some CFB teams are like Dutch— poetry on grass—while others are like the USA—nails on a chalkboard. But that is what make CFB the best sport; there is a balance that needs to be kept when evaluating every team across the nation; measuring everybody’s accomplishments equally and making a Playoff selection that advances the sport.
So naturally, the dysfunction stems from the Pac-12 and Big 12. And that is where we must begin.
All USC and TCU had to do was win, secure their respective conference championships and advance to the Playoff. Instead, they each lost to three loss teams in dramatic fashion and left everything to chance.
For the record, the Trojans and Horned Frogs winning would have been great for CFB. It would have ensured two new Playoff teams, and kept this era’s powerhouses of Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State out for sure.
Caleb Williams ‘popped’ his hamstring in the first quarter and never looked the same against Utah as the Utes sacked him over and over en route to their 47-24 win. Cam Rising and the Utes are now 2-0 against Lincoln Riley this season; but they lost to UCLA, Oregon and Florida by a combined 16 points.
The Pac-12 has clearly been the second best conference in the nation this year in their best season in six to eight years. Yet, here was the ‘After Dark’ nonsense that sent the Utes to the title game:
Utah beat Colorado; Oregon State beat Oregon; Washington beat Washington State
It created a three-way tie with 7-2 league records. Oregon beat Utah and Washington beat Oregon, but the Huskies and Utes didn’t play. Utah won via better win percentage vs common opponents.
Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. must be wondering what in the world he has to do in order to catch a break?
He was left out of the Big Ten Title game in the 2020 Covid season; now he’s left out of the Pac-12 title game; and he has been forgotten about in the Heisman race despite leading the nation in passing.
The Big Ten changes the rules; the Pac-12 rules didn’t included an overall record component and the Heisman front runner is a guy who lost to the Utes twice despite painting ‘Fuck Utah’ on his fingernails.
So much for Lincoln Riley’s code of sportsmanship.
Quick thoughts on the Heisman. My top six are:
Williams
Penix Jr.
Max Duggan
Deuce Vaughn
Jalin Hyatt
Bijan Robinson
If I were a voter, I think I stay away from Williams. The nails really rub me the wrong way and it was clear that the two guys who dominated the Big 12 title game are just as deserving.
For the second straight year, the Big 12 Championship game had the following:
A top 10 matchup with CFP implications
The underdog playing with a *backup QB
A Goal-to-Go defensive stand to end* the game
No Texas or Oklahoma gear in sight
This game had it all. The Wildcats looked to be dominating; however, could not gain separation from the Horned Frogs. Kansas State had a safety overturned via review and later muffed a critical punt to allow TCU back in the game.
Duggan threw a horrendous interception in the end zone and Vaughn capitalized with a nasty juke move in space on a corner. But TCU did what had done all season when behind late in games.
They conjured the Hypnotoad.
The Frogs trailed 28-20 with seven minutes to play. But they overcame that exact same deficit just two weeks ago in Waco. It didn’t even seem surprising when they did it again here.
Duggan had runs of 15, 13, 19, 40 and an eight yard touchdown (an subsequent two point pass completion) on the overtime forcing drive. If you saw his skin, you likely saw blood gushing out. He was gasping for air, asking teammates to give him space as blood oozed out from everywhere—forearms, shins, calf, and hands—but his eyes.
He had a final run in overtime that left him literally inches short of the end zone. Then TCU was stuffed two straight times, which brought back memories of Baylor’s goal line stand against Oklahoma State in the waning seconds.
Kansas State kicked a field goal to pull off the 31-28 upset.
But will it actually knock the Frogs from the Playoffs? Send them from third to sixth in the rankings like they did in 2014— TCU was penalized for not playing in a title game, whereas a decade later they would ironically be penalized for participating in one.
The Big 12 has a unique history—more than any other— of spoiling each other’s national championship hopes in their own conference title games.
1996: Texas upset Nebraska
1998: Texas A&M upset Kansas State (BCS would later add a ‘Top 4’ rule about automatically playing in a BCS game)
2001: Colorado upset Texas (in a wild ‘only CFB’ scenario, the Buffs actually upset Nebraska the week before. This upset then sent the Cornhuskers back to the Rose Bowl to play for the BCS title where they would proceed to get thumped by Miami).
2003: Kansas State upset Oklahoma (the Sooners would play for, and lose, the BCS crown anyway).
2007: Oklahoma upset Missouri (The Tigers had just beaten unbeaten Kansas. This also allowed LSU back in the race where the Tigers jump started the SEC’s reign of terror).
2014: The Big 12 foolishly declined to submit a conference champion to the CFP committee, which left both Baylor and TCU on the outside looking in.
2021: Baylor upset Oklahoma State (if Cincinnati isn’t perfect, then perhaps the Bear are the first two loss team to get in the CFP)
2022: TBA with TCU
Everybody is refusing to talk about Kansas State, so the question has centered on will TCU be kept in the top 4 despite the defeat?
With all the upsets, Alabama Coach Nick Saban was able to join the FOX halftime show during the Big Ten title game and explain why he thought the Tide should be in the top four.
He alluded to close losses to top teams on the final play — He neglected to talk about the wins he had on the final plays.
He talked about the injury to Bryce Young — USC’s Williams played three quarters on one leg; Duggan was bleeding from his extremities; Tennessee lost Hendon Hooker.
He talked about his team’s recent winning streak — This includes FCS Austin Peay and coachless Auburn.
He spoke how well his team is playing at the present moment — Not about Tulane, Kansas State and Utah who were all actually playing and won titles this weekend.
And he said that ‘Bama would be favored by Vegas against the other teams — There is hypocrisy to this statement as Saban has criticized the media in the past for feeding his team rat poison when talking about betting lines. You cannot have it both ways. Furthermore, five-stars, favorites and eye test candy cannot solely be used for inviting teams to the Playoff. Otherwise, what is the point of it all?
To some extent, the Playoff Committee has to reward teams for winning championships, beating teams head to head and scheduling tough non-conference games.
The Playoff Committee has strayed from the above and been unable to maintain the integrity of the sport itself. Mainly because they are following a flawed mission statement and as a result have build an unstable foundation off of the word ‘best’.
And since the Committee is non-transparent (members’ votes should be available to the public and defenses should be written for their decisions like Supreme Court justices), they are not as insulated as they should be from coaches and TV executives looking to line their wallets.
Make no mistake, ‘Bama has earned nothing. Believing Saban that they should be one of the top four is the same as believing that crypto FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried didn’t commit wide scale and deliberate fraud to the tune of billions of dollars.
You want a two-loss SEC team to debate? Start with Tennessee.
Also, why does Saban get to have a stranglehold as the only coach who can advocate for his team to be in the Playoff? Every single coach has the ability and platform to do the same, and they should.
Why is Kyle Whittingham doing PR for Ohio State; why is Chris Klieman telling everyone TCU should go to the CFP minutes after beating them; heck, why is Dabo Swinney conceding his team is out of the Playoff after just one loss to the Irish this year?
Why did Dave Aranda not push harder for his Bears to be considered last season?
You have to make noise and be your own advocate because literally nobody else is doing it. Not sure if there is an unwritten rule that has developed over the years about this, but these teams should be doing full court media blitzes to put pressure on the Committee.
If nothing else, it will put your program in the spotlight and give you a nice buzz.
Otherwise nothing is going to change, and everyone wonders why the big brands continue to get in no matter the circumstance.
Georgia dropped 50 in the SEC title game, and will have their third Atlanta home game in the Peach Bowl semifinal. That included starting the game with a 95-yard blocked FG return TD and also had a crazy tip drill interception. They are the best team in the land, but just maybe Michigan can do what they couldn’t do a year ago?
The Wolverines are a tremendous team. Like TCU, they flip the switch in the second half but they don’t just survive their opponents they blow them out.
However, and this is slightly subjective, the Big Ten is likely the fourth best conference in the nation. They are behind the SEC, Pac-12 and then probably Big 12. They have the three powerhouses in the East, and even Penn State should drop out of the committee’s final top 10 rankings.
Ohio State is trying to sneak in at number four. Besides the Nittany Lions, no Big Ten opponent they faced finished with more than seven wins. The Buckeyes’ third best win on the season was MAC Champ Toledo, who they dropped 77 on.
Not sure how they let Michigan blow them out at home in the second half, and they still have the Penn State and Notre Dame wins that are keeping them in pole position with the chaos that just took place. If the Committee continues to refuse to be courageous, then Ohio State is a perfectly acceptable option over the likes of Alabama.
Michigan is damn good, and proved it yet again after a slow start against Purdue.
Clemson took care of North Carolina easily in the ACC title game. They ushered in a new era with Cade Klubnik taking over at quarterback.
If Clemson had not turned the ball over and beaten South Carolina last week, then maybe the Tigers are sliding in here as a one-loss ACC champ. Ohio State holds the Notre Dame common opponent card over the Tigers, but maybe they both get in since TCU and USC couldn’t finish the job.
In the end, it was a tough year for the ACC.
What is going to be lost in all the confusion of the weekend is the remarkable turnaround that Tulane accomplished. They went from 10 losses to 10 wins and won the American.
They also beat the Big 12 champs on the road.
And they are going to be unrewarded for doing so.
The Southern Miss loss hurts, but if all else was equal and the Green Wave only had one loss I still do not think that we would be evaluating them fairly.
I would argue that a one-loss Tulane team with a road victory over the Big 12 champs in a conference that is not as garbage as some would like you to believe should get in the four team playoff. This year, that’s just how everything fell into place.
That’s the beauty of college football. And that is how the Committee should be thinking and working to protect the purity and innocence of the sport.
The larger issue is how this Tulane team would be treated in the future 12-team Playoff.
The 12-team Playoff attempts to make conference championship games matter more, giving the top six champions automatic bids and the top four champs first round byes. However, they do not guarantee the other two champs first round home games.
That means Tulane would be going into Tuscaloosa or Knoxville despite having won their league, beaten similar ranked teams and even defeating the Big 12 champ.
Again, the 12-team Playoff is starting out upon a unstable foundation, not from the standpoint of inclusion but that of winnability. Further, the quarterfinals should also be played on campus to give another incentive to the winners and make CFB that much more unique.
If we want to give Alabama a second chance because Bryce Young was injured, fine but make them earn it in this system. Have them go on the road in back to back weeks before having the semis and title game be at neutral venues.
The selection is at noon eastern today. We’ll see where the chips fall, finish bowl season and work to evolve from there.
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