CFP Favorites Hold Serve in Championship Games

Published on 8-Dec-2019 by Alan Adamsson

Football - NCAA    NCAA Football Daily Update

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CFP Favorites Hold Serve in Championship Games

For the first time since the College Football Playoff format was adopted, the stars aligned so not even the Selection Committee could screw them up.

While the concept of leaving any conference champion outta post-season playoffs is still inane, for the first time, the Featured Four are indeed all conference champions.

And when all was said and done, none of them left any doubt about it.

 

The consensus was, if anyone was gonna throw a monkey wrench into a clean finish, it'd be Georgia.

The Bulldogs somehow managed to lose a game to South Carolina, but on paper at least, dudes had as much of a shot as Alabama and Auburn to cage the Bayou Bengals.

Turns out, as the Tide and Tigers discovered, that wasn't much of a shot at all, as in a 37-10 beatdown:

 

Not so surprisingly, the momentary scare happened in Indianapolis at the Big Ten title game.

Wisconsin was determined to make amends for its bedwetting in Columbus during the regular season, and the Badgers did make a game of it for a half.

Unfortunately for them, that's when Ohio State remembered that they were Ohio State. Vapor trails soon commenced, as the Buckeyes ran away with a 34-21 romp:

 

Then, there's defending champion Clemson.

Dabo Swinney has turned the perception of being dissed into a rallying cry for his Tigers, which never really has made much sense. When you've got a four-team playoff field, all that matters is being in. Who cares who your first opponent's gonna be?

 

Of course we do.

 

All that pent-up motivation was wasted on Virginia, though.

The Tigers laid a 62-17 dismantling on the Cavaliers that only really proved this wasn't a big year for the ACC, but that sure as hell doesn't mean Clemson has to aplogize for anything.

Especially for being a well-oiled machine:

 

After Oregon got done confirming that the real power in the Pac-12 remains in the North, the Oklahoma Sooners weren't gonna pass up the opportunity.

Dudes deployed a scorched-earth second half with their 25-point comeback at Baylor last month, and in the Big XII title clash, they started ahead and stayed there with a 30-23 triumph:

 

Out West, sentiment remains that Oregon -- as the Pac-12 champion -- coulda held their own in this company, and that may be right. But until a real tournament of champions makes it into the FBS scene, we'll never know.

We should just be thankful for the field we've got. Outta the eight units to play in the CFP semifinals, only Oklahoma's defense might be facing a big ask for the task at hand.

 

Before Lincoln Riley saunters off into the sunset to take the Dallas Cowboys job, he's sure to have a few long sessions with DC Alex Grinch, who came from Ohio State after making his mark at Wazzu.

LSU seems to have locked up the team of destiny role, what with Joe Burrow's excellent adventures, and there's no doubt the Sooners have dibs on the surprise team.

 

Right now, that could be the most intriguing CFP matchup in a situation that has lots of them.

Those possibilities include the thought of Burrow facing the Buckeyes.

 

Actually, we will, because there's no other choice.

Fortunately, however the pairings are set, it'll be worth it.