Mike Meals
Guest
The BBC Playoff Committee: Week 1
Mike Meals via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The calendar has flipped over to October. All across the country, conference play is in full swing, with most teams having played 2 or 3 conference games already. As such, the crew from The Buckeye Battle Cry took it upon ourselves to make sure you know who would be playing in the New Year Six Bowl Games.
This year, the College Football Playoffs will be played in the Peach Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl, pitting the four best teams in the country in a tournament to be crowned National Champions. That also means the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Cotton Bowl will host the eight next best teams, in an effort to maintain traditional rivalries and match ups, while setting up the most entertaining matchups possible.
After tallying the votes among the least official bowl selection committee this side of the NCAA, we have made our predictions on who will be the Final Four, and who we see in the remainder of the games.
The Playoff Teams
For 6th place, we actually currently have a tie. Louisville, behind the incredible season from Lamar Jackson so far, are still getting a lot of support even with their recent loss to Clemson. They tied Texas A&M. The Aggies are off to one of their best starts in recent history, and are carried by the play of Trevor Knight and Myles Garret. However, A&M has a big game looming in the near future with Alabama, and the rest of their SEC West schedule could greatly change their position with voters.
In 5th place, and the last team out of the playoff, is Michigan. The eventual Big Ten East runner-up comes off a woodshed beat down of Rutgers last week, and are playing their best football of the season right now.
Our 4th place team, and the first team in the Playoff, is Washington. The Huskies don’t get a lot of exposure on the east coast, but anyone who watched their Friday night game vs Stanford, and last week’s dominate effort against Oregon, knows they are playing great football right now. The question is if anyone can run the table in the PAC 12, as there are questions with every team.
In the 3rd slot, we currently have ACC front runner Clemson. The Tigers took out Louisville earlier this season at home, and have tried but failed to succeed in Clemsoning the season away. Dabo has his hands full still, with NC State, Florida State, and an ACC Championship matchup with either UNC or Miami looming in the future.
At #2, we find our beloved Ohio State Buckeyes. The general consensus is that Ohio State will continue to dominate the Big Ten, and may even be the best team in the country. But you can’t look past this weekend’s showdown at Camp Randall, and future games against Michigan and Michigan State (yes, I know Sparty looks bad, but when has that game been easy lately for the Buckeyes?)
The #1 seed currently, according to the committee, is Alabama. The defending National Champions were a near unanimous pick at #1. The Tide, even with a freshman quarterback leading the offense, is still commanding respect from the voters. This Alabama team still has a ton of talent, but they seem to have a few more weaknesses than recent Bama teams. Of course, the SEC west will still push and challenge and push Saban’s boys. Like the Big Ten east, there is a clear favorite in a division that is far from a cakewalk.
As for predictions, this committee sees Alabama winning the Peach Bowl, and the Buckeyes moving on from the Fiesta. Call it homerism if you want, but know that there is a lot of sentiment that this Buckeye team is at least as good, if not better, than the 2014 team that took down the Tide. Ohio State is currently the unanimous pick to win the National Championship after the final gun in Tampa on January 9th.
Placing the rest of the New Year’s Six
In the Rose Bowl, we currently see the matchup being Michigan from the Big Ten taking on PAC 12 potential runner up Utah.
In the Sugar Bowl, which matches the SEC vs the Big 12, our committee is pitting Texas A&M against Oklahoma, in a former Big 12 rematch.
As for the Cotton Bowl, which will feature the highest ranking Group of Five team playing an at large, you can look forward to a rematch from last year’s Peach Bowl, as Houston travels to Dallas to take on Florida State. It will be interesting to see this match up a year later, this time in Houston’s backyard as opposed to FSU’s. Also, you have to notice the head coaches in this game are the current front runners to replace Les Miles at LSU.
Lastly, for the Orange Bowl, the Big Ten looks to send a third team, Wisconsin, to do battle with the aforementioned Louisville Cardinals. This will either be a really exciting game, or a really boring game, depending on which offense Wisconsin sends and if they are able to control the clock, keeping Lamar Jackson on the sidelines as much as possible.
The post The BBC Playoff Committee: Week 1 appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...
Mike Meals via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The calendar has flipped over to October. All across the country, conference play is in full swing, with most teams having played 2 or 3 conference games already. As such, the crew from The Buckeye Battle Cry took it upon ourselves to make sure you know who would be playing in the New Year Six Bowl Games.
This year, the College Football Playoffs will be played in the Peach Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl, pitting the four best teams in the country in a tournament to be crowned National Champions. That also means the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Cotton Bowl will host the eight next best teams, in an effort to maintain traditional rivalries and match ups, while setting up the most entertaining matchups possible.
After tallying the votes among the least official bowl selection committee this side of the NCAA, we have made our predictions on who will be the Final Four, and who we see in the remainder of the games.
The Playoff Teams
For 6th place, we actually currently have a tie. Louisville, behind the incredible season from Lamar Jackson so far, are still getting a lot of support even with their recent loss to Clemson. They tied Texas A&M. The Aggies are off to one of their best starts in recent history, and are carried by the play of Trevor Knight and Myles Garret. However, A&M has a big game looming in the near future with Alabama, and the rest of their SEC West schedule could greatly change their position with voters.
In 5th place, and the last team out of the playoff, is Michigan. The eventual Big Ten East runner-up comes off a woodshed beat down of Rutgers last week, and are playing their best football of the season right now.
Our 4th place team, and the first team in the Playoff, is Washington. The Huskies don’t get a lot of exposure on the east coast, but anyone who watched their Friday night game vs Stanford, and last week’s dominate effort against Oregon, knows they are playing great football right now. The question is if anyone can run the table in the PAC 12, as there are questions with every team.
In the 3rd slot, we currently have ACC front runner Clemson. The Tigers took out Louisville earlier this season at home, and have tried but failed to succeed in Clemsoning the season away. Dabo has his hands full still, with NC State, Florida State, and an ACC Championship matchup with either UNC or Miami looming in the future.
At #2, we find our beloved Ohio State Buckeyes. The general consensus is that Ohio State will continue to dominate the Big Ten, and may even be the best team in the country. But you can’t look past this weekend’s showdown at Camp Randall, and future games against Michigan and Michigan State (yes, I know Sparty looks bad, but when has that game been easy lately for the Buckeyes?)
The #1 seed currently, according to the committee, is Alabama. The defending National Champions were a near unanimous pick at #1. The Tide, even with a freshman quarterback leading the offense, is still commanding respect from the voters. This Alabama team still has a ton of talent, but they seem to have a few more weaknesses than recent Bama teams. Of course, the SEC west will still push and challenge and push Saban’s boys. Like the Big Ten east, there is a clear favorite in a division that is far from a cakewalk.
As for predictions, this committee sees Alabama winning the Peach Bowl, and the Buckeyes moving on from the Fiesta. Call it homerism if you want, but know that there is a lot of sentiment that this Buckeye team is at least as good, if not better, than the 2014 team that took down the Tide. Ohio State is currently the unanimous pick to win the National Championship after the final gun in Tampa on January 9th.
Placing the rest of the New Year’s Six
In the Rose Bowl, we currently see the matchup being Michigan from the Big Ten taking on PAC 12 potential runner up Utah.
In the Sugar Bowl, which matches the SEC vs the Big 12, our committee is pitting Texas A&M against Oklahoma, in a former Big 12 rematch.
As for the Cotton Bowl, which will feature the highest ranking Group of Five team playing an at large, you can look forward to a rematch from last year’s Peach Bowl, as Houston travels to Dallas to take on Florida State. It will be interesting to see this match up a year later, this time in Houston’s backyard as opposed to FSU’s. Also, you have to notice the head coaches in this game are the current front runners to replace Les Miles at LSU.
Lastly, for the Orange Bowl, the Big Ten looks to send a third team, Wisconsin, to do battle with the aforementioned Louisville Cardinals. This will either be a really exciting game, or a really boring game, depending on which offense Wisconsin sends and if they are able to control the clock, keeping Lamar Jackson on the sidelines as much as possible.
The post The BBC Playoff Committee: Week 1 appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...