BY: BRIAN WOLF
As if fulfilling a college football regular season wasn’t challenging enough, the College Football Playoff committee managed to provide some controversy with their final four selections. We saw plenty of games postponed, and many more cancelled. We saw conferences like the Big Ten and Pac-12 hold out as long as possible before finally caving. We also saw rules adjusted on the fly for a team with only five games under their belt to compete in their conference championship game. We were also witnesses to Notre Dame being adopted by the ACC for at least one season. Last but not least, we were blessed to watch teams like Coastal Carolina, Liberty, Louisiana Lafayette, and San Jose State have program changing seasons.
There was some drama with the selection of the fourth and final team. Notre Dame got the call ahead of Texas A&M, after being dismantled by a Trevor Lawrence led Clemson Tiger team in the ACC Championship game. Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher was not pleased, and voiced his displeasure with the Buckeyes earning a trip after only playing in six contests.
“Seven straight SEC wins,” Fisher said. “Some schools ain’t even playing seven games.”
Fisher and the Aggies had an argument. Their only loss came at the hands of Alabama, which was a 52-24 blowout. They did go on to defeat the Florida Gators the following week, and won the rest of their contests, with their closest win coming against Arkansas, 42-31.
At the end of the day, this is what many of us predicted would be the final four, with the anticipation of a rematch between Clemson and Alabama. These two powerhouses have had at least one participant in the last five championship games, with meeting up for three of those.
#1 Alabama vs #4 Notre Dame – Friday January 1st 2021 at 4pm EST (ESPN)
Line: Alabama -20 Total: 65.5
The Rose Bowl will look a little different this year. Due to rising Covid-19 cases in the state of California, the CFP committee made the executive decision to move the game to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This also came after Irish coach Brian Kelly threw a little bit of a hissy fit about his players family members not being able to attend. I would not expect anything less from Kelly.
Do you remember the last time Alabama and Notre Dame played against each other in a big football game? I do. January 7th, 2013. I was at Slick Willies on the Boulevard with my brother and his buddies. The bigger headline that night was Manti Te’o fake girlfriend Lennay Kekua. Bama rolled to a 42-14 victory. Will we see a repeat performance? The Tide are 19.5 favorites with the O/U set at 65.5. Alabama has two offensive players in contention for the Heisman. Remember when Alabama was known for their running game, which hid their awful QB play? It was not until Jalen Hurts, then Tua that we saw an air raid attack from Nick Saban. In steps in Mac Jones who patiently waited his turn and he has not disappointed. The Junior from Jacksonville, FL has thrown for 3,739 yards, 32 touchdowns, and just 4 interceptions. He lit up the Florida Gators defense in the SEC championship throwing for over 400 yards with five scores through the air. The recipient of 17 of those touchdowns is DeVonta Smith. Smith had 98 receptions for 1,511 yards, improving his draft stock tremendously. Defensively, this ‘Bama squad just seems to reload on defense year in and year out. They held their opponents to just over 100 rishing yards a game and 243 yards per game through the air.
For the Irish have been led by the play of quarterback Ian Book and running back Kyren Williams. Book has been the Irish starter for the last three seasons, and has moved his way up the all time rankings at Notre Dame. In 2020, the kid from El Dorado Hills, California has thrown for 2,601 yards, and 15 touchdowns. Book has also been an asset in the ground game, rushing for 430 yards and 8 touchdowns. The Senior had some big plays in their win over Clemson. Williams has rushed for 1,061 yards and 12 scores on the ground.
Wolf’s pick – Alabama -20
#2 Clemson vs #3 Ohio State – Friday January 1st at 8pm EST (ESPN)
Line: Clemson –7.5 Total: 66.5
Dabo Swinney has been a member of the Clemson Tigers coaching staff for 17 years now. He has been the head coach since the start of the 2009 season. During his tenure, he has been instrumental in turning Clemson into a national powerhouse, continuously producing NFL draft picks on both sides of the ball. Because of this success, Dabo has been placed on a pedestal, and he has taken full advantage of it. Dabo’s most recent comments, the night of the College Football Playoff selection, where he informed America he would have slated Ohio State as the 11th ranked team due to playing only five regular season games, definitely caused a stir. It grabbed the media’s attention, and was used as bulletin board material in the Ohio State locker room.
Ohio State’s Ryan Day was handed the keys to a Bugatti and told not to crash it. While he has yet to crash it, he hasn’t won the race. In his first season as the man, Day and his Buckeyes lost to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl 360 some days ago. While another loss would not call for a firing, it would not sit well with the buckeye faithful. Day had some big shoes to fill with the Urban Meyer stepping away after going 5-2 in bowl games. Those two losses? Both at the hands of Dabo and Clemson.
In this semifinal matchup, viewers will be watching two of the top quarterback prospects heading into the 2021 NFL Draft. Obviously Trevor Lawrence will go first overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but Justin Fields has made a name for himself during his time at Ohio State. Fields is a mobile quarterback who can stand in the pocket and throw the deep ball. The Buckeye offense can put up points, and put them up in a hurry, in large part to Fields. In six games this year, Fields has thrown for 1,521 yards along with 15 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. His worst performance of the year came in the Big Ten championship game against Northwestern where the Georgia transfer threw for just 114 yards and 2 interceptions. Fields suffered a sprained thumb on his throwing hand in the game.
Wolf’s Pick – Clemson -6.5 (buy a point)
*Don’t be afraid to tease these
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