The one we’ve been waiting for
Last week we only had 2 picks so there were many top scorers. Congratulations to mrbuzz1885, wsecor, Philip Kaltman, BearJacket, JohnHeisman, Ryan King, GreenMountainJacket, X7-GT-Eagles, kjjrb555, Mr. big, @LeeNobody, dakota bull, and Wolfroth. With one pick remaining we have a tie for Bowl Season Champion. RamblinRocketman and BearJacket are tied at 24 correct picks, and they are being chased by mrbuzz1885 with 23 correct picks. We have multiple pickers with good pick percentages after last week, but the top picker who actually picked multiple weeks is Philip Kaltman. Congrats to all, lets have one last week of good college football.
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Its been a wild season in many ways. GT started the football season off for everyone with a (at least at the time) close victory over FSU. This was a good omen for what turned out to be a season full of surprises and upsets.
The new 12 team playoff gave new hope to many teams that someone other than Alabama or uga could actually win a championship game. It led to exciting seasons for teams like Indiana and SMU. While both the Mustangs and Hoosiers were unable to move forward in the playoffs, their fans will likely remember this great run for their teams.
This season was also a transition for coaching at many programs. Bama in particular was hit hard as Deboer tried to take over for Nick Saban. I can’t say Deboer did a bad job for his first season especially with his early big win against uga; but losses against Vandy, Tennessee, and Oklahoma soured the season for most Bama fans.
While I do hope Deboer does better in the future, Bama’s struggles did leave things more open in the SEC for teams like South Carolina, Ole Miss, and a newcomer in Texas to try their hand at winning the conference. Sadly most GT fans know how the SEC race ended up playing out.
For GT specifically the season also ended on a sour note with two unfortunate losses. We ended the season with a 7-6 record accompanied by a homecoming upset that ruined the season for Miami fans. Considering this was our most difficult regular season since the start of the millennium, I can’t be too upset.
Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Last week we saw 5 straight days of playoff football, which was kicked off by Notre Dame taking on Penn State. Both team’s defenses were on full display. It seemed Penn State had the advantage early as they were able to lock up the Notre Dame rushing game and get some scores off of Notre Dame turnovers. Still Notre Dame was only down 3 to 10 at the half, and that was an easy enough gap to close. Notre Dame dominated both sides of the ball in the 3rd quarter and made the score 17 to 10 in their favor. The 4th quarter was a fun one with both teams battling. Penn State QB Drew Allar made a bad mistake throwing an interception over the middle of the field with less than 40 seconds on the clock. Notre Dame was able to get a FG with a few seconds left, and punched their ticket to Atlanta.
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
the next night in the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State got off to a slow start in their game considering how they played the week before. Ohio State was able to score, but Texas seemed to be doing a good job at containing their offense, at least until TreVeyon Henderson broke a big screen at the end of the half to leave Ohio State at 14 to 7 over Texas at the half. Both teams shared blows but struggled to make much progress in the game. Ohio State and Texas both scored a touchdown, and Texas had a chance to tie the game one more time before Jack Sawyer forced a fumble from Texas QB Quinn Ewers and ran it all the way back for a touchdown. From there Ohio State got some style points with a interception, but the game was already over.
And here we are. One last game to decide it all between two teams who have lost some embarrassing games this year but are now one game away from earning a championship trophy. One last game, and I hope it’s a good one.
picks:
College Football National Championship
Played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA:
#7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish v #8 Ohio State Buckeyes (-8.0)
Logan: The 8-point spread is huge for a championship game, but it is the right call based on how Ohio State is playing. I think the best chance for Notre Dame is on the O-line and D-line. They need to be able get pressure on the QB on defense and push the Ohio state defense around to open the run game if they want to win. Problem is that Ohio State has one of the best D-lines and O-lines in the sport as well. Ohio state just seems more talented across the board. I think Notre Dame will need to execute a near perfect game to win, they definitely can’t give up turnovers like they did against Penn State. I’m hoping for a close game, but I’m guessing I’ll be asleep around the 3rd quarter and wake up to headlines declaring Ohio State the national champions.
Logan’s pick: Ohio State