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One thing about the College Football Playoff is certain as we approach Championship Week: The SEC is absolutely going to have a team in the semifinals.
If Georgia beats Alabama, the league makes an excellent case for getting both into the Playoff, just like last year.
Forget the fact that the Tide and Dawgs met for all the marbles last year, because the CFP committee is supposed to regard no history except that which has happened since September. That’s as it should be. In any case, when this week’s rankings come out these will be two of the best four teams in the country — No. 1 Alabama as the top unbeaten team and Georgia as the best one-loss team.
No. 3 Notre Dame is a CFP lock after completing a 12-0 regular season Saturday. A lot of other things could shake out involving the upcoming ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten league title games. Sorry, Pac-12, but you’re not invited with your championship matchup between 3-loss teams.
The CFP semifinals, set for Dec. 29, are at the Orange Bowl and the Cotton Bowl. What are the most interesting scenarios that could emerge for those games?
Let’s take a look at our top 10 choices:
10. Oklahoma vs. Washington State
Just kidding. Everyone thought the Pac-12 died in Week 1 when Washington lost to Auburn. For once, everyone was right. Even if Wazzu had beaten Washington last week, the amount of chaos we’d have needed for this game to happen is too high to calculate …. just like the score in this one. You know that 74-72 game we saw on Saturday? Oklahoma-Wazzu might have hit that without needing any overtimes.
9. Alabama vs. UCF
Here’s the problem, aside from the amount of chaos we’d need for this to happen: UCF is suddenly without its biggest weapon. Quarterback sensation McKenzie Milton suffered a broken leg in Friday’s game against USF, so any chance the Knights had of staying even remotely close against the Tide is gone. Also, even a Bama blowout would not stop UCF fans from yapping. Nothing does.
8. Georgia vs. Ohio State
Any scenario involving Georgia obviously involves the Dawgs beating Alabama in Saturday’s SEC title game. So let’s say that happens: UGA moves up to, say, No. 2 behind Clemson (or maybe jumps the Tigers for No. 1?) … either way it’s easy to see a scenario where Georgia would face the Buckeyes. UGA’s ground and pound vs. OSU’s aerial prowess. Could be fun.
7. Alabama vs. Ohio State
C’mon, Tide fans, don’t you still want revenge for that 2014 CFP semifinal loss? Truth be told I don’t think this one would be close. Ohio State faced a decent (not great) Michigan offense on Saturday. OSU only allowed top weapon Karan Higdon 72 yards rushing, knocked out quarterback Shea Patterson … and still allowed 39 points. And that was the Buckeyes defense on a good day.
6. Georgia vs. Notre Dame
Is anybody else with a sense of history eager to see a rematch of the 1980 Sugar Bowl, in which the Dawgs beat the Fighting Irish to clinch the national title? No? Just me? Fine. But it feels like Notre Dame is overlooked as a possible national title contender. Which is weird because: A) When is Notre Dame ever overlooked? and B) The Irish have beaten 10 Power 5 programs in 2018.
5. Alabama vs. Clemson
Round IV of Saban vs. Swinney. The meetings in the CFP the past three years gave us two classics in the national title game and one semifinal that was a bit of a dud. Clemson has an exciting new starting QB who supplanted a very successful incumbent (sound familiar, Tide fans?) and the Tigers are loaded all over the roster. Why is this matchup ranked so low? Because we want to see it in the final, not a semi.
4. Clemson vs. Notre Dame
If Clemson holds serve in the ACC title game against Pitt and Alabama tops Georgia, this will be the No. 2 vs. No. 3 semifinal. Clemson’s talent level is so strong that the ACC’s utter mediocrity doesn’t even really come into play. Like Bama, Clemson rarely lets inferior teams stick around in games. The Tigers would rightly be favored but Notre Dame finally has its QB in Ian Book so this could be a decent game.
3. Georgia vs. Clemson
Now here is a matchup worth savoring. It is almost impossible to see this one happening — maybe Clemson loses but so do Ohio State and Oklahoma, the Tigers only fall to No. 4 and Georgia leaps to No. 1 by beating Bama? Regardless of the scenario, this game would feature two of the top five rushing attacks in the Power 5 and two offenses that throw well enough to keep defenses honest.
2. Georgia vs. Oklahoma
Rose Bowl rematch, anyone? Last season’s CFP semifinal epic gave us so much offense, and would likely do so again. Sooners QB Kyle Murray is probably the most electrifying player in college football. Oklahoma lost last year’s Heisman Trophy winner in Baker Mayfield and didn’t lose a step on offense. Could Georgia’s offense keep up, again?
1. Alabama vs. Oklahoma
The one that we seem headed for. Do the Sooners have an answer for Tua Tagovailoa? Can Oklahoma hold Bama under 60 points? Would this be the biggest test the Crimson Tide defense has faced? (Answers: No, no, yes.) If the Sooners and Crimson Tide both hold up their end of the bargain, this could be a major shootout, and the most appealing of all possible CFP semifinal matchups.
Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a copy editor and writer with SaturdayDownSouth.com.
