This was an odd set of conference championships. Normally, once you get to the two best teams in a conference, you get at least fairly competitive games. This year, there were three major blowouts- and that’s not counting TCU over Iowa State in what was a regular-season finale. Let’s review what went down and how it figured into the committee’s final decision.
Things We Learned in College – Championship Week Edition
Oregon 51, Arizona 13 With Wisconsin getting spanked and Melvin Gordon with a forgettable game, I think it’s safe to start congratulating Marcus Mariota on the Heisman. Keep in mind, Arizona is the team that upset Oregon earlier in the season. Friday night, they allowed Mariota to throw for 313 yards, and the Ducks rushed for another 301, while holding the Wildcats to 224 yards of offense. Who knows what the score would have been had Oregon not taken 13 penalties? Bottom line: Oregon deserves their playoff spot.
Alabama 42, Missouri 13 What Missouri has accomplished in their first three seasons in the SEC is really something they can be proud of, even if they won’t be all that proud of last night’s game. The Tigers did rack up 313 yards of offense against the Tide’s 11th-ranked defense, but 272 of those yards were through the air. I’ll do the math for you: they had 41 rushing yards. In fact the Tigers had fewer rushing yards than penalty yards (60). Granted, Alabama has the second-ranked run defense in the country, but you’d still hope for Missouri to get into triple digits. Bottom line: Alabama is a legitimate top seed.
Florida State 37, Georgia Tech 35 It looks like the Seminoles may have finally gotten the message about not spotting teams a lead and having to come from behind. This game was close throughout, and Georgia Tech is always a tricky opponent because they run such a rare offense. Also helpful to FSU was that Jameis Winston cut down on what my father calls “bonehead plays.” No turnovers for Winston this week, although he had at least one close call that I saw; that ball really should have been picked off. The only issue for the ‘Noles was the run defense, which allowed 331 yards, but Georgia Tech has the second-ranked run game in the nation, so you can’t fault them too much for that. Bottom line: Florida State hasn’t earned many style points this season, but they’re undefeated- they deserve to be in.
Ohio State 59, Wisconsin 0 I don’t even know what to say about this game. This was so not what I was expecting. Ohio State’s run defense is ranked 33rd, which is respectable, but not what I would think of as dominant. They allowed 281 yards rushing to an unranked Indiana team just two weeks ago, and 218 to Minnesota the week before that. Last night should have been the Melvin Gordon Show. Seventy-six yards, however, doesn’t qualify as a show. (Here’s an oddity- despite Gordon’s 76 yards, the team’s official rushing total was 71 yards. A 31-yard loss by quarterback Joel Stave brought the team total below Gordon’s). Four turnovers by the Badgers didn’t help their cause. Bottom line: three teams, one spot remaining and the Buckeyes seemed to make the most convincing late season case.
TCU 55, Iowa State 3 (regular season finale) I don’t know that this game taught us anything we didn’t already know. TCU is very good, Iowa State is… not, and the Horned Frogs would certainly have been a deserving fourth team. Trevone Boykin should be a candidate for the Heisman next year.
Baylor 38, Kansas State 27 (regular season finale) Not sure I learned anything from this game either. These are two very good teams, but Baylor is clearly a cut above K-State. If you like new-school, air-it-out football, you probably loved this game, with a combined 712 yards passing.
So Baylor and TCU are co-Big 12 champions. Ohio State plays in a weaker Big Ten, and Baylor beat TCU head-to-head. Given all of that, my fourth team would have been Baylor. I don’t think there’s a bad choice among those three teams, though and the semifinal pairings should be exciting indeed.
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