Well, there were not any surprises for the College Football Conference Championship games. All the favorites won despite game performaces by Iowa and North Carolina. Oklahoma had the week off since the Big 12 doesn’t want to risk knocking themselves out.
There are a few questions to be determined: Does the Playoff Committee let Michigan State jump Oklahoma since they have a Conference Championship Game on their resume? Or do they go by who is playing like the higher ranked team, which would be Oklahoma. Do they punish OU for winning all their big conference games against backup quarterbacks? How much do they value Clemson giving up 37 points in their Conference Championship game? We will see in a few minutes.
Here is how I would rank them:
- Alabama
- Clemson
- Oklahoma
- Michigan St
Clemson seemed to have hit their peak mid season and I would actually take Oklahoma over them head up right now. With Clemson being undefeated, they really can’t be placed any lower. Michigan St had a great win over an Iowa team that everyone questioned all year long.
Here is how the Playoff Committee will rank them:
- Clemson
- Alabama
- Michigan St
- Oklahoma
I believe they won’t drop Clemson and it sets up with a more exciting game versus Oklahoma. They will value Michigan St’s win over an undefeated Iowa in a conference championship game, which Oklahoma didn’t have. This ranking sets up the best styles of games in my opinion.
With this set up, I expect to see an Oklahoma Alabama National Championship game. Clemson hasn’t played a team on Oklahoma’s level and they struggled with much less. Oklahoma and Clemson also run the style of Offense that Alabama struggles against, while Michigan St will feed into Alabama’s strength.
Let’s see what the Playoff Committee has to say about this.
