They said the College Football Playoff would make the regular season irrelevant. They said that with more teams playing, the Playoff would hurt the week-in, week-out intensity that only college football can offer.
Every College Football Playoff team had a weird, inexplicable moment that helped it make the field
A lot of teams COULD’VE been in the College Football Playoff. But at the right time, things broke for the four that ended up making the bracket. And that’s why college football is the best sport.
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The past two seasons have proven this line of thinking to be hilariously inaccurate. The regular season is as much a minefield as ever. The four teams that will be in this year’s college football playoff successfully navigated that minefield. They were incredible teams all season long. On top of that, each one had something ridiculous go right in a weird moment to allow it to make the bracket.
MICHIGAN STATE IS IN THE PLAYOFF BECAUSE:
We’ve all seen the play a million times, but now we can look back on it and say it had a definite hand in forming the College Football playoff bracket.
If Michigan successfully punts, it wins. All the Wolverines needed to do was kick the ball away. Michigan State didn’t even have a return man back to attempt a potential game-winning punt return. Any punt would’ve rolled and rolled downfield until the clock expired and Michigan had a 23-21 win. Instead, all that happened.
If Michigan State loses that game, the Spartans finish the season at 6-2 in Big Ten play. Michigan and Ohio State would’ve been tied at the top of the conference at 7-1, and Ohio State’s dominant win in the rivalry game would’ve given them the tiebreaker. Ohio State would’ve gone to the Big Ten championship game in spite of its loss to MSU and the Buckeyes would’ve been the ones in the play-in game with Iowa.
Yes, that’s right: All the Ohio State fans laughing at Michigan’s failure here didn’t realize they were additionally laughing at an unbelievably improbable play that kept their Buckeyes out of the playoff.
OKLAHOMA IS IN THE PLAYOFF BECAUSE:
TCU stormed back from down 30-13 on the road in Norman to make the score 30-29 with 51 seconds left, then decided to try to win the game right then and there. The Horned Frogs called a pass play for third-stringer Bram Kohlhausen, who had jump-started the team after it stagnated with backup QB Foster Sawyer under center.
Oklahoma defended this play with just four in the box, including zero linebackers. If Kohlhausen had the wherewithal to sprint up the middle of the field, there were no Sooners in position to stop him. He would’ve scored and TCU would’ve taken a 31-30 lead.
Instead, he got flustered by the oncoming pass rush and ran to the right side of the field, flush with defenders. Kohlhausen almost flipped a pass to a receiver, but it was swatted down by the outstretched arm of an Oklahoma defender.
If TCU hits on that two-point conversion, the Horned Frogs are Big 12 champions at 8-1 and Oklahoma is tied with Oklahoma State at 7-2. TCU gets to dance, making up for last year’s snub, and Oklahoma sits at home.
ALABAMA IS IN THE PLAYOFF BECAUSE:
Alabama crushed just about everybody it played with ease besides Ole Miss. But the Tide needed Ole Miss to lose to make the SEC Championship Game. And the Rebels did so in preposterous fashion.
Arkansas needed to pick up 25 yards to stay alive and did it by throwing near the sideline to Hunter Henry, who just hurled the ball backwards over his head as he was getting tackled. It bounced its way to Alex Collins, who picked up 26 yards. The Razorbacks went on to score and hit a two-point conversion for a 53-52 win.
Because Ole Miss lost that game, the Rebels were 6-2 in SEC play, not 7-1. If Ole Miss was 7-1, it would’ve held the tiebreaker over 7-1 Alabama in the SEC West due to the 43-37 win in Tuscaloosa. If Ole Miss, not Alabama, was in the SEC Championship, Alabama wouldn’t be the SEC champion. And the Playoff committee lists conference championships as its most important selection criterion.
Alabama is exactly the same team it would’ve been with or without the Backwards Hail Mary, but thanks to a miracle in a game the Tide didn’t even play, they have a shot at the national title.
CLEMSON IS IN THE PLAYOFF BECAUSE:
The Tigers beat Notre Dame in a literal hurricane.
Photo credit: Tyler Smith, Getty Images
Hurricane Joaquin hit South Carolina hard, causing massive flooding that caused the school to cancel a game a week later. The storm was big enough to make Illinois and Maryland -- teams far away from the storm’s center -- move the start times to their games. But Clemson kept its 8 p.m. start time and played the game in a brutal downpour with heavy winds.
The Irish outgained Clemson in total yards, 432-296, but committed four turnovers. C.J. Prosise only lost two fumbles all year and one was against Clemson. C.J. Sanders only lost one fumble all year and it was forced by Clemson’s kicker, of all people. Chris Brown only lost one fumble all year and it was against Clemson. And yet the Irish stayed close enough to score a potential game-tying TD with seven seconds left. They missed a two-point conversion and lost 24-22.
If we must be honest, Clemson was probably making the playoff even with a loss to a very good Notre Dame team. But Clemson’s win allows us to look at the flip side. If Notre Dame wins that game, the Irish are 11-1 with a loss to one of the country’s best teams. And Notre Dame’s other loss to Stanford was thanks to an apparently botched review that gave the Irish a touchdown, but also left Stanford enough time to kick a game-winning field goal. If either of those games goes differently, the Irish are in the playoff picture and one of the teams in the field might not be.
Meanwhile, Stanford lost its only conference game on a failed two-point conversion. Florida State could’ve been 11-1 with only a loss to Clemson if not for a freaky returned missed field goal. UNC could’ve been 12-1 with only a loss to Clemson if not for two identical end zone interceptions by Marquise Williams against a South Carolina team we thought was good. Ohio State could’ve been undefeated if it had let Ezekiel Elliott run the dang ball like it did every other game. Iowa could’ve been undefeated if it had let Michigan State score instead of allowing the longest drive of the college football season.
A lot of teams COULD’VE been in the College Football Playoff. But in those weird moments, things broke for the four in the bracket. And that’s why college football is the best sport on earth.
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