Written by: Jacob Nevis
This past weekend, NCAA football ended its regular season with the conference championships. The competition was exciting, with a few of the teams punching their last-minute ticket to the college football playoff.
This season’s format saw 12 teams selected to compete for the national championship. Five teams were the conference champions, one from each Power Four conference — SEC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12 — and one from a non-Power Four conference. The other six teams will be the other highest-ranked teams. The top four conference champions will receive automatic byes, and the first round will be played at the home stadiums of the higher seed.
The college football playoff committee selected the 12 teams after the completion of the conference championships. However, the committee said it would not dock teams for losing the conference championship.
While it’s usually the SEC conference that seems to have the most teams at the top of rankings, this season was different, with four teams from the Big Ten making the college football playoff.
The Oregon Ducks were the only undefeated team this season at 12-0. The Ducks defeated Penn State in the Big Ten Championship to claim the number one seed in the playoffs and win the Big Ten in their first year in the conference. With the loss to Oregon, Penn State became the sixth seed in the playoff and will host the 11th-seeded SMU Mustangs in the first round. The Mustangs, who lost to Clemson in the ACC Championship, earned the nod over the Alabama Crimson Tide to secure the last seed. The winner between SMU and Penn State will face one of the Heisman favorites (and the one I want to win), running back Ashton Jenaty and the three-seeded Mountain West champions Boise State Broncos.
In the SEC championship, the Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Texas Longhorns for the second time this season to secure the second seed in the playoff. The Bulldogs will now face the winner of the surprise team of the year in 10th-seeded Indiana and 7th-seeded Notre Dame.
With the loss in the SEC Championship, the Texas Longhorns will now host ACC champions Clemson. Clemson missed the automatic bid for a bye after being the fifth-highest conference champion. The Texas and Clemson game-winner will face Heisman candidate running back Cam Skatteboo and the Big-12 champion Arizona State Sun Devils.
In one of the first round’s most intriguing matchups, the ninth Tennesee Volunteers will travel to Columbus to take on the eighth-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes. The winner of this matchup will take on Oregon.
The first round of the playoff will be played on Dec. 20th and 21.
Editor’s note: It has been my great honor to serve as the sports editor for the Southern Accent for the past two and a half years. I want to thank everyone who was able to enjoy and read my sports sections. One last time before I go: Go Dolphins and A’s!
