The College Football Playoff travesty, and who should be playing in it!

I’ve written a pretty decent post below, but if you’d rather watch a funny video that makes all my points plus a few extra, simply watch it instead. Here it is.

I haven’t posted in a while, but I haven’t been this fired up in a while. I’m a college football fan, as most of my readers know. I’m a Michigan fan (and graduate), and like many fans of CFB I greatly disagree with the decision made by the committee today. According to them the new rankings and four teams playing in the playoffs are:

#1 Michigan

#2 Washington

#3 Texas

#4 Alabama

While I think virtually all of America agrees with the top two, I strongly disagree with the placing of Alabama. To be specific there are two things I object to: first, the exclusion of Florida State University, and second the inclusion of Alabama.

Florida State has an outstanding team and has had a banner season. Highlights include beating LSU when they were #5 in the nation, defeating Clemson and later beating Duke, ranked #16 at the time. Their primary quarterback, Jordan Travis, led them to these victories. However he had a season-ending injury against North Alabama late in the season. Tate Rodemaker took over as QB, however he suffered a concussion playing against Florida and the other backup QB, Brock Glenn, played in the championship game vs Louisville. Once again they won, and are now 13-0.

I strongly feel they should be in the playoffs, in fact it’s ridiculous they are not. While Heisman candidate Travis is out, even without him the Seminoles won every game they played, including against their rival, Florida, and yet another ranked team, #14 Louisville. They have earned their spot: they are undefeated, they are champions from a Power Five conference, and deserve a chance to play! Whether Travis or Rodemaker is ready to return in January or not, they have done everything any team can do. Isn’t that what you’d want for your team? Some would say FSU isn’t a top four team without Travis–you know what, even if they were the worst team in college football I’d still be advocating for their inclusion because they’ve earned their chance.

Alabama’s inclusion is also a big mistake. God forbid we have a playoff year without an SEC team! The only reason they are being included is because they narrowly beat Georgia. Let’s recall Georgia has had a sweetheart schedule, they haven’t played a good team other than Ole Miss until yesterday. Alabama meanwhile, has already lost to Texas and should have lost against Auburn–it was only a wild miracle catch that saved them in the final seconds of their game. They don’t deserve to be there, and neither does Georgia. It’s a little ridiculous to say Georgia should be in and Alabama out given that ‘Bama just beat Georgia yesterday. Either they’re both in or they’re both out. If the reasoning is Alabama is in because they beat Georgia, then Texas should be playing instead because they defeated Alabama!

One cannot argue that Oklahoma defeated Texas so why not Oklahoma, for the simple reason that Oklahoma has two losses. Two losses means you are disqualified from the playoffs, end of story. I have no problem with Texas being included, especially since they killed Oklahoma State, and the Pokes beat the Sooners in their rivalry “Bedlam” game. Sadly it’s the last time OU and OSU will play for quite a while given Oklahoma’s move to the SEC next year.

So who do I think should be playing in the playoffs? I think I’ve been making it clear, but to be be explicit:

#1 Michigan

#2 Washington

#3 Florida State

#4 Texas

Honestly it doesn’t matter to me which rank FSU and Texas have, as long as they’re both in. Some might say Michigan simply wants to play the Seminoles because they might be an easier team without Jordan Travis. That’s not why at all–in fact ranking Florida State #3 means we won’t play them in the first round, and it can be justified in that they have not lost a single game. Florida State is more than one great quarterback, as I think they’ve proven toward the end of the season. Alabama and Georgia are great teams, same as Ohio State, but they should be outside the bubble. And it ticks me off that it’s otherwise.

Feel free to comment below.

My thoughts on the Michigan/Purdue Big 10 Championship Game

Michigan, or “Mich-again” continues its dominance in the Big Ten by defeating Purdue 44 – 23. This is also the second Big Ten title in two years, as Michigan won it last year. This means Michigan extends its record to 13 – 0 this season, which incidentally is the first time Michigan has gone 13 – 0 in their history! That may come as a surprise given Michigan’s 11 national championship titles. Remember that the number of games required to win a national title has changed over the years. In 1997, for example, Michigan won the natty with a record of 12 – 0. For full highlights click this link, if you just want the significant Michigan plays click here.

There were some similarities to the Michigan/Ohio State game last Saturday. The game was close in the first half, with Michigan pulling away in the second half. Donovan Edwards again came up big, running for 185 yards (and won MVP for the game), while QB JJ McCarthy threw three touchdown passes and was able to scramble all over the place, to his credit. Purdue’s QB, Aidan O’Connell threw for 366 yards, which is huge number, but it didn’t result in a lot of points–similar to Stroud’s performance. O’Connell also threw two interceptions, just as Stroud did. Michigan even had something resembling a trick play to score a 2-point conversion.

Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm was able to exploit a weakness or two of Michigan however, namely their zone defense. O’Connell connected with one of the best receivers in the Big Ten, Charlie Jones, who had 13 receptions for 162 yards in an outstanding performance. The man could hardly be stopped from catching the ball, some of which was due to Michigan not adjusting to a man-zone mix until the second half. Purdue also pulled off a trick play–a fake punt–which netted some good yardage when they needed it.

JJ McCarthy is on his way to becoming the best Michigan quarterback since Denard Robinson, though he’s only a sophomore. He said something in the post-game interview that captures how the players feel about coach Harbaugh:  “… he really does love us like his own sons and he means that. That just means a lot, cuz a lot of college football coaches out there that think of their players as numbers, and he sees us for the human beings that we are.”

One thing I want to mention is the offensive line. This was not a pretty game for Michigan, but the O-Line held all game long, and in the second half they were almost bullying the other team, grinding them down. They allows no sacks and only one tackle for a loss, think about that! They are easy candidates to win the Joe Moore award again, which honors the best offensive line in college football.

Let me also mention the front 7, in other words Michigan’s primary defensive players. Even though Purdue tried to get the ball out as fast as humanly possible, Michigan still notched four sacks and five tackles for a loss. Purdue averaged only 2.4 yards per carry. Let’s not forget cornerback Will Johnson, who intercepted the ball twice and was one of the only guys who could shut down Charlie Jones. While they weren’t perfect in this game, this is one of the best defenses in all of college football.

This is a wonderful team, students that really care for and about each other. During RB Donovan Edwards’ brief interview on the stand right after receiving his MVP award, who did he talk about? “Blake Corum is the best running back in college football. He deservedly needs the Heisman, if he didn’t get hurt he would’ve easily won the Heisman.” That kind of selflessness says all you need to know about Michigan football.

Last year beating Ohio State felt great, and the Big Ten Championship was a dream come true. This year I think Michigan has a real chance to win the National Championship for the first time since 1997, and honestly the game with Purdue felt like it was another step toward that goal.