Ever since its start, college football has been through a lot. In the chaos of it all, the season has been moving closer to the one ultimate goal for teams: The college football playoffs.
Luckily, we’re behind the confusion and chaos of what teams would be in and what teams would be out; however, the question of how the bracket will play out still remains.
The playoff currently stands as so:
#12 James Madison University @ #5 University of Oregon
#9 University of Alabama @ #8 University of Oklahoma
#11 Tulane University @ #6 University of Mississippi
#10 University of Miami @ #7 Texas A&M
Let’s start with JMU @ Oregon. JMU has been phenomenal all season going 12-1 and averaging 37 points per game. However, there’s one glaring issue for this team. The Dukes have zero ranked wins and they haven’t even faced a ranked opponent all year. Their one loss is to 8-4 Louisville, and it wasn’t particularly a close game either, with JMU falling short 14-28.
Oregon will be ready to play. They’re 11-1 on the season, meaning JMU likely won’t be walking out of Oregon with a victory. The win will go to the Ducks, and not in particularly close fashion as well, moving them on to face #4 ranked Texas Tech.
Now for another game that seems to be cut and dry, #11 Tulane @ #6 Ole Miss is next. Ole Miss has been a powerhouse this season; however, one key issue stands out. Coach Lane Kiffin. The looming question for this duel is how the Rebels will fare with their head coach leaving to take a job elsewhere. While fans will tell you that the team has enough talent to run the table, the media says otherwise.
Tulane hasn’t shown many cracks at all. They’ve got one loss on the season and a ranked American Conference championship win. Brigham Young University transfer Quarterback Jake Retzlaff was the missing piece for this squad, and since his addition the green wave are rolling.
This game has already been played, however. The Rebels stomped Tulane at home 45-10. There’s just too much talent on that squad. Ole Miss advances to play #3 ranked Georgia.
#9 Alabama @ #8 Oklahoma is another interesting matchup. The teams played in Norman just a few weeks ago, with Oklahoma winning 23-21. Obviously the signs here point to this being a close one.
Firstly, John Mateer, Oklahoma’s starting QB, is fully healed and good to go, which was not something that could be said for their first matchup. In this matchup, the score will boil down to what the quarterback can do for his team.
Unfortunately for Alabama, quarterback Ty Simpson has done the opposite of Mateer. He has shown struggle against tough opponents, especially on the road. Take the SEC championship against Georgia, where Simpson had a quarterback rating of just 19.9. Ultimately, Alabama won’t be able to handle the Sooners in Oklahoma, and Oklahoma will advance to play #1 ranked Indiana.
Lastly is #10 Miami @ #7 Texas A&M. Firstly, for the Texas A&M Aggies, their ranked wins were over the Notre Dame Irish who were unable to beat a top 15 team and over the 7-5 LSU Tigers. The Texas Longhorns handled them 27-17 in their last game of the season. The talent is there but the consistency is not for the Aggies. It isn’t easy going for the Miami Hurricanes either this season. The Hurricanes finished with only two losses and a hurtful exclusion from the ACC championship with the then 7-5 Duke Blue Devils getting in over them. Those two losses weren’t exactly to ranked teams either. Making another appearance in this story, Miami lost to Louisville at home and away at Southern Methodist University.
Neither of those teams are ranked, and it speaks towards the vulnerability of the Hurricanes—their pass game in particular. Against A&M’s defense in Kyle Field Miami’s defense won’t be able to drag their team through this one. Texas A&M will advance to play #2 ranked Ohio State.
