College Football season is nearing the end as the College Football Playoff Committee (CFP) finalized their picks for the playoffs on Dec. 3 during the annual selection show.
The decisions of who was going to be in the playoffs were made after the conclusion of the Conference Championships on Dec. 2, and after much controversy, the committee came to a decision. There were many possibilities of who was going to make it, with eight teams still in contention going into the weekend. Those teams included Georgia, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, Florida State, Texas, Alabama and Ohio State.
Top ranked Georgia was the most likely candidate to make the playoff with their impressive undefeated record in the SEC conference, but surprisingly lost to eighth ranked Alabama in their conference championship. Second ranked Michigan had the second highest chance, coming off the back of a big win against Ohio State. They were able to take care of business defeating Iowa in their conference championship and capping off an undefeated season. Third ranked Washington was the underdog going into their game against a tough Oregon team, but were able to come away with a victory. Fourth ranked Florida State was in an interesting situation going into the weekend, with an undefeated record but missing their star quarterback Jordan Travis. They faced off against a talented Louisville team in the ACC Championship and won in a low scoring game to remain undefeated.
Going into the next 4 ranked teams, most of them needed to win and receive a little help. Fifth ranked Oregon was in the best situation in the eyes of many out of these teams, but failed to beat Washington and had their playoff hopes crushed. Because there were too many teams as one loss conference champions Ohio State needed Texas and Alabama to lose in their conference championships, neither of which happened and eliminated their hopes. Seventh ranked Texas needed a win against Oklahoma State in their conference final as well as a lot of help from other teams. They were able to win against Oklahoma State and receive help from Alabama, who beat Georgia. Eighth ranked Alabama was able to win their conference championship game, beating number one ranked Georgia to conclude the contending teams.
With the results from the conference championship games the committee had to decide amongst five teams for four spots. Michigan and Washington were the top two, being undefeated Conference Champions, but the final two spots were a more difficult decision. Should they put Alabama in as a one loss SEC Champion, Texas as a one loss Big 12 Champion, or Florida State as an undefeated ACC Champion? They ultimately ended up making the tough decision to include Texas and Alabama and leave Florida State out. Even though Florida State was an undefeated Conference Champion and under normal circumstances would have been in, the injury of their star quarterback significantly decreased their value and made them less competitive. The games will begin on Dec 16 in what will be some exciting football.
