The College Football Playoff. With the exception of the presidential election, it is often the most talked about thing in the South during these fall and winter months. This committee of men and women have the ability to break our hearts as well as make us jump for joy when we see where they have ranked our favorite team. So, who's in?
1. Alabama
Is this really even a question? Alabama has proven throughout the year that they are the team to beat. With a cool freshman in Jalen Hurts at quarterback and a defense full of headhunters like Tim Williams and Rueben Foster, look for the Crimson Tide to take the field January 1st.
2. Ohio State
Ohio State controls their own destiny when looking at the rest of their schedule. The one game that sticks out from the rest when loong down the road is the game against Michigan to close out the season, but their contest against Michigan State could also prove just as pivitol. JT Barret leads a vaunted offense and the Buckeye defense has rebounded nicely despite the loss of Joey Bosa from last year's unit.
3. Clemson
Clemson is a team that I believe should be excluded from the playoff, but unfortunately, the committee doesn't listen to me. Though the Tigers have only one loss, the 43-42 defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh in Death Valley was a definite stinger. Though it was far from the first game that was taken to the wire, Pittsburgh was able to illuminate some of the issues present on the Tiger team. However, the playoff committee has shown that they love conference champions as well as head to head winners. With a head to head victory over Louisville as well as what appears to be an easy route to another ACC Championship, I cannot forsee any scenario that would keep Dabo and the Tigers from returning to New Year's Day.
4. Penn State
Yes. Penn State. The Nittany Lions have looked as confident and as good as any team in the country since their three point victory over Ohio State in Happy Valley. This bodes well for the Penn State faithful because their team appears to have a rather weak remaining schedule. Assuming that the Nittany Lions hold serve and Ohio State is able to beat Michigan, that would send James Franklin's team to Indianapolis where I believe that they can handle the Wisconsin Badgers. If all of that falls into place, the Nittany Lions will surely be taking the field come January 1st.
No one knows for sure who will go, but one thing is for sure; it'll be fun to watch.
