Four teams were selected to the College Football Playoff on Sunday afternoon, but there is a distinct separation between No. 1 Georgia and the other three.
It’s the undefeated, defending national champion Bulldogs and three incomplete teams: No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 TCU and No. 4 Ohio State.
For just the second time in the nine-year history of the playoff, Alabama won’t be part of deciding the champion. The Crimson Tide’s two losses, and lack of a signature win, were too much to overcome. Nick Saban’s team finished fifth in the committee’s rankings, meaning a two-loss team still has never been selected to the playoff.
But that doesn’t mean the playoff won’t have an Alabama feel to it. Georgia (13-0) is the new Alabama, the overwhelming favorite to become the first repeat champion since … Alabama in 2011-12. The Bulldogs have won 15 straight games and 29 of their last 30 contests.
They are 7-point favorites over Ohio State on New Year’s Eve in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. They went undefeated in the SEC, destroyed 15th-ranked Oregon to begin the season and really haven’t had to sweat all season.
Now, the committee didn’t do Georgia any favors by sending Ohio State south. The Buckeyes are a more talented team than TCU, which will face Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., in the first game on Dec. 31.
Kendall Milton breaks away for Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.Getty ImagesThe Buckeyes, if they can get explosive playmakers Jaxon Smith-Njigba and TreVeyon Henderson back from injury, could pose a challenge to the Bulldogs, with a puncher’s chance.
The real question heading into the announcement Sunday was this: Would TCU hold off Ohio State at No. 3? After all, while Ohio State was idle on Saturday, while the Horned Frogs lost 31-28 in overtime to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship.
“When you look at TCU, 6-1 over teams over .500, 2-1 against ranked teams, Ohio State had the good wins over Penn State and Notre Dame, played Michigan close for three quarters of the game,” committee chairman Boo Corrigan said on a video call. “But at the end of the day we came back to TCU, and there was nothing that occurred during that [Big-12 title] game against Kansas State that we didn’t believe moved them out of the No. 3 spot.”
All three of the teams that are not Georgia have shown weaknesses, even Michigan (13-0), which won’t have the services of star running back Blake Corum, who had surgery on his injured left knee. Without Corum, Michigan may not have the offensive firepower necessary to hang with the Bulldogs. TCU (12-1) is coming off that loss to ninth-ranked Kansas State, hasn’t faced anyone close to Georgia’s caliber and has had to rally from behind all season against mediocre Big 12 opponents. Ohio State (11-1) was recently blown out at home by Michigan and hasn’t looked right all season. The Buckeyes only were selected because USC was manhandled by Utah on Friday night in the Pac-12 Championship game, which Ohio State coach Ryan Day admitted Sunday was a strange way to reach the playoff.
Ohio State and Michigan are also in the College Football PlayoffUSA TODAY Sports“I don’t know how many people are going to give us a chance in this game [against Georgia],” Day said.
Georgia, indeed, has incredible balance. It is ranked second in scoring defense (12.7) and 11th in points scored (39.2), 18th in rushing offense and 19th in passing. The Bulldogs’ defense has allowed 23 points in the first quarter all season. Georgia outscored the opposition by an absurd 509-166. Its eight SEC opponents managed just 97 points. Only one game was decided by a single score, a 26-22 victory over Missouri on Oct. 1. Georgia outscored the three best opponents it faced — No. 6 Tennessee, No. 17 LSU and Oregon — 129-36.
There was some thought the Bulldogs would take a bit of a step back this season, after they lost so many key players to the NFL. Only 10 starters returned from last year’s championship squad, and they were ranked third in the preseason Associated Press Poll.
That hasn’t mattered. Five-star players have replaced five-star players. This team is actually more balanced, not quite as dependent on a stifling defense and dominant running back. Quarterback Stetson Bennett had a terrific year, throwing for 20 touchdowns and 3,425 yards, with only six interceptions, while completing 68.1 percent of his passes.
Kirby Smart and Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett celebrate during the SEC Championship Game.AP Alabama was the preseason favorite, the team with the heavy Heisman Trophy favorite in the 2021 winner, quarterback Bryce Young. Ohio State was next, on paper one of the more talented group of Buckeyes in years. At least they reached the playoff, unlike the underwhelming Crimson Tide.
Georgia, meanwhile, has done what Alabama has so often done under Saban: Replace stars with stars, and somehow get better after losing key players. Now the Bulldogs will look to repeat, and will do as the odds-on favorite to be the last team standing, Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. Anything else would be the biggest surprise of an unpredictable season.
