Along with December comes the prime month of college football. With the 12-team bracket being finalized, the brackets are set with 12 teams. Many people were unhappy with the committee’s selection when it came to the group of 5 schools and certain schools not getting their ticket to the playoff.
The biggest headline was the absence of Notre Dame from the playoff. The Fighting Irish this season started 0-2 but managed a very strong 10-game win streak to end the season.
Four teams will get bye weeks in the first round of games: the Indiana Hoosiers, Ohio State, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and the Georgia Bulldogs.
Junior Carson Zellick believes the Indiana Hoosiers will win it all. Zellick establishes,” They have beaten top-tier teams, and they are a very smart team, and I think Mendoza will carry them through the championship.”
With Alabama and Miami being selected over Notre Dame, more questions were brought up about the format of the 12-team playoff.
The Irish started off losing to two top 10 teams in Miami and Texas A&M, but ended strong with their best win being against USC.
The Crimson Tide played the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC championship, getting destroyed 28-7.
With this being the 3rd loss of the season, Alabama’s place in the playoff sparked controversy.
But when you look at Alabama’s schedule, they have had a harder strength of schedule than Miami and Notre Dame. Zellick comments on Alabama making it, saying,” I think Alabama deserved to be in. They did lose 3 times, but 1 was in the SEC championship, and they had the hardest schedule.”
The Crimson Tide will face the Oklahoma Sooners on Friday in a compelling 8-9 matchup. The Sooners in November beat Alabama 23-21 in a very good defensive battle in the trenches.
If Alabama wants to win, it needs to dictate the tempo through the run game. Against Georgia, they were flatfooted offensively and couldn’t get any rhythm, resulting in negative rushing yards and looking like they didn’t know what they were doing.
Alabama has been under the harsh lights since the departure of legendary Coach Nick Saban. Head coach Kalen Deboar has been on the hot seat all season, so if they don’t play well on the offensive side of the football, Coach Deboar will likely be looking for a new job in 2026.
Junior Ryder Barclift believes that if Alabama gets blown out against Oklahoma, it will be in a rebuilding phase. He states,” Alabama has a culture, and it just hasn’t been there this year, and if they lose as they lost in the SEC championship game, I think there are major changes to Alabama.”
Another compelling matchup is the Miami Hurricanes, the 10th seed, and Texas A&M, the 7th seed.
Texas A&M has been a very strong side all season, but in the last week of the season, Texas dominated the Aggies 27-17.
Texas A&M’s receiving duo of KC Concepion and Mario Craver forms one of the most dynamic combinations in the nation. The Aggies’ offense this season has been very lethal and dangerous throughout shootout games. So, for Miami defensively, they will need to be playing tight coverage and be sound defensively.
On Miami’s offense, freshman Malachi Tony gives senior quarterback Carson Beck an electrifying receiving option in the slot.
Throughout the season, Miami has been inconsistent on offense, so for them to win this game, they will need to be locked in, going up against a good Aggie defense and a harsh crowd.
For the first time in the college football playoff, there will be two groups of five schools in the playoff, with Tulane and James Madison. Tulane will be traveling to Oxford to take on the Ole Miss Rebels, and James Madison will be going cross-country to Eugene.
There has been a lot of drama surrounding Ole Miss in the past few weeks with the departure of long-time head coach Lane Kiffin.
Tulane has a chance to shock Ole Miss and the college football world. Tulane is a very strong team offensively, lethal on play action, destroying secondaries all season. They will be looking to prove to everyone that they deserve to be in the playoffs.
With Pete Golding being the Ole Miss new head coach, they all looked to defy the odds, having a head coach leave a program right when you’re coming off your best season in program history, right before the college football playoff, is not easy and has never led to success in December and January.
The whole offense was planned and orchestrated by Coach Kiffin. The Rebels have been very good in the wrong name, playing in the trenches all season. Going up against Tulane with a smaller defensive line, all should be able to dominate the line of scrimmage in the run attack.
Ole Miss has been very consistent through the run game and on 3rd down all season, playing in big games and getting big-time wins. I expect nothing less, even without Kiffin.
Now, a match-up between two teams, one of which has been called a pretender all season, and another one as an underdog story in the Oregon Ducks and James Madison.
Barclift expects Oregon to make a huge run in the playoffs, stating,” Oregon has looked good all season, and I expect them to make a run because of how good they are on offense and running the football, and they are getting players who have been injured back”.
Lots of Duck fans are very interested in how Oregon will play, potentially with lethal weapons in Evan Stewart and Dakorien Moore, likely to return in the playoffs.
Evan Stewart, one of the best receivers in the country, suffered an injury in the offseason, resulting in the junior wide receiver missing all of the Ducks’ regular-season games. Stewart last season was a huge reason for their success, going 12-0, winning the Big 10.
If Oregon gets both of those guys back, it will be very difficult to stop them offensively. Possessing a very deep roster, Oregon could host its first national championship in history.
The first round of the college football playoff, like last year, will be destined for upsets and memorable moments, which makes the 12-team system more fun and enjoyable for fans and players who tune in to an amazing sport.