By Anthony Martinez, Sports Editor
Championship week has ended and the final rankings are set for the college football season. With the regular season over and conference champions decided, the College Football Playoffs are officially set.
The games were very competitive with others being a lot more one-sided. Of the Power Five conferences, starting with the Pac-12 Championship, 10th ranked, Oregon Ducks, faced off with the 17th ranked, Utah Utes. Utah ran right through Oregon with a score of 38-10.
9tth ranked, Baylor Bears, took on the fifth ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys for the Big 12 Championship. It was a very competitive game with Baylor just etching out a win 21-16.
The SEC Champion game was very hyped up, with two teams that had a huge chance to get into the College Football Playoffs which were the first ranked, Georgia Bulldogs, and the third ranked, Alabama Crimson Tide.
Georgia had been so dominant all season long, but Alabama was the team to give them their first season loss. With a score of 41-24, Alabama confidently secured its spot in this year’s playoffs.
The BIG 10 Champion game was hardly competitive as the second ranked, Michigan Wolverines, dominated the 13th ranked, Iowa Hawkeyes, 42-3. Marking Michigan’s first BIG 10 Championship since 2004.
The ACC Championship was between the 15th ranked, Pittsburgh Panthers, as they faced the 16th ranked, Wake Forest Demon Deacons. This was the first time since 2008 that the ACC Champion game didn’t include the Clemson Tigers or Florida State Seminoles. Led by Heisman hopeful and quarterback, Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh managed to get the win 45-21
After all the champion games, the final rankings came out and were as follows: the first team in the nation is now the Alabama Crimson Tide. The second team is still the Michigan Wolverines. The third ranked team is now the Georgia Bulldogs. The fourth team in the nation, the only non-Power Five team to ever be in the playoffs, is the Cincinnati Bearcats.
The teams that just missed out are the fifth ranked, Norte Dame Fighting Irish. The sixth ranked went to the Baylor Bears. The seventh team went to the Ohio State Buckeyes. The eighth team went to the Ole Miss Rebels.
This means in the semi-final playoffs, it will be Alabama versus Cincinnati and Michigan versus Georgia.
Alabama’s season was a very successful one as they finished at the top rankings by the end of the season. Alabama was very dominant outside of two close games with the one close loss to Texas A&M around mid-season.
They were led by young quarterback and sophomore, Bryce Young, who is now the Heisman favorite as a result of his explosive season. With 46 total touchdowns and another year before he goes pro, Alabama is in good hands for the time being.
Going into the season, Michigan was looked at as a good team that was very talented, but it wasn’t as expected to be this high in the rankings at this point in the year.
Their win over Ohio State was massive for the fans and head coach, Jim Harbaugh, as it was his first win over Ohio State as the head coach. To then dominate the BIG 10 championship and go into the playoffs is huge for Harbaugh’s legacy at Michigan.
Georgia was the favorite for almost the entire season, outside of the season opener where they won 10-3 over Clemson.. Their defense was some of the best by any team in college football history. They held three different teams to zero points, an outstanding mark. Now with the loss to Alabama, they fell slightly but are still heavy contenders without a doubt.
Cincinnati often gets left out of the conversation as they are not a power 5 team, but they were dominant out of the AAC. Their biggest win of the season came against Norte Dame where they finished the season with a record of 13-0. There are some questions about their legitimacy as contenders in the playoffs, but they’ve done nothing so far other than succeed this season.
With those questions comes their matchup with Alabama in the semi-finals. Usually, the playoffs are very competitive but occasionally some games are less competitive and many believe this could be one. Alabama is a 13.5-point favor over Cincinnati.
Cincinnati has not had the level of schedule like Alabama or played a team of the same caliber as Alabama. If they have any chance, it’s up to senior quarterback, Desmond Ridder, to have a fantastic game and not turn the ball over. If they lose the turnover battle against a team like Alabama, their chances are slim to none.
The other semi-final between Michigan and Georgia is expected to be much more competitive, but despite Michigan being just ranked higher, Georgia has a 7.5-point favor over Michigan as it stands right now.
A lot of that is due to just how truly dominant Georgia was this season. Teams feared them, and they showed weakness in the Alabama game, so we will see if they can make the adjustments or if Michigan will be able to capitalize.
It’ll be a big weekend of what if’s when these teams meet each other. It’s only the start as the winning teams of these games will meet the following weekend to determine the national championship of the 2021-2022 season.
