This was the last week of the regular season, and it was a fun one. Most of the games were conference championships, but they were fun. We'll get into the playoff forecast and all that, but we will also focus on the Heisman and other things. Since it was a small week, we're shortening the notable games and notable performances sections. Let's get started.
Notable Games:
The biggest game of the week was the SEC Championship, featuring #1 Alabama and #16 Missouri. As I said last week, I believe 'Bama is the best team in the country, and they proved it against Mizzou. The Tide won 42-13 to win the SEC title and secure a spot in the playoffs.
#4 Florida State faced one of their toughest games of the season when they took on #11 Georgia Tech with the ACC Championship on the line. Though the Yellow Jackets put up a great fight, the 'Noles hung on to secure a spot in the playoffs.
#5 Ohio State won the Big Ten Championship after destroying #13 Wisconsin in the title game. Remember, the Buckeyes were being led by their third-string QB, who had thrown only 19 passes in his collegiate career up to this point.
#22 Boise State handed unranked Fresno State their seventh loss of the season when they beat them 28-14 Saturday in the Mountain West championship game. The Broncos are now in the top 20 and have a shot at playing in one of the New Year's Day bowl games.
#2 Oregon and #7 Arizona met for the Pac-12 Championship on Friday night. The Ducks avenged their regular season loss to 'Zona by whooping the Wildcats 51-13 and earning a spot in the first-ever College Football Playoffs.
Notable Performances:
#20 Oklahoma and Oklahoma State met on Saturday in a Big 12 conference game. The Sooners were favored, but the Cowboys pulled out the upset to become bowl eligible. The deciding factor for OSU: a 92 yard punt return touchdown by Tyreek Hill, who had more than 200 yards in the game, which came from receiving, rushing, and returning.
#6 Baylor defeated #9 Kansas State to earn a share of the Big 12 championship. Helping lead the Bears to victory was senior receiver Antwan Goodley, who had nine catches for 116 yards and one score, a kick return for 19 yards, and one rush for 33 yards.
Baylor is co-champions with #3 TCU, who defeated Iowa State to earn a share of the Big 12 title. A big reason the Horned Frogs: Derrick Kindred who had three tackles and one interception, which he returned for 44 yards and a TD.
Heisman Watch:
Marcus Mariota is going to win the Heisman. It's as simple as that. No one has been more outstanding than him this season. It's very possible he could be the first ever unanimous Heisman winner. That's right, no one has ever won the Heisman unanimously, though Reggie Bush and Troy Smith did come close (both got more than 90%). Who else but Mariota deserves a first-place vote? J.T. Barrett suffered a season-ending injury last week, Jameis Winston had a terrible off-the-field season, Melvin Gordon was abysmal against OSU, Trevone Boykin isn't playing in the playoffs, and Cody Kessler lost too many games. Of course, it's no guarantee it will be unanimous. There is always some voter who will vote for someone else, either because they're trying to make a name for themselves or don't believe anyone should win the Heisman unanimously. Be that as it might, let's look at our final Heisman watch. The list is down to four competitors, and the top three are all going to New York. The players who dropped out: Dak Prescott, Cody Kessler, Gerod Holliman (none of them played this week), Jay Ajayi (he had an unspectacular game against Fresno State, and Bryce Petty (who will not be playing in the playoffs).
4. Trevone Boykin, TCU (Last Week: 4)- Boykin had an excellent game against Iowa State. Not only did he throw for 460 yards and four scores, he also had the first receiving touchdown of his career. If he was playing in the playoffs, he would at least be #3 on this list.
3. Amari Cooper, Alabama (Last Week: 3)- Cooper didn't score against Mizzou, but he did have 12 catches (an SEC title game record) for 83 yards. In doing so, he set the SEC single-season reception record with 115.
2. Melvin Gordon, Wisconin (Last Week: 2)- Gordon could do absolutely nothing against the Buckeye defense, but he stays at #2. Remember, this guy had a fantastic season up to the Big 12 title game.
1. Marcus Mariota, Oregon (Last Week- 1)- As I said before, Mariota is going to win the Heisman. He sealed the deal by accounting for five scores and 313 passing yards against Arizona in the Pac-12 title game.
Playoff Picture:
The playoffs are finally set. In the semi-finals, #1 Alabama takes on #4 Ohio State and #2 Oregon takes on #3 Florida State. The winners of those two games will meet in the championship. Ohio State moved into the four spot after TCU fell out of the three spot. What hurt TCU? Some speculate that it was the fact that it was co-champion, instead of winning the Big 12 outright. Baylor, the co-champion, should have won the championship outright. Had they won it, they could have made it into the top four.
How did OSU get into the top 4? Well for one, they destroyed Wisconsin. Had it been close, they might not have gotten the edge over a Big 12 team. The committee is supposed to take injuries into account, and the season-ending injury to J.T. Barrett could have been a crutch for the Buckeyes (no pun intended).
Games to Watch:
There are no games until December 20th, so I have just highlighted five bowl games which should be good.
Texas A&M and West Virginia take each other on in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Both of these teams were ranked earlier on in the season so they are both talented teams.On top of that, they both have talented offenses that could make this game really fun.
Notre Dame and LSU go one-on-one in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl. The last time these two met, it was in the Sugar Bowl about eight years ago. LSU doesn't have a great offense, but good enough to make it interesting.
Washington and Oklahoma State are not exactly heralded teams, but they could have a fun encounter when they meet in the TicketCity Cactus Ball. The Cowboys are riding a hot streak since beating Oklahoma, and they could translate that to a win here.
Two top-notch teams clash when Kansas State takes on UCLA in the Valero Alamo Bowl on January 2nd. Both of these teams were considered playoff contenders at one point or another, so expect them to put up a good fight.
Georgia takes on Louisville in the Belk Bowl on December 30th, and this could be a great game. These are two talented teams which could be very good next year. This has the potential to be one of the best bowl games on the schedule.
Thanks for reading. Check back soon for more posts.
Notable Games:
The biggest game of the week was the SEC Championship, featuring #1 Alabama and #16 Missouri. As I said last week, I believe 'Bama is the best team in the country, and they proved it against Mizzou. The Tide won 42-13 to win the SEC title and secure a spot in the playoffs.
#4 Florida State faced one of their toughest games of the season when they took on #11 Georgia Tech with the ACC Championship on the line. Though the Yellow Jackets put up a great fight, the 'Noles hung on to secure a spot in the playoffs.
#5 Ohio State won the Big Ten Championship after destroying #13 Wisconsin in the title game. Remember, the Buckeyes were being led by their third-string QB, who had thrown only 19 passes in his collegiate career up to this point.
#22 Boise State handed unranked Fresno State their seventh loss of the season when they beat them 28-14 Saturday in the Mountain West championship game. The Broncos are now in the top 20 and have a shot at playing in one of the New Year's Day bowl games.
#2 Oregon and #7 Arizona met for the Pac-12 Championship on Friday night. The Ducks avenged their regular season loss to 'Zona by whooping the Wildcats 51-13 and earning a spot in the first-ever College Football Playoffs.
Notable Performances:
#20 Oklahoma and Oklahoma State met on Saturday in a Big 12 conference game. The Sooners were favored, but the Cowboys pulled out the upset to become bowl eligible. The deciding factor for OSU: a 92 yard punt return touchdown by Tyreek Hill, who had more than 200 yards in the game, which came from receiving, rushing, and returning.
#6 Baylor defeated #9 Kansas State to earn a share of the Big 12 championship. Helping lead the Bears to victory was senior receiver Antwan Goodley, who had nine catches for 116 yards and one score, a kick return for 19 yards, and one rush for 33 yards.
Baylor is co-champions with #3 TCU, who defeated Iowa State to earn a share of the Big 12 title. A big reason the Horned Frogs: Derrick Kindred who had three tackles and one interception, which he returned for 44 yards and a TD.
Heisman Watch:
Marcus Mariota is going to win the Heisman. It's as simple as that. No one has been more outstanding than him this season. It's very possible he could be the first ever unanimous Heisman winner. That's right, no one has ever won the Heisman unanimously, though Reggie Bush and Troy Smith did come close (both got more than 90%). Who else but Mariota deserves a first-place vote? J.T. Barrett suffered a season-ending injury last week, Jameis Winston had a terrible off-the-field season, Melvin Gordon was abysmal against OSU, Trevone Boykin isn't playing in the playoffs, and Cody Kessler lost too many games. Of course, it's no guarantee it will be unanimous. There is always some voter who will vote for someone else, either because they're trying to make a name for themselves or don't believe anyone should win the Heisman unanimously. Be that as it might, let's look at our final Heisman watch. The list is down to four competitors, and the top three are all going to New York. The players who dropped out: Dak Prescott, Cody Kessler, Gerod Holliman (none of them played this week), Jay Ajayi (he had an unspectacular game against Fresno State, and Bryce Petty (who will not be playing in the playoffs).
4. Trevone Boykin, TCU (Last Week: 4)- Boykin had an excellent game against Iowa State. Not only did he throw for 460 yards and four scores, he also had the first receiving touchdown of his career. If he was playing in the playoffs, he would at least be #3 on this list.
3. Amari Cooper, Alabama (Last Week: 3)- Cooper didn't score against Mizzou, but he did have 12 catches (an SEC title game record) for 83 yards. In doing so, he set the SEC single-season reception record with 115.
2. Melvin Gordon, Wisconin (Last Week: 2)- Gordon could do absolutely nothing against the Buckeye defense, but he stays at #2. Remember, this guy had a fantastic season up to the Big 12 title game.
1. Marcus Mariota, Oregon (Last Week- 1)- As I said before, Mariota is going to win the Heisman. He sealed the deal by accounting for five scores and 313 passing yards against Arizona in the Pac-12 title game.
Playoff Picture:
The playoffs are finally set. In the semi-finals, #1 Alabama takes on #4 Ohio State and #2 Oregon takes on #3 Florida State. The winners of those two games will meet in the championship. Ohio State moved into the four spot after TCU fell out of the three spot. What hurt TCU? Some speculate that it was the fact that it was co-champion, instead of winning the Big 12 outright. Baylor, the co-champion, should have won the championship outright. Had they won it, they could have made it into the top four.
How did OSU get into the top 4? Well for one, they destroyed Wisconsin. Had it been close, they might not have gotten the edge over a Big 12 team. The committee is supposed to take injuries into account, and the season-ending injury to J.T. Barrett could have been a crutch for the Buckeyes (no pun intended).
Games to Watch:
There are no games until December 20th, so I have just highlighted five bowl games which should be good.
Texas A&M and West Virginia take each other on in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Both of these teams were ranked earlier on in the season so they are both talented teams.On top of that, they both have talented offenses that could make this game really fun.
Notre Dame and LSU go one-on-one in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl. The last time these two met, it was in the Sugar Bowl about eight years ago. LSU doesn't have a great offense, but good enough to make it interesting.
Washington and Oklahoma State are not exactly heralded teams, but they could have a fun encounter when they meet in the TicketCity Cactus Ball. The Cowboys are riding a hot streak since beating Oklahoma, and they could translate that to a win here.
Two top-notch teams clash when Kansas State takes on UCLA in the Valero Alamo Bowl on January 2nd. Both of these teams were considered playoff contenders at one point or another, so expect them to put up a good fight.
Georgia takes on Louisville in the Belk Bowl on December 30th, and this could be a great game. These are two talented teams which could be very good next year. This has the potential to be one of the best bowl games on the schedule.
Thanks for reading. Check back soon for more posts.
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