The CFP Is Set: Are We Headed to a Georgia-Michigan Championship?
After a journey that began on Sept. 1, the field for the College Football Playoff is set. The national semifinals will be on Dec. 31 in Atlanta and Glendale, Ariz. The National Championship will be at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. on Jan. 9.
The two games have plenty of story lines to keep us going until New Year’s Eve.
For example: Did you know that for all of their great tradition, Georgia and Ohio State have met only once?
It came on Jan. 1, 1993 in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. Georgia running back Garrison Hearst was the MVP of the game, a 21-14 win by the Bulldogs. The quarterback was Eric Zeier, who left Georgia in 1994 as the SEC’s all-time leading passer. It was the Bulldogs’ best team under Ray Goff.
Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN was the Buckeyes’ quarterback. He told me Sunday that his biggest memory of the game was Georgia linebacker Mitch Davis..
On Dec. 31, 2022, some 30 years later, the Buckeyes and the Bulldogs will play again with considerably more on the line. No. 1 Georgia (13-0) the defending national champions, will meet No. 4 Ohio State (11-1) in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. The game will be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, just over an hour away from the Georgia campus in Athens.
Georgia certainly expected to be in the semifinals as the No. 1 seed after beating LSU 50-30 in the SEC championship game on Saturday.
Ohio State, on the other hand, had to sweat it out until ESPN’s Rece Davis called the Buckeyes’ name at just past noon on Sunday.
Ohio State was thought to be out of the CFP after the Buckeyes got thumped by Michigan, 45-23, in Columbus, Ohio, moving the Buckeyes from No. 2 to No. 5 in the next-to-last rankings. To have a chance Ohio State needed for something ranked ahead of them to stumble.
“Our season was on life support,” said Ohio State Coach Ryan Day. “We needed for something good to happen.”
Something good did happen Friday night when No. 4 USC was thrashed by Utah 47-34 in the Pac-12 championship game. That opened the door and Ohio State moved up one notch and into the playoffs.
Michigan (13-0) was a lock to be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs after the Wolverines’ handled Purdue 43-22 in the Big Ten championship game. It was Michigan’s second straight conference title.
With Georgia, Ohio State, and Michigan in the field, there was drama surrounding the final pick.
No. 3 TCU lost to Kansas State 31-28 in overtime in the Big 12 championship. Thus began a debate on whether or not the Horned Frogs should stay in the top four at 12-1.
First-year coach Sonny Dykes admitted that he had a sleepless Saturday night while he and his team waited on the decision from the selection committee. The committee kept TCU at No. 3 based on that fact that the Horned Frogs’ (12-1) only loss was a rematch with Kansas State, which they beaten 38-28 earlier in the season.
The other moment of drama came from a late push by No. 6 Alabama to get into the playoffs. Crimson Tide Coach Nick Saban, who has seven total national championships (6 at Alabama, 1 at LSU) took to the airwaves to make the case that the Crimson Tide (10-2) deserved a shot if the true goal of the committee was to pick the four BEST teams.
Saban pointed out that his team’s only two losses were on the last play of the game at Tennessee (52-49) and LSU (32-31), two of the toughest places to play in all of college football.
But at the end of the day, Alabama’s 10 wins wasn’t enough to supplant TCU and its 12 wins.
So the committee kept TCU at No. 3 and moved Ohio State from No. 5 to No. 4.
Here is an early breakdown of the national CFP semifinals:
CFP SEMIFINALS
Dec. 31, 2022
No. 2 Michigan (13-0) vs. No. 3 TCU (12-1), 4 p.m., Glendale. Ariz.
TV: ESPN
The line: Caesar’s Sports Book has Michigan as a 9 1/2 -point favorite.
The story: TCU made the four-team CFP field despite losing to Kansas State on Saturday (31-28) in the Big 12 championship game. The Horned Frogs don’t have the overall athleticism of Michigan, but this team has played with mental and physical toughness all season. Quarterback Max Duggan put on an incredible performance in the loss to Kansas State. Michigan is the better team but this one will be closer than the experts think.
No. 1 Georgia (13-0) vs. No. 4 Ohio State (11-1), 8 p.m., Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta.
TV: ESPN
The line: Georgia is favored by 7.
The story: Georgia, the defending national champions, will be playing its third game of the season in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. On Sept. 3 Georgia beat Oregon 49-3 in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic. On Saturday Georgia beat LSU 50-30 in the SEC championship game. This is only the second time in history that Georgia and Ohio State have met in football. The other time was the 1993 Citrus Bowl. Ohio State looked to be out of the playoff after losing big at home on Nov. 26 to Michigan. After giving up 30 points to LSU, Georgia is still the nation’s No. 2 team in scoring defense (12.8 ppg).
CHAMPIONSHIP: Jan. 9, 2023, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Calif. 8 p.m.