I swore I wouldn’t do this column anymore. No one read it last year – seriously, I would get maybe 20 hits on a good week. After that, I said, “there’s no point in doing these anymore,” and I canceled the column. Well…I couldn’t keep it at bay any longer…I’ve decided to resurrect the beast. Luck be a lady tonight and that’s showbiz, baby. LFG.
Two years ago, I painted a pretty clear picture of why college football needs an eight-team playoff. I stand by that argument – eight is the way…no more, no less. So, I’ve started a new weekly column looking at what the College Football Playoff would look like under my format. I think it’s a reasonable way to determine a National Champion without leaving deserving candidates out, but making sure everyone has an equal chance to get in. With that said, let’s dive right in to my weekly College Football Playoff projections…
So, this is it – this is what the playoff teams would look like for 2018 under my format…
BIG NATURAL’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF PROJECTIONS
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (SEC Champion) – Nothing really crazy happened this week. No big shakeups in the CFP race at all. For the Tide, it’s interesting to see their defense step up and pitch consecutive shutouts just when the Tide offense looked to come back down to Earth just a bit. That should put into perspective as to just how insane the season started for this team. They’re 53-0 over their last two games and I’m sitting here writing, “wow – good thing the defense is playing so well.” Shit, maybe I’m drinking the Nick Saban kool-aid, too.
2. Michigan Wolverines (Big Ten Champion) – #1 ranked defense, Mose.
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Wild Card #1) – Syracuse and USC are the only teams in Notre Dame’s way of a perfect regular season. This team is firing on all cylinders right now and if you don’t think they’re clearly one of the four best teams in the country, you’re crazy. I know Irish fans may be a little nervous of not having a conference championship game to play in. But, if this team goes undefeated, I would bet a fucking kidney on their making the CFP. Only cause for concern would be if they drop one of these next two, but I certainly wouldn’t worry.
4. Clemson Tigers (ACC Champion) – That may have been Clemson’s best shot at taking an L. On the road, at a good Boston College team, and what did they do? Left town with a win! Maybe this is a team of destiny after all….but I’m still not ready to buy them on the national scale.
5. West Virginia Mountaineers (Big 12 Champion) – I know Oklahoma won, but man – that team has struggled this year. In my book, these Mountaineers look like the best team in the Big 12. How crazy is it that we might get Oklahoma-West Virginia back to back to close the season? It’s both team’s season finale, then you’d have the top two teams in the Big 12 going for the conference championship. Right now, those two teams would be the Mountaineers and Sooners.
6. Washington State Cougars (Pac 12 Champion) – They’re still alive. Their actual CFP hopes are hanging on by a thread, but if they keep winning, you never what can happen. This much is clear at this point in the season: this is obviously the best team in the Pac-12. That Apple Cup is going to be something else this year.
7. Georgia Bulldogs (Wild Card #2) – Big win over Auburn keeps the Bulldogs on track for a date with destiny (read: Alabama) in Atlanta. I still believe this is one of the four best teams in the country.
8. Utah State Aggies (Group of Five Representative) – I know UCF is undefeated, but there’s no way you can watch this team and think it’s anywhere near as good as last year’s team. If UCF and Utah State met on the field, the Aggies would smoke ’em. That’s why I think Utah State ends up with this Go5 spot.
So, that gives us…
(8) Utah State at (1) Alabama
(5) West Virginia at (4) Clemson
(7) Georgia at (2) Michigan
(6) Washington State at (3) Clemson
Real Talk
Lets put politics aside and just take the four best teams in college football. Who would those four teams be? I’d say:
1. Alabama
2. Michigan
3. Notre Dame
4. Georgia
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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