The wait for the College Football Playoff is officially over as of today with one change in the rankings from yesterday. The top four teams goes as follows:
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Clemson Tigers
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Oklahoma Sooners
After Georgia’s 35-28 loss to Alabama, the Dawgs fell out of the fourth seed in favor of the Big 12 Championship winner, Oklahoma, and their Heisman hopeful, quarterback Kyler Murray. The Sooners will take on another Heisman candidate in Tua Tagovailoa and the SEC Champions, Alabama, in the Orange Bowl. It is worth noting that Tagovailoa suffered an ankle injury in the SEC Championship while they were behind Georgia, and last year’s starter Jalen Hurts led the Tide to victory. Considering the Orange Bowl is not until December 29th, Tua should have plenty of time to recover.
In this year’s Cotton Bowl, the 2 seed ACC Champions Clemson Tigers and their vaunted defense will take on the undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In an extremely weak ACC conference in which they played the 7-6 Pittsburgh Panthers in the conference championship last night, this will be the Tigers’ toughest matchup of the 2018-19 season. Notre Dame’s schedule wasn’t exactly a ball-buster either. After taking on and defeating Michigan in their opening game, the Irish had a fairly weak remaining schedule with their toughest games being against then-7th ranked Stanford (now unranked), then-24th ranked Virginia Tech (now unranked), 20th ranked Syracuse, and 21st ranked Northwestern. Granted, five top-25 victories is impressive, but two of them quickly fell out of the rankings and two are in the 20’s. None of these teams can compare to Clemson, so Notre Dame may be in for a very rude awakening.
My Predictions:
Alabama defeats Oklahoma 30-24
I believe Oklahoma has a legitimate chance to knock off the Crimson Tide if Kyler Murray, wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, and the offense can compete with the Alabama juggernaut, and I believe coach Lincoln Riley, who is expected to have multiple NFL job offers, can make it happen.
Clemson defeats Notre Dame 38-21
Clemson’s defense will force quarterback Ian Book into making mistakes due to the constant pressure they put on opposing offensive lines with their NFL-bound front four of Clelin Ferrell, Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence, and Austin Bryant. The first three are all projected first round picks, along with cornerback Trayvon Mullen, in the next NFL draft. The one thing Notre Dame has going for them is a tough defense facing a freshman quarterback in Trevor Lawrence. I think Clemson may blow out Notre Dame, and that is a lot coming from a Gamecock fan.
Complete College Football Playoff Rankings:
| 1 |  |
University of Alabama | 12-0 |
| 2 |  |
Clemson University | 12-0 |
| 3 |  |
University of Notre Dame | 12-0 |
| 4 |  |
University of Georgia | 11-1 |
| 5 |  |
University of Oklahoma | 11-1 |
| 6 |  |
Ohio State University | 11-1 |
| 7 |  |
University of Michigan | 10-2 |
| 8 |  |
University of Central Florida | 11-0 |
| 9 |  |
University of Florida | 9-3 |
| 10 |  |
Louisiana State University | 9-3 |
| 11 |  |
University of Washington | 9-3 |
| 12 |  |
Penn State University | 9-3 |
| 13 |  |
Washington State University | 10-2 |
| 14 |  |
University of Texas | 9-3 |
| 15 |  |
University of Kentucky | 9-3 |
| 16 |  |
West Virginia University | 8-3 |
| 17 |  |
University of Utah | 9-3 |
| 18 |  |
Mississippi State University | 8-4 |
| 19 |  |
Texas A&M University | 8-4 |
| 20 |  |
Syracuse University | 9-3 |
| 21 |  |
Northwestern University | 8-4 |
| 22 |  |
Boise State University | 10-2 |
| 23 |  |
Iowa State University | 7-4 |
| 24 |  |
University of Missouri | 8-4 |
| 25 |  |
Fresno State | 10-2 |
(via College Football Playoff)
Picture Courtesy of SB Nation
