This week of college football is brought in part by WWE. Because with all the brawls happening between bitter rivals, the most notable ones ended in the Royal Rumble. Teams clashing on the field, wanting to be able to bring their opponents to their demise, then having an all-out brawl to finish it. That’s because Rivalry Week in College Football is one of the most glorious weeks in this chaotic sport. Two bitter rivals, clashing underneath the coldness, wanting to prove their superiority over the other. Heck, the hatred of rivalry week even spread to the NFL, thanks to the Texans and Jaguars game. It doesn’t matter if one is ranked and one is not (Unless you’re Purdue), both teams put up legendary fights that go down in their rivalry history. This week…this time many rivals got to spoil the chances.
They Didn’t Cheat This Time! Michigan Shocks #2 Ohio State in the Game, Ryan Day In Shambles.
I’m going to go on a bit of a rant here for Ryan Day. Ahem…
Ryan. You were 10-1 going into The Game, at Home. These Wolverines are one of the worst teams in decades, only having a damning 6-5 record coming into the match. Donovan Edwards went missing to start the season, they were getting bullied by the likes of Washington, and almost losing close to Arkansas State, you were bound to be heading to Indianapolis, AND YOU COMMIT THIS!? A 10-13 LOSS TO THIS MICHIGAN TEAM?!
At this point, if they don’t achieve a national championship this year, Ohio State needs to fire Ryan Day. Sure you may say he’s always had an amazing team, but that team can’t be losing to the likes of MICHIGAN at this point of the season, and last year, and the year before that. Ohio State once had C.J. Stroud, Garret Wilson, Chris Olave, and Marvin Harrison JR all on the same team when they faced them, AND YOU STILL COULDN’T WIN?! YOUR TEAM PUT UP A BETTER PERFORMANCE DURING THE FIGHT AFTER THE GAME THAN DURING THE GAME ITSELF!? Worst of all, little brother in Penn State now gets to be the one to take on the Ducks for you! If you can’t go all the way in the playoffs, cast him off from these lands to Massachusetts, this is unacceptable coming from one of the top teams in this great sport. And if you think things can’t get worse…
Kyle Mccord’s Greatest Day in his Life! Down Goes the #6 Miami Hurricanes to the Syracuse Orange!
Things do keep getting worse for Ohio State. What is one of their worst days in history, turns out to be one of the best days for the castoff known as Kyle McCord. Not only seeing his former team get embarrassed by a lowly Michigan team, he pulled off all the shots against the Hurricanes, outlasting them in a 42-38 victory. The Orange improves to 9-3, giving them one of its most successful seasons in recent memory …now as for Mario Cristobal…
YOU HAD A 21-0 LEAD BY THE SECOND QUARTER, CAM WARD WAS PLAYING LIGHTS OUT, AND YOU HAVE THE CHANCE ON 4TH DOWN, LATE IN THE 4TH QUARTER NO LESS, TO CONVERT AND ESCAPE THIS GAME BY THE SKIN OF YOUR TEETH, AND YOU DECIDE TO KICK. A. FIELD. GOAL!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? You better hope your chances at staying in the playoffs are still alive because this, too, is extremely inexcusable. Yes, the Hurricanes have been playing tight games, but this kind of loss is damning, more so of the fact that another team gets to play in the ACC championship instead of you. Who may that be?
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME MATCHES!
ACC: #17 Clemson vs #8 SMU
Thanks to the #12 Hurricanes collapsing in this way, Clemson would get to take their spot. Although being upset by #15 South Carolina, Miami’s heartbreaking loss pulls them into the championship game in Charlotte. This Clemson squad already has experience playing in these environments and being led by a Heisman Contender in Cade Klubnik(According to my brother), they face a brand new face. SMU has been one of the great underdog teams(compared to others) this year, being led by a tantalizing duo in Kevin Jennings and Brashard Smith. Can Clemson finally manage to make their way back to the playoffs since Trevor Lawerence, or will SMU end up riding their way into the conference while having no expectations and showing off in the playoffs for their first time?
BIG 10: #3 Penn State vs #1 Oregon
Also thanks to #6 Ohio State losing in a more heartbreaking fashion, Penn State finds themselves in the backdoor of the Championship game. James Franklin has been given one more chance to hopefully save his career in Pennsylvania, and the last time they were here, they did win. However, they now face another newcomer in the Oregon Ducks, being led by a Heisman candidate in Dillon Gabriel. The Ducks have been either crushing their opponents, like Washington or keeping it close, like Wisconsin, so it would be hard to tell which team shows up in Indy. Can Penn State escape its demons and find its way to the 1st seed, or will Oregon sweep in its first year and take over the reins or the BIG10 for a long time?
SEC: #5 Georgia vs #2 Texas
The winner of the revived Lone Star Showdown would get to take on Georgia in Atlanta, the most simple win and scenario of all games. Unfortunately, Texas A&M forgot to bring their offense, so #2 Texas can get their rematch against #5 Georgia. Only this time, they won’t be at home, not like it mattered, and now have to go to Atlanta to take on the Bulldogs. Can the apparent QB duo of Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning(?!) finally bring down the Dogs this time, or will Kirby Smart just demolish them again even with Carson Beck playing?
BIG 12: #16 Iowa State vs #15 Arizona State
In a matchup no one could have predicted at the start of the season, the chaos conference finally gets their championship game in Dallas, although be it that the most common scenario happened. What seemed to be the end of Iowa State at the middle of the year, now becomes almost one of the greatest comebacks in conference history. Their opponent comes from the broken Pac-12, the…ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS?! THE SAME TEAM WHO WENT 3-9 LAST YEAR?! Well then, can Iowa State finally complete the greatest comeback to win their conference after disappearing for the middle of the season, or will the Pac-12 haunt this conference for a long time through the likes of Arizona State?
Playoff Matchups as of 12/3
#12 Arizona St. @ #5 Penn State -> Winner takes on #4 Boise State
Whoever is assumed to win the insanity-reincarnated Big 12 will be the ones to take on Penn State, assuming they can’t prove their worth against Oregon…should it be an easy win for Penn State as long as the spirit of the Pac-12 doesn’t haunt them.
#9 Tennessee @ #8 Ohio State -> Winner takes on #1 Oregon
The loss to Michigan all but solidifies that Ohio State has to take the long route to get to the championship game, first having to deal with the freshman, cardiac sensation of Nico Iamaleava and the Vols. The winner of this gets a showdown with the #1 Oregon Ducks…you’re able to win this game right Ryan Day?…right?!
#11 Alabama @ #6 Notre Dame -> Winner takes on #3 SMU
Dread from it, Run from it, and Alabama comes back into the playoff picture (Because Mario Cristobal doesn’t want to trust his Heisman frontrunner QB to make a play). This time it’s a bit different, they would have to go into South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish in a revived classic rivalry…assuming Notre Dame doesn’t go back to old times when they played the Tide.
#10 Indiana @ #7 Georgia -> Winner takes on #2 Texas
Imagine telling someone in August that Georgia would have to play in the first round of the playoffs at home against…the INDIANA HOOSIERS! You would have been labeled as Stephen A Smith for how horrible that take would be.
