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bulldawgillustrated.com Matt Linder After the month long wait, filled with bold predictions and tongue twisting bowl games, the main event is finally upon us.  In just two days, the top four teams in the nation (don’t ask Ohio State fans) will clash in the College Football Playoff’s semi-final games.  Let’s preview the matchups and predict the winners of this round and the National Championship. footballfanatics.com The first game on Monday (5:00pm) is a battle between two opposite styles.  The #2 Oklahoma Sooners have a high-powered aerial attack led by Heisman winner Baker Mayfield.  On the other side, the #3 Georgia Bulldogs are propelled by the two-headed beast in the backfield of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.  Georgia’s game plan will be to run the football, eat up clock, control the time of possession and keep the Oklahoma offense off the field.  The Sooners rush defense is only ranked 41st in the country, allowing...

printyourbrackets.com Matt Linder College Football’s conference championship weekend was largely a dud, but it was still able to generate some controversy.  On Sunday, the playoff committee selected and announced the four teams that will be competing for a national title: Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama.  There were five major conference championship games this weekend, but only four had playoff implications (Sorry, PAC 12).  Let’s recap those games and see which teams punched their ticket to the final four. Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press In the first game of the day, Oklahoma dismantled TCU in the Big 12 championship game.  The Sooners got out to a big 17-0 lead after the first quarter, but the Horned Frogs managed to cut the deficit to a touchdown going into the second half.  However, Oklahoma quarterback and Heisman frontrunner, Baker Mayfield, was too much for the TCU defense.  The Sooners went on to w...

statecollege.com Matt Linder The Thanksgiving weekend served up more than turkey, stuffing and apple pie.  There were two key upsets in college football with differing implications for the playoff selection committee. The Associated Press Let’s start with Friday’s upset of the #2 ranked Miami Hurricanes by the Pittsburg Panthers.  Coming into the game, this did not look like a competitive matchup.  Pitt was 4-7 and The U was undefeated.  However, feeding off of their home crowd, the Panthers came away with a 24-14 victory.  So how does this loss affect the Hurricanes playoff chances?  In reality, it does not have much of an impact as the loss did not push the U out of the ACC Championship game.  As long as Miami beats #1 Clemson in the conference title game, they will replace Clemson in the top four and certainly get a chance to compete for a national title.  If the Hurricanes lose, Clemson will likely hold ...

statecollege.com Matt Linder As the college football season begins to wind down, the playoff uncertainty ratchets up.  Even after ten games, the four playoff spots are wide open, without any true favorites emerging from the pack.  It has been an exciting year, but not because of wild upsets and Cinderella teams.  This season’s suspense lies in its unpredictability; even with only two games remaining, there are no locks to make the playoff.  The field is extremely crowded, without much separation between the #1 and the #8 team.  All of the top eight teams in the country are “blue blood” traditional powerhouses.  This year, the importance of every week is magnified because there are so many quality teams with extremely similar resumes.  Lose again and you may have squandered the chance to compete for a national championship.  Let’s take a look at the teams in the hunt for the playoff and what each of them has to do in order to be one of the l...