Bowl projections: Ohio State in college football playoffs after USC fall as Georgia, Michigan and TCU clinches – Reuters

We knew there wouldn’t be a lot of drama in Championship Week, at least when it came to the four teams that would ultimately make it to the College Football Playoffs. It was simply a question of which team would end up in fourth place, USC or Ohio State.

Well, Utah beat USC for the second time this season, 47-24 in the 2022 Pac-12 Championship Game, to knock the Trojans out of the playoffs. In fact, USC will most likely be ranked behind Utah when the final CFP rankings come out Sunday afternoon.

Ohio State will therefore return to the college football playoffs for the third time in the past four seasons, most likely as the No. 4 seed. This will make the Big Ten the second conference in CFP history to put two teams in a singular four-team field, joining the SEC.

The Buckeyes’ positioning is only in question because Kansas State handed TCU its first loss of the season in the Big 12 Championship Game, with the Wildcats avenging their regular season loss to the Horned Frogs in overtime. .

I believe TCU will stay ahead of Ohio State in the PCP, but even if it’s not, forget any notion of Alabama moving forward with Ohio State and supplanting the TCU. It would be completely unjustified. If TCU jerseys read “Oklahoma” or if Alabama said “Ole Miss,” no one would even agree to that talking point.

Filling out the top of the four-team field, Georgia locked in the first playoff seed and its first SEC championship game win since 2017 in a rout of No. 14 LSU, and Michigan clinched the second seed by winning his second consecutive Big. Ten Championship Game, this season against Purdue.

College Football Playoffs

The Rose Bowl will feature Pac-12 champion Utah, who makes a repeat appearance in the grandfather of all after winning a second consecutive league crown. Penn State will represent the Big Ten in place of league champion Michigan as the highest-ranked Big Ten team not playing in the CFP.

USC should stay high enough in the CFP rankings to earn a spot in the Cotton Bowl. This possibility arises because the Big Ten have put a second team in the CFP. Ohio State being out of the general pool for New Year’s Sixes opens the door for Trojans.

Like Kansas State earlier in the day, Tulane also avenged a regular season loss in the AAC Championship Game. The Green Wave strangled UCF 45-28 to claim the league crown and advance to its first major bowl game since 1939 when undefeated Tulane faced equally undefeated Texas A&M in the 1940 Sugar Bowl. Tulane will represent the Five in this year’s Cotton Bowl against USC.

Speaking of the Wildcats, their Big 12 championship earns a spot in the Sugar Bowl. Kansas State will face Alabama, the replacement for SEC champion Georgia.

The Orange Bowl will host ACC champion Clemson, who handled North Carolina 39-10 in the ACC Championship Game. Tennessee will challenge Clemson as the highest-ranked team remaining in the SEC, Big Ten or Notre Dame. A Clemson-Tennessee game seems appropriate for a Orange Bowl.

Six New Year’s Bowls

Buffalo and New Mexico State were the last teams to become bowl eligible this week, albeit in different ways. Buffalo beat Akron 23-22 to claim its sixth win and earn a spot in the bowl. NMSU was granted a waiver by the NCAA to compete as a five-win team.

New Mexico State came out and still picked up a sixth win over FCS Valparaiso in an added game late this weekend, but that doesn’t count towards the necessary six the Aggies needed because only one opponent from the FCS can be counted out and NMSU beat Lamar earlier this season. . The waiver still put the Aggies in a bowl.

Along with the rest of the field, only Rice will compete as a 5-7 team this season. That might just as well given that the next team in contention, UNLV, fired their coach this week and were considering turning down a bowl offer if offered.

Don’t see your team? Check Bowl projections updated by Jerry Palm as good as CBS Sports Bowl Eligibility Tracker with all 82 spots now filled for the 2022-23 bowl games.