By JONAS MILLER
Co-Executive Editor
As the college football regular season begins to wrap up, analysts and fans alike have more to talk about than ever.
Over the weekend, everything went as most expected. Penn State won the Big 10 championship, Clemson beat a severely outmatched West Virginia, and Alabama once again embarassed the team on the opposite sideline.
On Sunday morning, it was confirmed that the top four teams in the country would remain where they sat the night before: in order, Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Washington.
At the beginning of the season, most people would have guessed that the top three would look as they do, but Washington surprised a lot of people with their lockdown defense and explosive offense, lead by star quarterback Jake Browning.
In Clemson, Deshaun Watson led last year’s second place team through another outstanding season, capping it all off on Saturday coming up with five touchdowns for the Tigers.
Ohio State had a few scary moments this year, with a loss to Penn State, and a close win over long-time conference rival Michigan. Though there are some who believe that the Buckeyes don’t belong in the playoff, their strength of schedule and high-powered offense proved to be enough in the eyes of the selection committee.
Finally, Alabama did what everyone expected them to do—demolish everyone who stood in their way of a second straight championship. Nick Saban has said that this is the best team he’s ever had, and that’s really saying something, considering he’s won four chamiponships in the last six years.
Regardles of who you’re rooting for, the third annual College Football playoff promises to be nothing short of the best one so far.
On top of the playoff are the perennial bowl games that as of late have become nothing more than glorified exhibition games.
While they still hold some importance, the critics are correct. The bowl games present nothing mroe than the promise of bragging rights to those who win, and provide one final opportunity for players to get hurt, something that could severely affect their draft stock. Some players have decided to skip their bowl games, a decisions that angers both fans and coaches, but in the long run this could prove to be much more beneficial than participating.
The College football playoff kicks off on Dec. 31, with the championship game being held on Jan. 9.
