The expanded college football playoffs — something football fans have been wanting for decades — are finally here.
If you have been living under a rock in the football world, college ball has expanded the four team field from the previous decade, to a 12-team field. The top four seeds, in order, are Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State, and all received byes for the first round.
Which leaves us with 8 teams facing off in four highly-anticipated games taking place on the home fields of the higher seeds.
The first matchup will be a Friday night affair (Dec. 20) in the Hoosier State, as the 6th-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish will welcome in the Indiana Hoosiers. The Hoosiers, the Cinderella story this football season, hope that their fantastic run defense will slow down the Irish on the ground and pull off the upset. The will face the SEC and seeded Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl. Kickoff Friday night is set for 8PM ET on ABC.
The fifth seed Texas, who fell to UGA in the SEC championship game, will be hosting the ACC Champion Clemson Tigers on Saturday (Dec. 21) with a kickoff set from Austin, Texas at 4PM ET on TNT. The Longhorns have struggled in their ranked matchups this season, but winner will advance on to the Peach Bowl, where the Big12cChampion, Arizona State, awaits.
Starting the day on Saturday is the “White Out,” as Penn State, fresh off their last minute loss to the Oregon Ducks in the Big10 championship game, will welcome in another team that suffered a close loss in a championship game, the SMU Mustangs. You have to think that Alabama Crimson Tide fans will be watching, as SMU squeezed the Tide out of the playoffs, picking up the final spot in the field. The winner of this matchup will advance to the Fiesta Bowl to take on Boise State.
And finally, the last matchup in the first round is between blue bloods as the Ohio State Buckeyes welcome in the Tennessee Volunteers. An SEC-Big10 matchup features two teams that spent time ranked in the Top 5 this season and have fantastic defenses. Points could be at a premium when these teams meet up under lights Saturday night (Dec. 21). Kickoff’s set for 8PM ET on ABC.
No matter if you have a team on the field or not, history will be made this weekend in college football. What else can you ask for?
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Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes