Georgia, Michigan, TCU, Ohio St
Georgia, Michigan, TCU and Ohio State will play for the championship game after being picked for the College Football Playoff on Sunday.After not playing in a conference championship game, the Buckeyes (11-1) went up one area following USC’s loss in the Pac-12 title game Friday to provide the Big Ten 2 playoff groups for the first time in the format’s nine-year history.No.
4 Ohio State will deal with No. 1 Georgia in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, and No. 2 Michigan will deal with No. 3 TCU in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31.2 Associated
The CFP National Championship presented by AT&T will be played Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.Georgia opened as a 7-point favorite over Ohio State at Caesars Sportsbook, and Michigan is a 9-point favorite over TCU.TCU(12-1)hung on to its No. 3 ranking after losing in overtime in the Huge 12 championship game to Kansas State. The Horned Frogs and Buckeyes are the fifth and sixth teams to make the College Football Playoff without winning a conference title.Horned Frogs coach Sonny Dykes stated he was concerned about his team’s playoff status after the loss but included that he believed the choice committee.At a watch celebration for TCU players and staffers at its Fort Worth, Texas, campus, cheers broke out when the Frogs landed in the bracket during the announcement program.” We had a bit of a sleep deprived night, however appreciate the committee’s self-confidence in our players and our program,”Dykes stated Sunday.
“I believe it’s all you can ask for at the beginning of the season.”Alabama(10-2)had intended to make a delve into the leading 4 following USC’s and TCU’s losses, with coach Nick Saban lobbying for his group Saturday.”If we played any of those teams that are on the edge of getting in, would we be the underdogs or the favorite?”Saban said on Fox at halftime of
the Big Ten championship.The Crimson Tide were ranked 5th by the selection committee.Committee chairman Boo Corrigan, the athletic director at NC State, said Ohio State’s big wins over Penn State and Notre Dame assisted push the Buckeyes in over Alabama.”As we looked at the overall body of work, the
committee was comfortable with Ohio State at No. 4 and Alabama at 5, “Corrigan said in an interview on ESPN.Corrigan likewise informed ESPN’s Heather Dinich that possibly having 3 groups(TCU, Alabama and Ohio State )without conference titles changed the discussion some in the space as they disputed the benefits of each.” Undoubtedly it’s going to change some due to the fact that it
‘s different than what it’s been in the past,”he said,”but our goal is to take a look at the totality of the games that are played. “Corrigan stated there was significant conversation around Alabama, however without conference titles, more factor to consider was offered to résumés. TCU’s regular-season win over Kansas State loomed large in the decision– the committee was impressed by the Horned Frogs ‘return and
10-point success margin– however Corrigan said that was only one example of what impressed the committee.”You think of TCU in the game versus Baylor, getting on the field, working on the field, kicking the field goal talks to a disciplined team, a well-rounded team,” he said.”We’re attempting to take a look at everything we can as we go into this.”Georgia(13-0)and Michigan (13-0)remain in the playoff for the second straight
year. They won their particular conference title games conveniently Saturday and will want to become the 4th team to win the CFP with an unbeaten record.The just time Georgia and Ohio State have previously played remained in the 1992 Citrus Bowl, a 21-14 Bulldogs
triumph. TCU, whose only national title was available in 1938, has never played Michigan.The Wolverines had plenty of appreciation for their semifinal challenger after a variety of players watched Saturday’s Big 12 championship game. “Max Duggan, he’s an excellent player, “Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy stated,”but it will be amazing to see how he forms up against our defense. I constantly look at other quarterbacks to see if I can take bits and pieces from their game and include it to mine. Max, he’s a tough man. Seeing him run the ball, specifically on those last number of drives, it was actually standing out and recognizing,’Hey, it’s Big 12, but there will
be chance for me to use my legs.'” Michigan also wants to take another advance after reaching the semifinals last season before being burnt out by Georgia. “That supreme objective, we actually weren’t striving that national championship last year, “McCarthy said. “It was to beat Ohio State, win a Huge Ten championship, but this year, we’re striving it, and we’re going to go get it. “Corrigan stated the committee did not make any special effort to avoid having
a rematch of Ohio State and Michigan in a semifinal. The Buckeyes and Wolverines have never played outside of their annual regular-season game in a rivalry that goes back to 1902. ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.