The College Football Playoffs, The First Games of 2021

Notre Dame survives after a nasty loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game

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Alabama has the No. 1 spot in the College Playoff rankings.

Brett Cira, Reporter

College Football Rankings

  1. Alabama 11-0
  2. Clemson 10-1
  3. Ohio State 6-0
  4. Notre Dame 10-1
  5. Texas A&M 8-1
  6. Oklahoma 8-2
  7. Florida 8-3
  8. Cincinnati 9-0
  9. Georgia 7-2
  10. Iowa State 8-3
  11. Indiana 6-1
  12. Coastal Carolina 11-0
  13. North Carolina 8-3
  14. Northwestern 6-2
  15. Iowa 6-2
  16. BYU 10-1
  17. USC 5-1
  18. Miami 8-2
  19. Louisiana 9-1
  20. Texas 6-3
  21. Oklahoma State 7-3
  22. San Jose State 7-0
  23. North Carolina State 8-3
  24. Tulsa 6-2
  25. Oregon 4-2

Alabama holds onto the No. 1 spot. After Notre Dame’s loss to Clemson, they took the four spot meaning they will play Alabama on New Year’s. Alabama is a 17.5 point favorite and they have too much talent for Notre Dame. Don’t expect this game to be super close, but you never know.

Ohio State and Clemson will meet for the third time in five years. Clemson is one of only a few teams that Ohio State has never beaten in its history. Last year these teams played and it came down to the wire. This will be the exciting game. Can Ohio State use their anger to beat the almighty Clemson Tigers?

Coastal Carolina was underappreciated by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. Coastal Carolina went 11-0 and finished only 12th in the rankings. This is a small football school that beat Big 12 Kansas, 19th ranked Louisiana, and 16th ranked BYU. They will play Liberty University in the Cure Bowl, another team who had a good season as a small school. Coastal Carolina is definitely not happy with the rankings, but had an amazing season. Most schools couldn’t even play 11 games in this weird Covid season, let alone go undefeated. 

Cincinnati went 9-0 beating 24th ranked Tulsa last weekend. Unfortunately that’s the only real competition they had and the selection committee doesn’t think they can hang with the top four. They will get tested when they play Georgia in the Peach Bowl, we’ll get to see what they’ve really got.

Through all of the struggles that every school went through during the fall of 2020, they completed the College Football season. With only bowl games left to be played, the NCAA, conferences, and schools all did a good job keeping everyone safe during the season. Even though cases of COVID-19 spread throughout most teams at some point in the season, I think most players, if not all would say it was worth it. You only get to play college sports for four years. Whether you’re a freshman or senior, you do not want to miss the opportunity of a season of your college football career wasted. Well done job all the way around.