Last One, Best One – 2024 College Football Playoff

Boy, oh boy. To say we were entertained by the slate of College Football Playoff games on New Year’s Day is a complete understatement.

I’m always excited for the playoff, obviously, because it’s the pinnacle of the college football season. For the past 9 years, the four-team playoff has been the most highly sought-after goal of any power 5 football program… an expectation more realistic for some than others… and it is always a great accomplishment to be able to compete on arguably the biggest stage in college athletics.

Some individuals don’t like the current system of two semifinals followed by a championship, hence why a playoff format with 12 teams will be implemented starting next season. It is believed that by allowing more teams in, it could give additional and/or smaller schools a chance to make some noise, ultimately resulting in more interesting games.

So, this is the last 4-team playoff until expansion; and I think it’s safe to say they saved the best one for last.

Aside from last season, we have had to sit through a plethora of blowouts and utter boring semifinals. In the 16 semifinal games that occurred from 2015-2022, only 3 of those contests were decided by 10 points or fewer. In fact, the 2018 Rose Bowl that featured two extremely talented teams in Georgia and Oklahoma is tied for the closest margin of victory within that 7-year span (6 points). The other one is Clemson’s 29-23 win over Ohio State in the 2020 Fiesta Bowl.

Furthermore, 50% of those 16 games resulted in a margin of 20+ points.

Now, I know that the final score doesn’t always reflect the true story of a game, or how the game was played, but this just gives an idea of the common trends that have prevailed within the past decade.

However, the past two years, the tide seems to have shifted, as we are thankfully starting to be treated with riveting, enthralling football.

And to put it simply, us college football fans were downright spoiled last Monday. And I don’t think we’ve been able to say that in a while around playoff.

As a true fanatic of college football (and my team not being in the playoff), the two games that transpired resembled everything I love about sports.

Unmatched intensity…

Die-hard passion…

Unexplainable joy…

Pure heartbreak… just to name a few.

Both the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl brought all of this and more. The constant emotional rollercoaster that each fanbase had to undergo within these two 60-minute nail-biters is what makes college football so great.

This year’s Rose Bowl classic between Michigan and Alabama was truly one of the best football games I had ever watched. The series of events, the storylines, the fanbases, the special beauty of the Rose Bowl, and the high stakes of this game between two iconic college football brands added up to be a thriller. Not to mention the ending…

The feeling of doubt, then hope, then frustration, and then relieving exhilaration that Wolverine fans had to endure during the fourth quarter and overtime… And for Bammers, the complete opposite.

The Jalen Milroe fumble, the missed FG by James Turner, the sensational game-tying drive led by Blake Corum and J.J. McCarthy, and of course, the questionable 4th and goal play call from the 3-yd line. And to add onto it, Jim Harbaugh was finally able to win a CFP Semifinal. All of these factors brought us much-enjoyed drama and a wild 4-hour ride that will be remembered for a long time.

But the drama didn’t end there. One word that comes to mind when I think about Washington-Texas is climatic. The entire game was back-and-forth between Quinn Ewers and Michael Penix Jr., and there was a feeling that it was going to come down to the wire.

It seemed to be basically over after Washington hit a field goal to stretch the lead to 9 with 2:40 to play, and it probably would’ve been if Dillion Johnson’s clock-stopping injury didn’t happen with less than a minute left. But this is the 2024 College Football Playoff. Do you really think this game was going to end in a QB kneel? I don’t think so.

After a series of fortunate events for Texas, the Longhorns put themselves in a real position to win with 1 second remaining, but eventually came up 13 yards short.

My point is… this has the potential (and probably already is) to be the best College Football Playoff in history. And what better time than the last chapter of the 4-team playoff?

Last year’s semifinals were great, as well. But let’s be honest. We all knew Georgia was going to win it all. And we all expected the beatdown that the Bulldogs handed TCU in the championship game.

What makes this playoff so intriguing is the amount of uncertainty, and it’s hard to make a prediction because all three of these games really are a toss-up.

If the two semifinal matchups were any indication of what we get to witness on Jan. 8th between Washington and Michigan, we are in for an unforgettable ending.

Comment your National Championship predictions down below!

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