The First Round of the inaugural 12-team Playoff is now complete.
The review of the results? Mixed, at best.
On one hand, there will always be favorites and underdogs. But the disparity between those favorites and underdogs was painfully obvious in all four of the first round games this season. Harsh as it may be to put in writing, teams like Indiana and SMU brought into question their very existence in the Playoff over a few left out. Clemson and Tennessee were noticeably outclassed by more talented competition.
The Committee will need to rethink how it evaluates the top teams in the country. Wins and losses can’t be the determining factor. The seeding criteria needs to be revamped as well. The fact that all four winners from the First Round games opened as favorites in the quarterfinal matchups tells you all you need to know about the seeding issues.
In the end, the expansion of the Playoff was still a major win for college football. The issues will be shored up, likely sooner rather than later. And as fans we’ll always be able to find something to complain about, even as the most glaring issues are resolved.
Looking ahead, Bowl Mania gets into full swing this week. Let’s take a look at the pair of games taking place on Monday.
Myrtle Beach Bowl
Coastal Carolina vs. UT-San Antonio (Monday, 11 AM ET – ESPN)
Only one team this season not in the Playoff will stay home for its postseason matchup, and Coastal Carolina is it. The Chants will welcome the Roadrunners to “The Beach” for a contest that a couple of years ago, would have been an easily marketable battle between two heavy hitters at the G5 level. Unfortunately, the transfer portal and related opt-outs have left Tim Beck’s team in a tough spot – it will be without its top two quarterbacks, forcing Beck to likely start a true freshman who has not thrown a single pass in college. His name is Tad Hudson – welcome to the big time, kid.
On the other side is UT-San Antonio, which was supposed to battle for the AAC title this season but got off to a rough start in that regard, losing on the road to East Carolina, Rice and Tulsa. While that stretch effectively ended any conference title hopes, the Roadrunners came on strong at the end of the season and nearly spoiled Army’s perfect conference record in the season finale. UT-San Antonio will bring its usual starter at quarterback, Owen McCown, who improved throughout the season and showed last year he could hang in a bowl environment. While at first I was willing to give the Chanticleers a slight edge given the familiarity of the environment, the personnel losses are a bit too much to overcome here. Expect Jeff Traylor’s team to be the one to be on the positive side of .500 following the conclusion of this one.
My Pick: 31-17 UT-San Antonio
Bowl Mania Confidence: 20 points
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Fresno State vs. Northern Illinois (Monday, 2:30 PM ET – ESPN)
The opt-out list for this game is a mile long, though it’s hard to expect much from teams heading to balmy Boise, Idaho in December for a postseason destination. Unfortunately, one of the casualties is Fresno State’s Mikey Keene, who likely would have been one of the bright spots offensively in this game. His absence means that the Bulldogs must scramble for a solution at quarterback, and no option on the roster has thrown more than five passes this season. The Huskies were already going to be tough to beat through the air, allowing just under 170 passing yards per contest. It’s safe to say that Fresno State’s best bet is to get things going on the ground, where Northern Illinois is just slightly less stellar in comparison (111.7 YPGA).
Remember all the way back in September, when the Huskies upset Notre Dame and found themselves ranked in the Top 25 the next week? Yea, well, that didn’t last long, and Northern Illinois never really factored in the MAC title race, but the Huskies did manage to stay true to themselves for the entirety of the regular season. Strong defense and a powerful run game got them to seven wins and it’ll be the way it will try to get to eight. Overall, the Bulldogs are the better team and will be trying to win one for the Skipper (interim head coach Tim Skipper), but might be turned upside down too much on offense do to that. I’ll take the more predictable Huskies in a close one.
My Pick: 20-16 Northern Illinois
Bowl Mania Confidence: 19 points
