At 15-years-old, I was assigned to write a persuasive essay for my sophomore English class.
The topic of my essay was why college football needed to implement a playoff format to crown a national champion. It probably seemed trivial to many of my peers, and maybe even to my teacher (though as a free spirit she was pretty chill), but to me it was a topic worth diving into for a grade. It was the only topic that jumped out to me as something I could be persuasive about.
Seventeen years later, I think back to my teenage self and wonder how he would react, knowing that his vision has, for the most part, become a reality.
Yes, college football has long been a sport driven by money, and NIL and the transfer portal have just taken any sense of mystery about that away. But despite that and issues that need to be carefully dealt with so that the sport doesn’t completely lose its soul, this weekend is a landmark moment for me and so many other fans that may themselves have even written a high school persuasive essay about the need for a playoff.
I will be in the stands at one of the games on Saturday. Once the opportunity presented itself, my attendance was never in doubt. It’s events like these where I yearn for a time where the world wasn’t so digital, so that I had something physical to hold onto the moment.
If you know me, then you didn’t need to read all of that to understand why, beyond the people reading my work, it’s weekends like this one that are the lifeblood behind Around The Corn Sports Blog’s existence.
I hope you enjoy this weekend as much as I’ve been waiting to for the past 17 years.
Let’s take a look at Saturday’s games, which are all first round Playoff matchups.
College Football Playoff First Round
#11 SMU at #6 Penn State (Saturday, 12 PM ET – TNT/Max)
At the beginning of the season, it was quietly known that as long as Penn State took care of business against teams it should beat, then the Nittany Lions would likely end up in the expanded Playoff field. What wasn’t known is that the same would be true for SMU. The Mustangs, which joined the Power conference fold in 2024, realistically counts two field goal losses against ranked competition as their best performances so far this season. The Nittany Lions aren’t too different, dropping games to Ohio State and Oregon by a touchdown and little else that raised too many eyebrows throughout the regular season. One team must move on, however, and chances are good that the fan bases of these two programs would read the above and have a long list for me noting the reasons why I don’t know what I’m talking about.
Enough of the shitposting. Both SMU and Penn State boast an elite run defense and will be tasked with stopping offensive attacks that are most effective when they can move the ball on the ground. Neither has really been gashed by an opponent in that area, but SMU has given up a lot of passing yards to teams willing to test its secondary. As much as I feel like Drew Allar is a system guy, he has shown an ability to make the necessary throws at the college level and can hurt a defense that plays too far off the Penn State receivers. Like in almost all big games for the Nittany Lions, Tyler Warren figures to be an X-factor for James Franklin’s team and he could have a big day if SMU sells out to stop the run. Though Kevin Jennings has matured a ton this season, I have more faith in Allar coming up big in crucial spots and there will be those in this game, which I expect to remain close throughout. A Playoff victory has to be considered a signature victory, and Coach Franklin will finally get his in this one.
My Pick: 31-27 Penn State
Bowl Mania Confidence: 45 points
College Football Playoff First Round
#12 Clemson at #5 Texas (Saturday, 4 PM ET – TNT/Max)
It was a long and winding road, with plenty of opportunities to sell, but if you held onto the stock that Dabo Swinney told you to buy in Clemson football last season, you’re feeling pretty good right now. After being cast off to rot following a blowout loss to Georgia to kick off the season, Clemson found a way (well, was given a lifeline) to qualify for the Playoff via conference title game victory. The Tigers struggle to stop the run and have just one victory over a Top 25 program this season, but lucked into playing a Texas squad that just doesn’t seem to know where its shifter is. Indeed, the Longhorns seem stuck in first gear sometimes and appear to get in their own way given all of the talent on the squad. It feels very much like one of these teams is playing with house money, while the other is secretly trying to figure out how they ended up playing a first round game.
The Longhorns have to be thrilled they aren’t playing Georgia again. The Bulldogs are the only team this season to hold Texas’s offense under 100 yards rushing, and not coincidentally the two games against Georgia are the only ones Steve Sarkisian’s team has lost. Clemson’s run defense, which is one of the worst in the ACC, provides Texas an excellent opportunity to keep the ball away from a potent Tigers offense while moving across the field at will. Stifling Clemson’s ability to make this a track meet, as well as capitalize on turnovers (the Tigers have the best turnover margin in the ACC), should be two of the top priorities for Sark in this one. It is looking increasingly likely that top wideout Isaiah Bond won’t play for the Longhorns, making the ability for Texas to control things on the ground even more important. If the Longhorns can achieve that, they should waltz into the quarterfinals somewhat comfortably. It would be the biggest upset of the first round if Clemson were to knock off Texas, but I don’t see it happening.
My Pick: 27-14 Texas
Bowl Mania Confidence: 43 points
College Football Playoff First Round
#9 Tennessee at #8 Ohio State (Saturday, 8 PM ET – ABC)
For years, Ohio State fans have begged for an opportunity to see an SEC team travel North to face a Big Ten team on the road in December. Now that the chance to see it has finally come to fruition – ticket prices have plummeted leading up to the game. Whether it is aversion to the expected cold temperatures, general apathy about being in a first round game to begin with or just general lack of awareness to the occasion, it’s an embarrassment for the Buckeyes and its fan base. Arguably the most intriguing matchup of the first round takes place in Columbus on Saturday night, when Tennessee and its vaunted defensive front will look to slow down an Ohio State offense that has operated in head-scratching ways at times this season.
Ryan Day doesn’t need to win a certain way. The Buckeyes can be tough, but against most teams they will have a clear advantage on the outside. Such is the case in this game, where Ohio State’s receivers should be able to find space in the second level of Tennessee’s defense. Up front the Volunteers are big and fast, and trying to muscle your way down the field with the run game is a recipe for failure, as teams like Alabama have found out. To win this game the Buckeyes will need to open things up offensively, a reality that has existed before and seemingly been ignored by Day and his staff. However, in a “win or go home” scenario, I find it hard to believe that Ohio State won’t be open to showing what they truly have in order to secure victory. If the Buckeyes play to their potential, they are slightly too much for the Volunteers on both sides of the ball. Speaking of the other side, defensively the Buckeyes will need to get more pressure on Nico Iamaleava than they did, say, Dillon Gabriel. While a majority of the fan base doesn’t seem to think similarly, I feel Ohio State has known exactly how it wants to approach this Playoff and is still in a good position to vie for the national title. Expect a rematch of the Big Ten’s two best teams in the Rose Bowl.
My Pick: 28-19 Ohio State
Bowl Mania Confidence: 42 points
