MIAMI GARDENS – We are three days away from knowing the teams who will compete against each other in this year’s Orange Bowl.
At this time, there are likely six teams in contention for the College Football Playoff. They are: No. 1-ranked Georgia (12-0), No. 2-ranked Michigan (11-1), No. 3-ranked Alabama (11-1), No. 4-ranked Cincinnati (12-0), No. 5-ranked Oklahoma State (11-1), and No. 6-ranked Notre Dame (11-1).
If the season officially ended right now, we would have the following teams paired up for the Orange Bowl:
No. 1 Georgia (SEC leader) vs. No. 4 Cincinnati (AAC leader)
If this holds, it would be a rematch of last season’s Peach Bowl, where Georgia edged Cincinnati by a score of 24-21.
The penultimate College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night (Nov. 30).
With that said, media members had the opportunity to speak with CFP Selection Committee Chair Gary Barta about what had transpired.
Quite frankly, Cincinnati will need to win the AAC title game at home against No. 21-ranked Houston (11-1) on Saturday (Dec. 4; 4 p.m.) to even be considered for the playoff.
If the Bearcats win convincingly, then they should – emphasis on should – be the first Group of 5 team to reach the CFP Playoff in its history. But if it is a close win, then there is a possibility of the current No. 4-ranked team getting jumped by another team for the final spot.
And if the Bearcats lose to the Cougars, they can kiss the playoff goodbye.
“I’m consistent in telling you that we as a committee don’t project,” Barta said. “So they’re going to play a champ game against Houston. Georgia and Alabama are going to play. Michigan and Iowa are going to play. Oklahoma State and Baylor.”
“We’re going to watch all those games,” Barta continued. “And then until that occurs, until the last game is played, we won’t be having any conversations about who is going to be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, et cetera, and that’s the way we go about it.
So until those games are played, there’s really no way to predict who is going to go into those spots.”
Speaking of Georgia, the nation’s No. 1 team will be facing off against Alabama, the defending national champion, on Saturday as well. The SEC Championship Game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, with a kickoff set for 4 p.m.
If Georgia beats Alabama, then it will secure the No. 1 seed in the CFP. If it loses to Alabama, then we will have two SEC teams in the CFP.
Should Alabama secure a playoff spot along with Georgia, that would leave only two spots open.
One playoff spot would go to Michigan, but only if the second-ranked team beats No. 13-ranked Iowa (10-2) in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday. That tilt will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with a kickoff set for 8 p.m.
Barta spoke on Michigan’s convincing 42-27 home win over Ohio State in last weekend’s regular season finale.
“The committee has been calling, referring to Michigan as a complete team now for about three or four weeks as we were watching the team,” Barta said. “And I just think about what the defense was able to do…They were able to put pressure on Ohio State’s offense and really contain an incredibly explosive offense, both passing and running.”
“Then on the flipside of that, for [Michigan running back Hassan] Haskins to do what he did and they were able to run the ball in kind of difficult conditions, I would just tell you the committee was not surprised at the way Michigan played — maybe, like everybody, a little surprised at the way the score ended up,” Barta continued. “But just a complete team. And that’s how the committee’s felt about Michigan now for quite a while. And they showed it in a championship environment.”
Not to be discounted are fifth-ranked Oklahoma State and sixth-ranked Notre Dame.
In Oklahoma State’s case, it needs to beat No. 9 Baylor (10-2) in the Big 12 title game on Saturday for a chance to steal one of the CFP’s four spots. The Big 12 title game will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX with a kickoff time set for 12 p.m.
As for Notre Dame, the sixth-ranked team will have to sit this one out, since it is an independent program that does not have a conference championship game to play for.
FINAL PREDICTION: When the CFP announces its final bowl pairings on Selection Sunday (Dec. 5; 12 p.m.), we will get an intriguing matchup in this year’s Orange Bowl.
We will get a Georgia-Cincinnati rematch on Friday, Dec. 31 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami for the College Football National Semifinals.
PHOTO CREDITS: College Football Playoff and Orange Bowl
