College Football Live - College Football Playoffs Look Ahead

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

College Football Playoffs are a week away and the brackets are out. Victoria Arlen, Sam Acho, and Harry Lyles Jr. update you on everything playoff related. Plus, the transfer portal has opened and we are tracking it all. Last but not least Bill Belichick is being connected North Carolina, we get you the latest on this developing story. All that and more on College Football Live Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

College Football Live. It has been an eventful couple of days, and we've got the best of the best to navigate us all through it. I've got Sam Acho with me in studio. We got Harry Liles Jr. from afar as well as Pete Thammel. And one of the many reasons it's been so eventful is, well, of course, familiar faces, potentially going to new places. And someone, we've been keeping a very close eye on his former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who could be back on

the sidelines, this time in the college space. The six-time Super Bowl champ confirmed on the Pat Macon. show Monday that he's been in talks with North Carolina about the school's open coaching job, but Belichick has never coached at the collegiate level. So Pete Thamel, what's the latest here between UNC and Bill Belichick? Well, Victoria, the latest between UNC and Bill Belichick is that they are still in deep talks. This is a large, complex deal, and sources have cautioned us that it is not completed, that any notion that it's finalized is premature. There's things the sides still have to work through. This has been close for a while, Victoria. It's really

been close for days. Both sides have thought maybe Monday it could get done, maybe Tuesday it could get done. That was the prevailing feeling this morning. Again, it is on the cost of potentially happening, but there's a chance it couldn't if the sides can't agree to some key fine points. So Bill Belichick and Carolina right now, it is what it is, what it's been for the past two days, right there, but not complete. Not complete just yet. What is cool, though, is his father's spent three years there as an assistant coach. Now, UNC is one of two power for head coaching openings. The other being West Virginia.

What more can you tell us about West Virginia search, Pete? Victoria, I would expect the West Virginia search to culminate at the latest tomorrow morning, but likely this afternoon. They completed in-person interviews with candidates last night, sources told me, and they are now exploring and going into the fine point detail of who would be their next coach. One of the candidates is an obvious one. It's Rich Rodriguez, the former coach there. He's obviously the one that a lot of the public sentiment has been behind. But West Virginia is weighing other options, and there's no clear path yet to who will get that job. We should get some

clarity late this afternoon. The best of the best. As always, thank you, Pete. We appreciate you. Now, speaking of moving around, the transfer portal is open after throwing a school record, 26 touchdown passes in a season Duke starting quarterback Malik Murphy has entered the transfer for portal. Murphy told the SPN he would not play in Duke's Gatorball matchup with Ole Miss. The portal king himself, Ole Miss head coach, Lane Kiffin, had some thoughts on the portal system as a whole. Take a listen. You know, it really is a really dumb system. Think about what we're talking about or what coaches had to address, you know, quarterback going in the portal. I mean, just just think about

what we're talking about. It's like, season's not over yet, and there's a free agency window open. and just get the NFL, you know, getting ready for the AFC, NFC playoffs postseason, and players are, you know, in free agency already. So it's really poor system, but we just try to manage the best we can through it. And hopefully someday how we get fixed. Mr. Portal King himself is upset with the Portal. Do we agree or disagree with Kiffin, Harry? I agree with him.

Look, you can be the Portal King. you can play it well and you could also think that the schedule and the way that it's laid out currently isn't the best. And I think that goes obviously for the coaches. In talking to coaches, you know, we do a lot of these meetings before our games on Thursday nights that I do with Matt Barry and Coach Dan Mullin. And one of the things that they talk about that's the biggest pain is the schedule that this is laid out in. I think the one thing that people have to remember that this early portal window that we have in December that ends on the 28th is in part a reminder of the ties that college football, that college word being the key word here,

that academics are still a part of this. A lot of that early window and the reason still there has to do with the semester. And that is schools are still beholden to that, despite how corporatized and much in business like college football has gotten. So I think once they can figure out a way to make the windows a little bit more firm in terms of roster continuity, even if guys continue to get into the transfer portal, then coaches. And I think it would benefit. players as well to have a little bit more of a streamlined window to where things make more sense where you don't have that bowl overlap. Yeah, Harry, I agree with your point about the coaches and the players trying to have a streamlined window because the thing that's happening right now is

Malik Murphy understands that the window is open. If I want to know another opportunity, I have to go and make my decision out. It happened last year when he was at Texas. Texas was getting ready to go play in the college football playoff of Malik Murphy begrudgingly enter the transfer portal. Why? Because he knew that the window was open and other teams were making moves. Now, the issue that I do have is wondering, okay, you had so much success at Duke. You just got there one year, so much success. Why leave now? And the answer could easily be, well, maybe there's more opportunities to win championships, maybe it's more money. But I think that's the piece of it where it's like, okay, you had a lot of success. You just transferred one

year, not leaving again, looking for greener pastures. Their issue is teams are obviously saying, hey, come visit because we'll take you. So there's a supply side, but there's also a demand side, which is why a lot of these players are opening themselves into the transfer portal. No, I think the question is, though, is the grass greener on the other side? Well, not always. That's the thing. That's the thing people don't realize. Okay, you could enter the transfer portal.

I don't have the exact numbers, but a lot of people go into the transfer portal and they don't come out. They end up staying there, and obviously teams end up filling the roles that they left. They think they're going to get a better opportunity, and they don't. So there definitely is a danger and a risk associated when entering the transfer portal. It's not always going to be this high, five-star players or big-time quarterbacks. A lot of people watch these big time quarterbacks and see their opportunities. They enter following them, but that's not the best example because they're not in the same situation. So there is that like risk reward system there too.

Now speaking of the portal, it is now day three. And we have our first official commit. The top rated player in ESPN's transfer portal rankings, quarterback Darian Mensa has committed to Duke, according to our very own Pete Thammle, after leading Tulane to the AAC title game in his first year as the starter, Mensa said Duke coach, Manny Diaz had made a strong impression in a short period of time. and the redshirt freshman has three years of remaining eligibility. Now, Max Olson is here to help put the portal into perspective for us. Now, Max, what more can you tell us about Mensa committing to Duke? Yeah, Mensa had an extremely impressive redshirt freshman season, 4-2 Lane, led them to the conference championship game. And, you know, when he entered the portal, he probably could have picked wherever he wanted to go.

But he took his first visit to Duke and chose to commit on that visit. that, you know, I think from his perspective, it's not just the academic prestige of Duke, but the fact that they went nine and three in their first season under Manny Diaz, he really hit it off with Manny Diaz. And, you know, I think that you, to make this move, to move on from Malik Murphy and pick up Darien and Mention from Tulane, I think tells you that Manny Diaz believes Duke can be a contender in 2025 in the ACC. They're not losing that many starters from their lineup.

And I think they feel like they can take the next step with Dary Mince as their quarterback. And he's a very promising passing prospect, who has a very promising, who has a very promising start who, as you said, still has three more years. Now, now that Mensa is off the board, who is the most coveted transfer quarterback in your eyes, Max? Yeah, the guy at the top of the board now just announced today that he's entering the transfer portal. That's Fernando Mendoza from Cal.

He's a big six-foot-five passer, a red shirt sophomore, who had a really impressive year with the Bears this season, had some big performances against Auburn, against Miami, led the 98-yard game-winning touchdown drive to beat Stanford. He's a player that I think a lot of teams view as having some pretty elite tools. He's planning to enter the transfer portal to continue his career elsewhere. I think one school to watch there would be Indiana where his younger brother is the backup quarterback. That would be cool to see the brothers out there.

Now, which team has been particularly hit hard by players entering the portal? Yeah, we've seen a few teams, especially in the SEC, just have very high attrition here in the first three days since the transfer portal open. I think Oklahoma is one that stands out. I think certainly Brent Venables is going to have a pretty different looking team in 2025. Obviously, he's hired a new offensive coordinator in Ben Arbuckle away from Washington State. But he's lost four wide receivers to the transfer portal so far. He lost the starting tight end, Bauer Sharp. So I think that it's going to be a pretty different group of weapons for the Sooners next year.

And I think there's a lot of people who are very curious to see. Will John Mateer, the quarterback at Washington State, decide to go in the portal and follow his offensive coordinator to Norman? It's going to get interesting. portal officially closes again on December 28th, so plenty of time for more chaos. Thank you so much, Max. Now, we're just one week away from the playoff. The bracket is set. Here we go, folks.

The first ever 12-team college football playoff. This is epic one play at a time at a championship stand. Can you believe it? He got gold, man. The ACSA. This is what makes this goal. It's so amazing. All right, the playoff is set.

and Sam, let's have a little bit of fun and see how you tier each team in the 12 team playoff. Take it away, Sam. Well, the first tier I got to start with is this tier about the Cinderella story. This is the first year of the 12th team playoff. And so there are going to be some teams who are going to make magic. Cinderella, as I'll call them. Let's start with a team that's actually not in there. That's Arizona.

We're talking about Arizona State. We didn't know who was going to be in the Big 12, but that should be an ASU symbol. That's how much of a Cinderella story it is. Followed by Indiana, a team that went 11 and one, unbelievable season. Kurt Signetti, been coach of the year everywhere he's been, Cinderella, and then Boise, Ashton Genti, and the Boise State team, if they found a way to go and win the college football playoff, that would be unbelievable going back to the Kellen Moore days back about 15 years ago. And then SMU, little old SMU, Dallas, Texas, Rhett last year. So my bottom tier, if you will, is the Cinderella tier. But now I want to go to Tier 2.

Tier 2, I'll call it the Dangerous Tier. What does that mean? These are teams that if you play them, you might not be on the 1st,000. winning side. What do I mean about that? A Clemson team, they snuck in the back door of the playoff, 12th ranked team, but all of a sudden the defense led by Barrett Carter, Nogerski Award finalist, the defense led by Avon Terrell, freshman like Sammy Brown. They could actually upset some folks, followed by Tennessee. Another dangerous team, Nico Imaliaba has been up. He's been down, but it's been the running game. It's been their

defense as well that may surprise some people in the college football playoff. Third, I'll go to Notre Dame. Another dangerous team. Remember early in the season, Notre Dame had that loss to NYU. Riley Leonard wasn't really finding a way to get the ball down the field and all of a sudden they found their groove. And last but not least, in the dangerous teams, Penn State. Penn State got a chance to go and put up points in the Big Ten

Championship, another dangerous team that has a relatively easy path to a college football playoff. And now last but not least, the top tier in my college football playoff tier, I'll call these the championship contenders. And of course, anybody in here could potentially win a championship, but these are the teams that I believe are the highest rank when it comes to championship caliber. Oregon, obviously, undefeated, hasn't lost yet.

Going to Ohio State, you're looking at them. Okay, two losses, one versus Michigan, but one versus Oregon. They didn't get that rematch in that big 10 championship game, but that's a team I think we need to worry about. Texas Longhorns, of course, right? They got the offense, got one of the best defense in all the college football. They got Quinn Ewers, but also don't forget, Archmanning could step in there and step up. And last but at least, championship caliber tier, the contender tier, it's Georgia. Georgia's won multiple national championships in the last several years.

Carson Beck might be in, might be out, but this is the top tier. So think about it, started from the bottom, Cinderella, any of these teams, except for this one, because they're not in it, right? Arizona State is in it. Any of these teams, Cinderella story followed by Clemson, Tennessee, the dangerous teams, and then last minute I least, teams that have won it before, teams could likely win it again. That's my top tiers. Harry, what are your thoughts on this?

I think there are two teams that I would move up a tier. I would move SMU up into the dangerous tier. I know that first half in that ACC championship was not very good looking, but they do a lot of great things offensively and create a lot of turnovers defensively. I think that is a really good recipe for them to be dangerous. And then Notre Dame, I would move Notre Dame up into the contender tier as well. I think the way that they play, especially defensively, really puts them in a favorable position this time of year when it's best on best. They've got that great defensive line and one of the better past defenses as well.

so I would move Notre Dame up into the contender tier as well. And I'm here for the Arizona State and the Cinderella story. And I put them as a contender. Don't rule out the team that was quite literally picked to finish last with a 0.5% chance to win their conference. Here they are. All right. We're going to take a break. Bull season has a ride.

We'll go over which matchups should be circled on your calendar all after the break here on college football live. Starting with Oregon, who takes number one. Now coming up, we're also going to take a look at Ole Miss and all the good things. It is over. Football playoff begins with the first round, December 20th and 21st. Two season of we're going to start with our Oregon who takes the number one overall seed after the perfect undefeated season with notable wins versus Ohio State and Penn State. They look to take on the winner of Tennessee and Ohio State. And then we are going to get to number two, the Georgia Bulldogs back on top of the SEC after.

After losing last year's SEC championship to Alabama, they earn a buy and look to match up against the winner of Indiana and Notre Dame. Then Boise State locked up the third seed in this year's college football playoffs behind Heisman finalist Ashton Genti. And they look to host the winner of SMU and Penn State on December 31st. And of course, last but certainly not least, the improbable Arizona State Sun Devils lock up the fourth seed and earn themselves a bye week despite being voted to finish last in the best. Big 12 during the preseason. So let's take a little bit of a look back on Georgia's season. So the team at the top of the SEC on paper, the Georgia Bulldogs. Of course, they have one of the toughest schedules coming up.

We're not one to complain. We're one to be excited. You accept that that challenge is going to be there. Touchdown. Very impressive opening win. It was indeed a cat and dog fight tonight and the dogs come out on top. It's Georgia and Alabama, and it means every. Now, Georgia has had a roller coaster ride in that game, that SEC game, was a dog fight.

Now, Harry, what is your concern level, not knowing who their quarterback is at this moment? It's got to be concerned. I think it kind of, it's not as bad as it would have been, had all their other issues offensively been solved. Look, this is an offense that has had a rotating offensive line because of injuries. they have had issues at receiver with drops. You saw that both in the SEC championship game and just throughout the season. And there hasn't been a real effort to run the football. So are you going to see more of that now if Carson Beck is going to be out?

I would hope so. But I think a lot of the issues that they had offensively, they change when your quarterback is out. There's no doubt about that. I still have enough confidence in this Georgia defense, though, starting on that defensive line and working your way back, that they are able to correct a lot of what they're unable to do offensively in order to succeed and get through. Now, can they do enough to where maybe Carsebeck is able to get back? I think that is certainly a possibility without obviously knowing the extent of his injuries. But I think when you look at what George's bread and butter has been over the last four or five years,

it always starts with that defense. And I think that this defense is still good enough to overcome a lot of whatever shortcomings that we are going to see out of them offensively. What do you think could be the biggest thing that could get in their way, Sam? I think it is the quarterback position. know that you could talk about there not being that much concern, but I do have concern. I understand Gunner Stockton was able to come in and beat Texas in the second half of the SEC championship game. But part of the reason was his success. But the other part of the reason is that Texas didn't really have any film or time to prepare for Gunner Stockton. And so why do

I say that? It's not an excuse for one team. But now every other team that Georgia is going to play is going to have at least a little bit of film on what Gunner Stockton is. And what is he? Yes, he's a dual threat quarterback that if that first read isn't there, far he can tuck it he can run he's physical he's relatively accurate and so my question is this gunner stocking has three weeks to prepare for another opponent and to try to improve on whatever his deficiencies are but other teams have that same time as well to be able to game plan for a different offense now the downside is we don't know if it's going to be carson back or gunner stockton so coronators have to prepare for both quarterbacks but now they have an opportunity

in a window and a half a film to do so it's going to get very very interesting and we'll see what happens. At that point, I mean, look, we hope that we'll see Carson Beck out there, too. But bowl season is upon us. It begins Saturday with Jacksonville State and South Carolina State. They're going to square off in the cricket celebration bowl in Atlanta, noon Eastern on ABC. And in the IS4S salute to Veterans Bowl, South Alabama squares off with Western Michigan at 9 Eastern on ESPN. But fellas, which bowl are you most excited for? Sam, I'm going to start with you. I'm most excited for the cheese it citrus bowl. and not just because I like Cheez-It.

But because of Lenore Sellers. Lenore Sellers is going to be playing against Illinois defense, but he's been outstanding, and I get it. Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggins has left, but there's a new offensive coordinator in town for South Carolina. His name is Mike Shula. He was the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers and Cam Newton in 2011.

And so a lot of people are excited about this move. Lenora Sellers is outstanding. He's a dual threat quarterback. He got a chance to rush for over 100 yards versus Clemson. in their big time matchup. And so I'm excited about that team. That's one six straight and all of a sudden got a new OC. Ooh, what about you, Harry?

Yeah, Sam, I like that pick. I am going with the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. I actually worked the coldest Independence Bowl on record a couple of years ago. Hopefully it'll be warmer this time around. Marshall versus Army, obviously being a Georgia State graduate myself, love to watch Sunbelt football. Marshall's done a really good job this year. They're going to have an interim coach with Charles Huff,

gone to Southern Miss, but watching them play another football game is going to be great. And then, of course, I want to see. Army play one more game. Bryson Daley has been one of the best players, one of the best stories in all of college football this year at the quarterback position for Army, the second best rusher in college football behind Ashton Genti even had, I think, he finished with 29 touchdowns this year. So to be able to watch Army go out there one more time this year against a really good Marshall team is going to be really fun to watch. Are you aware of how cold it's going to be, Harry? Have you prepared? I don't know, but I'll tell you what, when I went

out there, it was 12 degrees and it felt like zero. Did not. That's like the cold that you can't can't recover from for a little while. I'm really excited for the Pop Tarts Bowl. We've got Iowa State in Miami. They're playing for that Pop Tarts Bowl, that coveted edible

pop tart. And you can actually vote for it. And I'm very excited for the Pop Tarts Bowl. I think it's what? It's Hot Fudge Sunday, mixed berry, cinnamon roll. I just, I love the mascot. Who doesn't love a Pop-Tart? But what happened to the nostalgic, the brown sugar.

You know, we're talking about wildberry. What about blueberry? I love the Pop-Tart and it pops up and you can eat it. And it's wonderful. And I just love the Pop-Tarts Bowl. And I'll also to see Miami out there too. That's a good choice. That's a great choice.

I'm here for it. I'm here for the Pop-Tarts Bowl. So that's, that's mine. But the cheese, they're all good. I think they're going to be fantastic. So look, I love Bull season. It's going to be fun. Teams get another chance to play.

We love to see it. Yeah. Yeah. Now don't go anywhere. Champ Drive is next. We'll discuss who has the hardest and easiest paths in national championship ideal opponents and if the committee is pondering any more changes in the future.

All that more coming right up. Welcome to Championship Drive. Top 25. Presented by AT&T. We have not arrived. We are not done. This is why you do what you do. Welcome into Champ Drive.

Your home for all things. college football playoff. I'm Victoria Arlen, alongside the best of the best, Sam Macho, with me in studio. We got Heather Dinnage and Harry Liles Jr. with us from afar. Now, we've got a lot, a lot to dive into now that the 12-team playoff is officially set, so let's get right into it. Here it is the inaugural 12-team college football playoff bracket. Now, let's see. Oregon claimed the top seed overall. Georgia, Arizona State, and Boise State were the other three highest conference champions to earn a first round by. And Clemson's unexpected win in the ACCC championship got them into the field.

SMU was the last team to get in and Alabama and Miami were the first two teams out. So Sam, did the committee get it right? Absolutely. I think the committee absolutely got it right for a myriad of reasons. I'll start with the SMU reason. Before the championship weekend, SMU was ranked in front of Alabama, as was Tennessee, as was Indiana. Now, Tennessee and Indiana sat at home and didn't play in their conference championship game, whereas SMU did. And all of a sudden, SMU, they nearly lost, or they did lose the game, nearly won the game.

But SMU is having conversations of, well, should they be in or should they be out? If SMU would have sat at home, those conversations, maybe they either wouldn't have existed or maybe they could have been happening earlier. But SMU earned the right to play in their conference championship game. And so I think if there's any conversation that should have been had, it should have been about not just SMU, but also teams that didn't play teams like Indiana and, teams like Tennessee who were right in front of Alabama but didn't earn the right to play in their conference championship game. Yeah, Sam, I could not agree with you more. I think the fact that we even had the conversation of does the three loss Alabama or

Ole Miss or South Carolina get in over SMU who played in their conference championship game that had two losses by combined six points. That first loss, by the way, came to a BYU team that is currently ranked 17th in the committee's rankings and was not the same team that they are now. Justin Stone was the starting quarterback for SMU at that point. It never really felt like the committee sort of came around on where SMU was then compared to now. And then obviously their second loss coming at the ACC championship game at the hands of the conference champion. So I think they got it perfectly, perfectly right.

Well, in addition to that, guys, there was also the human element involved in this. Remember, the committees watching this game together. They see how it is lost on a 56-year-old. field goal as the clock expired, they stand up and go into the room and they talk about it. And SMU goes from out of the conversation to right back in it with that second half. And I loved what Dabo said that this about SMU, that this is a playoff team. You love to see that. And they were beyond right now.

Harry, who in your eyes has the easiest path? Honestly, this took me a while to figure out because I don't feel like any of them are particularly easy because I see so many strengths and all these teams. But I think I'm going to go Penn State. I'm most optimistic about theirs. Look, you start off against the last team in against SMU. I still think they obviously present a ton of problems for Penn State, especially offensively. And then if you win that, you get to play Boise State.

Yes, you have to go on the road, but you have a significant talent advantage over them. And then if you get past them, you're playing against the Georgia team whose quarterback. Well, we don't know who's going to play quarterback for them. It might not be Carson Beck. So you might get one of the easier roads to the national championship game now against Oregon. I think that would be a different story. but I'm looking at what Penn State has gotten in front of them after losing the Big Ten championship game. And I think if you're James Franklin on that team, you have to love what is in front of you.

Penn State's been a bit of a gritty team. So on the other side, who has the hardest path? Oh, this one's easy. Harry, you had to think about your, I'm not thinking about mine. This one is Tennessee. Tennessee by far has the hardest path. Why do I say that? Because their first round matchup is against what people talk about is a $20 million roster,

but an Ohio State team that can win a championship. That if they win that game, they get an opportunity to face the number one team. in the nation, Oregon, and undefeated team that likely will win the national championship. And then if they get past that, then their reward is the Texas long horns. Texas who has one of the best defense in all the college football, one of the best offenses. And so the number 19, they get a play number eight. Then after that, number one. And if that all goes well, then they play the number five ranked team, which probably is ranked higher for not for the conference championship.

So for me, Tennessee easily has the hardest path. Ouch. I am shocked that you didn't say Oregon. the number one seed, I was banking on that. Because to me, I mean, you're the number one seed in the country and you potentially have a rematch with Ohio State. And then you've got to play Texas probably. I mean, I don't know that there's a number one seed in any other sport

that is more to disadvantage than the Oregon ducks. But Heather, I will say this, don't be shot, right? Because the difference is it would have been Oregon, but Tennessee has one more game. Oregon's sit at home right now. It's not a hard path. if you're on the couch chilling. Tennessee, though, has to beat Ohio State to get a chance to go and play Oregon. So I feel you that one extra game got to mean something.

And we've all been ready. We've all been ready and waiting to see Oregon be tested and find out their flaws. We've yet to see it. But Heather, the first 12-team playoff is in the books. Has the committee or have you heard any talks about any changes or updates that they might bring in for next year? Not right this minute, but I know for a fact that they are going to, look at everything and the way this unfolded, from the way the teams were chosen to the way the teams are seated. And on January 20th, the morning of the national championship game, that is when the FBS commissioners and the presidents and chancellors who have the power to change the playoff will sit down and really dig in together on what worked, what they liked, what they

did it. But Victoria, the big question for them moving forward is, do they want to tweak the small things like seating and first round buys and automatic qualifiers knowing that there could be bigger changes like a 14 or 16 team format in 2026 and beyond. So there are a lot of issues that they are going to be discussing and I'm sure those phones have been ringing already. I mean, a 14 or 16 playoff could just get even crazy. We've already seen the chaos at a 12 team playoff could be. All right. Thank you, Heather, for that. All right, let's get to our Capital One rewarding performance. And it goes. to the Clemson Tigers, who capped off an unlikely run to the CFB by winning their ninth

ACCC championship. And Clemson became the first team in FBSS history to kick a 50-plus yard field goal as time expired to win a conference championship game. They will now face Texas in their first round game on December 21st at 4 p.m. All right, coming up, we find out on Sunday which four teams had earned themselves a buy this upcoming playoff. But who would be the ideal opponents for each team? Well, we're going to discuss that. And our very own San Macho has confidently filled out his bracket and is ready to show which of his picks may surprise you all. Coming up next here on Champ Drive. Championship Drive, top 25, is presented by AT&T. Connecting changes everything. Championship Drive, Top 25, presented by AT&T.

Weight is over. The college football playoff begins with the first round, December 20th and 21st. Let's get to it. Tennessee and Ohio State are meeting for the first time since the 1996 Citrus Bowl, and only the second time ever the balls have to travel north to the shoe where the Buckeyes are 3-0 versus SEC programs, and game day will be at that one. Number one, top overall seat Oregon

will be making only its second playoff appearance, and they were the 2014 CFP runner-up, and the Ducks joined Michigan State as the only Big Ten schools to win the conference in their inaugural season as a member. Now, QB, Dillon, Gabriel, is one of only two quarterbacks in the FBS this season with a 70% completion percentage

and 3,000 past yards. Now, it is no secret. We love games here. And so in honor of the playoff being set, specifically for teams on a bye waiting for their opponent, we are going to play a little game of Would You Rather? So Sam, starting with Oregon, would you rather play Ohio State or Tennessee? This was easy. I'd rather play Tennessee if I'm Oregon.

And for the simple reason that remember, Ohio State and Oregon played earlier in the season, that game came down to the wire. I'm not sure if I'm Oregon that I'm ready to see Ohio State again. They're going to be a team that we saw it. It came down to about six seconds left, and a game is a team that probably looking for a little bit of revenge. So if I'm Oregon, I'd rather play Tennessee. Now, Heather, can you give us a storyline in this first round matchup?

Well, Victoria, it's not just a first round matchup storyline. It's a college football playoff storyline because Ryan Day cannot afford to lose at home in an early exit of the playoff because Ohio State fans already have the pitch forks out after losing to Michigan at home for a fourth time. So can you imagine the vitriol that would happen if Ohio State

lost twice at home to end the season? It just can't happen. It just feels like Ryan Day has to make a deep run in the college football playoff to contend for a national title this year to keep his critics at bay. I don't think there's anyone under more pressure than Ryan

Day. All right, it will be a battle of the state of Indiana on December 20th. as Indiana and Notre Dame square off. The schools are only separated by about 200 miles and will be the first college football playoff game between same state opponents. And it is time now for now what brought to you by Prudential. Georgia is the two seed in the CFP playoff.

But starting QB, Carson Beck, injured his elbow in the first half of the SEC championship game. And his status for their playoff game is at this time unknown. but backup Cubie Gunner Stockton stepped up and helped lead the dogs to their fifth SEC title tied for the third most by an SEC school. All right, Harry, your turn. If you're Georgia, would you rather play Indiana or Notre Dame? You would absolutely rather play Indiana. Given what we saw they do against Ohio State, a lot of people feel like that was their biggest test, their only test of the season.

If that's the team that you're going to be playing against, that's what you want to see, especially because you don't know what your quarterback situation is going to be. I also think that if you're playing against a Notre Dame team, that they present a lot of the similar issues that Texas gave you defensively. And if you're Georgia, you do not want to see that, especially if you're not going to have Carson Beck, you absolutely want to see the Indiana Hoosiers. Now, Indiana, Heather, what about a storyline here? About Marcus Freeman and can he contend for a national title?

That's what he was hired to do after Brian Kelly left for Ellis, where he thought he was going to contend for a national title. title. We'll just let that irony sit right there for a minute on its own. But the question is, can Marcus Freeman get this team into a deep run? It's been cool to see what Marcus Freeman has done. So we shall see. All right, SMU and Penn State will face off for the third time ever and first time since 1978. And this will be a battle of one of the best offensive teams in the country against one of the best defensive teams in the country. SMU only has one win in the last 70 years a big 10 campus.

Now, Boise is the number three seed and only the second group of five team to qualify for the CFP. And they're led by running back Ashton Genti, who leads the FBS in rushing and is only 132 yards away from breaking Barry Sanders' single season FBS rushing record. He also needs just one rush touchdown to join Sanders as the only players in FBS history with 2,000 rush yards and 30 rush touchdowns in a single season. So Sam, if you were Boise State, would you rather play it? SMU or Penn State. If I'm Boise State, I'd rather play SMU, but it's not for the reason you might think. SMU has an explosive offense, but Boise's strength,

outside of Ashton Genti, is their pass-rest. They're one of the best teams in college football when it comes to rushing the quarterback. Over 50 sacks, them and Ole Miss, only two teams with 50 plus. The next team is 40. And so if I'm Boise, I'm saying, okay, give me SMU, give me Kevin Jennings in that passing attack, and I'll allow my four

pass rushers to win at the quarterback. Oh, all right. Well, Heather, what's something we should have an eye on here? Can James Franklin be an elite highly ranked team? Penn State goes into this bracket. They are 0 and 2 against teams that are in the college football playoff. That's Ohio State and Oregon. James Franklin is 1 and 14 against AP top 5 opponents.

Harry already said the narrative that's out there. Penn State has the easiest path to the playoff. Well, okay. What can they do with it? And can they get to a point where you're beating one of those top five teams to win the national title. We shall see. Hopefully they can turn that thing around.

All right, it will be the first time that Clemson in Texas will face off against each other. Texas back in the playoff for a second straight year is looking for their first national title in two decades. Meanwhile, Clemson could become

the first three-losh national champion in the AP poll era. Arizona State, on the other hand, is making their first playoff appearance in the lone representative for the Big 12 in the CFP and running back camp. Scataboo is the first FBS player since 2016

with 1,500 rush yards and 500 receiving yards in the season. But don't sleep on the sun devils. They are 4-0 versus AP-ranked opponents this season tied with Notre Dame for the most wins without a loss in FBSS. All right, Harry, if you were Arizona State, would you rather play Texas or Clemson? This one's really, really easy.

It's got to be Clemson. I do not. I want nothing to do with that very talented in very simple Texas defense. If you are Arizona State, the person that your hopes and dreams rely on is Cam Scataboo. Going up against a Clemson Rush defense that had a lot of issues against South Carolina in a game that I think of when I think of this particular matchup is the pit game. Desmond Reed is a guy who is both good in the run and the past. Camp Scatabu is an even more talented player that would present bigger challenges for that

Clemson defense. If you are Arizona State, you absolutely hope that you are seeing Davos Swole. and the Tigers in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. 100%. All right, Heather, what's keeping you intrigued with this one? Well, what is Clemson really? Is this just a three last average number 12 ranked team? Or are they ready to get back to Davoswini's national title contending ways? Because when we saw them last on the big stage in the season opener against Georgia, they got smacked. Is the gap still that wide?

Because Clemson got bigger. Kate Klubnick got better. The whole team has really got. galvanize around this ACC championship, but can they close the gap between being at the top of the ACC and being at the top of college football again? I think it all goes down very, very soon. Let's take a look at the Allstate Playoff predictor to see which team has the best chance to advance from the first round. Here are the first round of matchups with the best chance to advance to the next round and the odds lean heavy towards the home team. But as we've seen all year, anything can happen,

folks. But Sam, let's see if you agree with the Playoff predictor. Show us what your bracket looks like. Coming up, Sam gives us his playoff bracket and who he has for the national champion might surprise you. Allstate Playoff Predictor is brought to you by Allstate. You're in good hands.

Championship Drive, Top 25, is presented by AT&T. Connecting changes everything. The goal in the playoff is always to crown a worthy champion. This is why you do what you do. Right now, 12 teams have an opportunity to win a championship. We triple the size of the playoffs. It's huge.

This is a new era of college football. You will see the best on display. AT&T is keeping you connected with our bracket insights. 41% of brackets favor the Oregon Ducks to win the next. national title this year was Georgia trailing behind at 21%. Sign up now at ESPN.com for the first ever CFP bracket challenge. Speaking of brackets, Sam, we've been teasing it. We have your bracket here, so take it away.

Well, I'm going to start off with this bracket by doing something may not expect. Uh-oh. First round upset. First round upset by the 12th ranked team in all of college football. I'm picking Clemson to beat Texas. Heather Dynnege said it earlier. To beat your Texas Longhorn. I'm beating Clemson to beat the Texas Longhorns.

The reason why is this. Clemson has gotten better. Heather didn't said it earlier. They've gotten better. They've gotten bigger. Rookies freshmen have stepped up. Young players have turned into dominant players. T.J. Moore, receiver.

Bryant Westco Jr. receiver playing better. Kay Klubnick and the siren team learned from their mistake in Georgia. It was a 6-0 at halftime week one and ended up getting blown out. Then I'm going to Ohio State to beat Tennessee. I think Ohio State's a better team. I think they'll be better prepared. They're going to be.

That's going to be this first matchup. Now, let's go down to Penn State. SMU, extremely electric. SMU loves to throw the ball over the yard. But I think the weather is going to be too much for SMU. I think Penn State wins. Then last but not least, Notre Dame, Indiana, the in-state matchup, in-state robbery.

Give me Notre Dame. I think the Cinderella story may end for Indiana. Oh, come on. Now, moving on. Let's go Notre Dame and Georgia, right? Two big-time powerhouse programs, but Georgia is going to be too much for Notre Dame. Why? Georgia's physicality, Georgia's running game.

I know Notre Dame has the same thing, but if Carson Pick a selfie, I like Georgia in this matchup. Penn State Boisey. Give me Penn State. I don't think it's going to be enough for Boise. Cinderella story, I think, ends when they face... Over Boise?

Yeah, I think Penn State over. Cinderella story ends when they face Ninni Lions. Now, let's move up a little bit. Amy likes that one. Oregon, Ohio State, the rematch that we thought was going to happen to the Big Ten championship. No.

And I think this might be the end. No. Orion Days. Okay, okay. No, it's joy. I'm here for it. Okay. And then Clves and Arizona State.

I thought you're going to really shook by there. Arizona State. Arizona State. The Cinderella team. I think Clemson ends that. So now we've got our semi-final matchup. Clemson, Oregon, Penn State, Georgia. Start at the top. No, start at the bottom. Now we're here. Right. Georgia beats Penn State and ugly slug fest. I like that one. Oregon, Clemson. Obviously, we know all this is going to go.

Or do we upset number two? Give me Clemson over Oregon. Why? Barrett Carter Jr. Linebacker. Finalist for the best linebacker in all of college football. I think he's going to have a big time game. Avion Terrell, Brother AJ, plays in the league. And also. So Davos Sweeney, multiple time national champion. That experience, I think, when it comes to players and coaching, couldn't have a big time upset. Now we have Clemson and Georgia, the rematch. The match, the rematch.

And of course, obviously, we all know that Georgia's going to get upset by Clemson. Give me Clemson as a national championship, Davos' third Natty. I like it. I like it. What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? No.

What are we thinking, Harry? I'm so confused. No, no. Honestly, like, I was with you. Like, I think the changes that I would go, I would go Arizona State over Clemson, Oregon over Arizona State, and Oregon over Georgia. The other side of the bracket is perfect. Clemson, no.

No. I wouldn't go that far. I love the optimism, though. I do like that. It would be a great story. Did I miss something with Clemson? Heather, I didn't hear what you think, though. You said to talk about me.

I want to hear Heather, Heather. I think this is a great bracket. I think this is upset Central team that snuck in, right? Clemson was out. All of a sudden they got back in, they lost to South Carolina. All of a sudden, Miami loses.

This is a, this is a, this is, I just feel like we miss something, Heather. What are we missing? Emma was a three-loss team. You can't be in it. Is the upset. Ashton Gentie is going to get past that Penn State defense.

And then he's, and then he, well, you're close, you're close, you're close. For a minute. We're in a parallel part of this thing. Boise State over Penn State. Okay. did you just say Ohio State, going to beat Oregon.

I can rock with that. And then Boise State is going to be Penn State. Is that what you just, is that what you just predicted, Heather? That's what I said. But we're going to match these brackets up on January 20th and see how it fair. I can't wait. Don't be surprised.

We all know when it comes to playoffs, there's two weeks to prepare, three to prepare. It's not always about, okay, what's the best team, but who's the hot team? Right? What team is coming off of a win? Coming off with momentum, coming off with confidence. But they've been the hot team. Right? But it, but, but, but,

Clems almost blew a three touchdown lead last Saturday. Say it one more time? They did. Clems almost blew what was that a three score last Saturday. But they also came back, they came back from the loss, right? A 50-yard kickoff return. A new ACC record.

A new ACC record field goal. And I can rock with this. I can see Ohio State being Oregon. I can rock with that 100%. I don't know. I don't know. I mean. It is fun saying.

I don't know. I love it. I'm all for it. I'm off for the upset. I'm here for the upsets. I'm here for the upsets. It's going to get a 12 over one. Look, I mean, this is atrocious, but we love it.

We love you, Sam. In a good way. In a good way. It's atrocious in a good way. I don't know. For Sam, Heather Harry, I'm Victoria. I mean, here it is. Thanks for watching, champ, guys.