| As thrilling and enticing as Rivalry Week was, don’t pause for a breath just yet. For the potential of more mayhem is just a few days away, as college football’s sorting and shuffling for position prepares for its final act. Before looking forward – to something truly worth anticipating – it is proper and correct to look back, to reflect on what just passed and to wonder what the heck happened and what to make of it all. Within the borders of the state of Oklahoma and far beyond, college football amped itself up to the max, producing one of its most exhilarating weekends of upheaval and must-see moments ever. Saturday had a little bit of everything, from “what the…” finishes and improbable comebacks, to the most satisfying moment of Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan career and Alabama being seconds away from misery before saving its own skin. Some of the developments had seismic repercussions. Ohio State and Oklahoma have combined for eight CFP appearances over seven years but now won’t be back for another one this time. Michigan and Oklahoma State have never clinched a top-four spot and now could sit a single victory away. The Wolverines’ 42-27 triumph over the Buckeyes was set up by the historic performance of Hassan Haskins, whose five rushing touchdowns was the highest total ever recorded in The Game. For the Cowboys, opportunities to get a victory over SEC-bound Oklahoma won’t be around much longer, making their revival from nine points down deep in the fourth quarter all that much sweeter. “I love watching the NFL as much as anyone, but yesterday in (college football) was about 1,000 (times) better than anything that happened today…not…even…close!!!” FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt tweeted on Sunday, and no one was arguing. It was all frenetic enough that when Harbaugh busted out a Miracle on Ice reference, no one batted an eyelid. It was just that kind of weekend. “The thing that hits me, hits me a lot, I think of the 1980 Olympic hockey team.,” Harbaugh said, looking ahead to meeting Iowa in the Big Ten Championship. “They had a great game but that wasn’t the gold medal game. They had to go to the championship game after that game. So this is the championship this week.” Outside of the headliners, there were games sealed by goal-line stands, missed field goals and all kinds of drama. There was a Friday classic where North Carolina State used two touchdowns, an onside kick and an interception in the final 96 seconds to down North Carolina. Nebraska lost its eighth one-possession game of the season, while Baylor survived Texas Tech for a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game. Then, after all that, there was a coaching bolt from the blue. Lincoln Riley’s decision to dash from Oklahoma and head to USC came as a shocker that no one saw coming, but maybe it was appropriate that it happened amid a couple of days where nothing could be taken for granted. “Leaving OU was probably the most difficult decision of my life,” Riley said. “OU is one of the best college football programs in the country, and it has been forever. That’s not going to change. It’s not going to change in the SEC, it’s not going to change with another head coach.” OK, now you can take that breath. But just for a moment, because Saturday’s upcoming slate is guaranteed to bring about more shifts and swings and spark discussion and debate, no matter what goes down. The only team guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff appears to be undefeated Georgia, which can survive a loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, an outcome that would give that conference two CFP representatives. Michigan is in with a victory, while Cincinnati’s bid to become the first non-Power Five squad to clinch a historic spot is on the line against Houston. Consensus suggests the Bearcats are in a win-and-you’re-in situation. Given what we know about the committee’s reticence toward smaller programs in the past, would you be completely, absolutely, devotedly certain? Notre Dame will sit on the sidelines and hope for carnage, Oklahoma State will try to beat Baylor and hope for a loss for either Alabama, Michigan or Cincinnati. And after that, there will be the nervous waiting game to find out what the committee does with all the results, stats and argumentative power at their disposal. The lowest maintenance scenario would seem to be if the chalk holds, and Georgia, Michigan, Cincinnati and Oklahoma State all win out, clinching the four places, in that order. But consider this: first, such an outcome only has a 19% chance of happening, according to FiveThirtyEight. Second, what if Alabama’s loss is in an overtime nail-biter, if Cincinnati only narrowly clings on to its unbeaten record, and Oklahoma State posts a solid but unspectacular win over Baylor? Good luck in finding common ground in that argument. Whatever comes next, it looks like college football isn’t done with putting us through the emotional wringer just yet, and that we’re bound for more twists and turns, as if last week wasn’t enough. |
