Leading OFF
The 10 games that decided the College Football Playoff race
Michigan. Washington. Texas. Alabama. How these four teams navigated through twists, turns, upsets and unpredictability to reach the College Football Playoff tells the story of the regular season.
The Wolverines had to get past Penn State and Ohio State. Washington had to beat Oregon twice. Texas had to beat Alabama, which had to beat Georgia.
But those aren’t the only matchups that determined the makeup of this season’s national semifinals. This foursome needed boosts from games across the Power Five to get here, including a 45-point win against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent that might qualify as the most important result on the year.
Looking back at the past three-plus months, these are the games that had the biggest impact on the playoff:
Sept. 9: No. 10 Texas 34, No. 3 Alabama 24
The Longhorns dominated this contest and set the tone for the program’s most successful year in more than a decade. While the loss didn’t keep Alabama out of the playoff, the win was the boost Texas needed to finish in the top four. Even had Texas run the table from there, a road loss to the Crimson Tide probably would’ve pushed the Longhorns out of the top four in favor of Florida State.
Sept. 23: No. 12 Alabama 24, No. 16 Ole Miss 10
After losing to the Longhorns and struggling to put away South Florida, this win against the Rebels provided the spark that carried Alabama to the SEC championship. This win also
marked Jalen Milroe’s return to the starting lineup after a onegame absence. A second loss in September would have eliminated the Tide from playoff contention, likely handed the SEC West to the Rebels or LSU and marked the low point of the program’s dynasty under Nick Saban.
Nov. 4: No. 1 Georgia 30, No. 16 Missouri 21
This was Georgia’s closest call on the season before losing the SEC championship game to the Tide. Missouri would’ve taken home the SEC East with a win, which in turn would’ve triggered a pretty significant string of dominoes: Alabama would not have played Georgia and wouldn’t have earned the sort of win that vaulted the Tide into the top four, which in turn would’ve impacted the postseason destinations for Florida
State and Texas.
Nov. 4: No. 6 Texas 33, Kansas State 30
This wasn’t the Longhorns’ only close call in conference play – there was also Houston, TCU and Iowa State – but it was the closest Texas came to disaster: Kansas State had an open window to win in overtime but couldn’t punch in a score from the lip of the Texas end zone. Instead of being a backbreaking loss, this became another résumé-making win that carried the Longhorns to the playoff.
Nov. 4: Oklahoma State 27, No. 11 Oklahoma 24
This rivalry upset knocked Oklahoma out of playoff contention and made things a little easier for Texas, which lost to the Sooners in October and was able draw a friendlier Big 12 championship-game matchup against the Cowboys – as shown in the Longhorns’ 49-21 romp this month. At the time, though, this seemed like a setback: Texas was hungry for a rematch with Oklahoma and could have impressed the playoff selection committee by avenging that earlier loss. Alabama ended up taking care of things for the Longhorns, however.
Nov. 11: No. 2 Michigan 24, No. 9 Penn State 15
After breezing through two months of play against a motley crew of unimpressive and overmatched competition, this marked Michigan’s first foray against a fellow playoff contender. Things went well: Penn State couldn’t get a toehold on the line of scrimmage and was bulldozed in the second half. The Wolverines wouldn’t attempt a pass after roughly the midway point of the second quarter and built a case for being viewed as the best team in the country. Coming on the heels of a loss to Ohio State, this knocked the Nittany Lions out of the playoff mix.
Nov. 18: No. 4 Florida State 58, North Alabama 13
Everything changed for Florida State and the entire playoff conversation on the third drive of the game, when Jordan Travis was taken down awkwardly at the end of a 17-yard run and suffered a severe and seasonending leg injury. FSU would beat Florida and Louisville to end the season, but the damage was done: The committee was unmoved by those two victories and the Seminoles’ unbeaten record, leading to a late bump out of the top four. The most controversial decision of the playoff era saw the committee favor Alabama over an FSU team that struggled offensively behind backup quarterbacks Tate Rodemaker and Brock Glenn.
Nov. 25: No. 3 Michigan 30, No. 2 Ohio State 24
Another hyped rivalry matchup ended in Michigan’s favor, leaving the Buckeyes on the outside of the playoff debate and praying for a convoluted mix of upsets on the final weekend of the regular season. That never came for Ohio State, which will instead face off against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. In the end, this win probably clinched a playoff berth for Michigan, though the Wolverines sealed the deal a week later against Iowa.
Dec. 1: No. 3 Washington 34, No. 5 Oregon 31
The rematch tops the earlier meeting between these two teams, also won by Washington, since the committee’s respect for the Pac-12 meant the winner of the conference championship game was making the playoff regardless. As in October, the Huskies remained composed and converted in key spots to keep Oregon at bay and earn two of the strongest wins by any team this season. All that separated the Ducks from the semifinals and potentially the No. 1 seed were two losses to the same opponent by a combined six points.
Dec. 2: No. 8 Alabama 27, No. 1 Georgia 24
This game capped one of the most incredible in-season turnarounds in recent Power Five history. Buried in September, the Crimson Tide broke out the shovels and climbed back into playoff contention by November. But they still needed to take down the two-time defending national champions and snap a 29-game winning streak in the process. In almost any other year of the playoff era, Georgia would’ve stuck in the top four with the loss. But the Bulldogs were not able to overcome the depth of options at the committee’s disposal.