As the college football regular season comes to an end, there is no shortage of drama across the country. In Oxford, Mississippi, playoff lock Ole Miss loses head coach Lane Kiffin, who single-handedly rebuilt their program over the last five years; to LSU, in a move that has upset the fans across the country. The 7 year, $91 million dollar contract sheds light on a major issue in college football: the broken calendar. The calendar forced Kiffin to pick between a better coaching opportunity and pay day and finishing a potential championship season with Ole Miss.
On the other side of the country, undefeated Texas A&M, led by Heisman contender Marcel Reed, took on the 8-3 Texas Longhorns on Friday. This matchup, a renewed installment of the Lonestar Showdown, was supposed to cap off A&M’s perfect regular season and send them to the conference title game. But, instead it turned into a dramatic collapse for the Aggies.
Trailing just 10-3 at halftime, A&M’s offense stalled in the second half, while the Longhorns unleashed a fury of big plays and opportunistic defense. The Longhorns outscored the Aggies 24-7 in the second half, to win 27-17, snapping A&M’s 11-game win streak and ending their hopes for an SEC championship.
For Reed, the game was a harsh turn of fortune: after a first-quarter ankle scare, he returned to lead the Aggies, but threw two critical fourth-quarter interceptions that sealed the game.
The result reshuffles the postseason picture: A&M still seems pretty likely to make the playoff, but without a conference championship opportunity and a first round bye. Texas, meanwhile, resurrected its own playoff hopes with a statement win.
In “The Game”, Michigan, led by Freshman phenom Bryce Underwood, looked to make it five straight wins over undefeated rival Ohio State, led by Heisman hopeful Julian Saying. After early momentum by Michigan, Ohio State dominated, winning 27-9 and advancing to the Big 10 Championship to face 12-0 Indiana.
Although teams like Ohio State, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss are locks to be in the playoff, the twelve team playoff presents more teams feeling left out. For example, Vanderbilt, Miami, and Notre Dame all believe they deserve to be in the playoff. Vanderbilt even attempted to schedule a thirteenth game that did not end up happening for logistical reasons. Paly student Vinay Shah was asked who he believes should make the playoffs. “Honestly, I think that no matter how many teams the playoff is, teams will always be left out. I would rather have teams be left out of the opportunity to win a national championship than teams who don’t deserve to be in the race be in. We need to shrink the playoff field.”
As championship weekend approaches, one thing is clear; chaos continues to reign over the college football world. With top programs faltering, and long-shot contenders pulling within reach of the playoff, the race for a national title has never been more intense. As teams make a final push, fans across the country are left eagerly awaiting the postseason drama to come.
