College Football Playoff Spots in Contention as the National Championship Race Heats up

Despite the looming conference realignment, the PAC-12 have shown up this season, proving they can still garner attention. Meanwhile, Michigan’s JJ McCarthy looks to take the Wolverines deep into the playoffs. 

As College Football marches into November, the month that truly determines a teams fate, a few major storylines have headlined the fall. This year, the theme of the season has been the revival of powerhouses. From Florida State’s dominant start in ACC play, to a last haraugh for the PAC-12, the landscape of the beloved sport, more than ever, resembles the game of the mid-2010s. 

When looking at the past five years of PAC-12 football, one word comes to mind: mediocrity. No PAC-12 team has made the playoff since UW did it in 2016 with star wide receiver John Ross, though the Huskies ended up being demolished by the juggernaut Crimson Tide. And though USC and Oregon have established themselves as contenders in the past couple of years, they have never been able to keep up with top teams like Georgia or OSU for consecutive weeks. They inevitably lose big games to teams like Utah or an out of conference opponent. So, as the PAC-12 struggled to make the same sums of money that big conferences like the SEC or BIG 10 pulled in, top teams started to pull out. First USC, then UCLA, then Oregon until only Washington State and Oregon State remained in the Conference, all in the name of revenue. Despite this end to West Coast football, the conference has been dominating this year. As of Week 8, six teams are in the AP top 25 with others making occasional appearances throughout the season. Moreover, the conference produced arguably the most exciting contest of the year between the then undefeated and no.8 Oregon Ducks and the currently undefeated and now no.5 Washington Huskies. The game was marked by a high scoring, pass heavy offense highlighted by the two teams quarterbacks, Micheal Penix of Washington and Bo Nix of Oregon, who both appear to be potential Heisman candidates. In the end, Washington came out with a 36-33 victory in their home stadium in Seattle which ended with a Washington TD from Rome Odunze with 1:18 left in the game. Moreover, Oregon State and Utah also seem to have a good chance at the playoff with both teams having one loss apiece. This makes four teams in the conference that have a decent chance of fighting for a National Championship. 

JJ McCarthy’s Wolverine Team looks ready for Georgia. JJ McCarthy has proven to be an elite quarterback throughout his junior year. So far this season, he has thrown for 18 TD’s and has held an impressive 78.1% completion percentage throughout 8 games. But stats are a shallow analysis of JJ’s game. When watching him play, his evolution is apparent as he’s a run-first QB with the guts to throw the ball whenever he gets flushed out of the pocket, and he still has the ability to rush. So far, this change in his game has made Michigan a much more versatile team as they can not only rely on the power rushing of Blake Corum, but also big plays downfield to Colston Loveland along with wheel routes from the ever reliable Donovan Edwards. Because of this, it seems almost impossible to stop the Wolverine offense, an offense which is greatly helped by a defense that has allowed no more than 10 points in a contest so far this season. Obviously Michigan has not seen a true test that they will with Penn State and Ohio State approaching, but they appear on track for another Playoff run.

Overall, College Football feels more entertaining than ever, though it sits in its last year before the dreaded conference realignment. The traditional blue bloods of the sport have made it to center stage, and it feels like Georgia and Bama will finally have some competition with a stronger PAC-12 and elite teams like Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Texas. So far this season, we have already seen the Crimson Tide get beaten by the Texas Longhorns so it feels like anything can happen. Don’t count out Alabama’s Nick Saban when the going gets tough, but other power five teams seem stronger than ever. The playoff lineup’s unpredictability makes for a very entertaining month of November across the country, when College Football is truly College Football at its finest.

Will Cohen