A week ago, we kicked off our College Football Playoff prediction model by talking in part about the handful of teams that were in great shape — provided they just kept winning ballgames. Then Saturday came around, and just like that, two of those squads (LSU and Oklahoma) were knocked down more than a few […]
How this works: Our model uses the College Football Playoff (CFP) selection committee’s past behavior and an Elo rating-based system to anticipate how the committee will rank teams and ultimately choose playoff contestants, accounting for factors that include record, strength of schedule, conference championships won and head-to-head results. It also uses ESPN’s Football Power Index […]
Alabama and Georgia set up the first all-SEC College Football Playoff final with a pair of very different victories. The Bulldogs prevailed in a thrilling offensive shootout against Oklahoma while the Crimson Tide ground out a dominating defensive win over Clemson. But these teams are much more alike than their semifinal wins would indicate. This […]
Alabama and Georgia set up the first all-SEC College Football Playoff final with a pair of very different victories. The Bulldogs prevailed in a thrilling offensive shootout against Oklahoma while the Crimson Tide ground out a dominating defensive win over Clemson. But these teams are much more alike than their semifinal wins would indicate. This […]
The College Football Playoff’s two New Year’s Day semifinal games were a study in unexpected contrasts: a mostly dull blowout in the Sugar Bowl rubber match between Alabama and Clemson after the two teams had been so even in their previous playoff meetings, which followed an all-time double-overtime Rose Bowl classic between Georgia and Oklahoma […]