In the first edition of the College Football Playoff, the sport’s new method of selecting a champion worked almost exactly as intended. The four teams chosen to play for a national title in 2014 were four of the Power Five conference champions — 12-1 SEC champion Alabama, 12-1 Pac-12 champion Oregon, 13-0 ACC champion Florida […]
The consummate feel-good story of the 2020 college football season can be found in Conway, South Carolina. It involves a university (Coastal Carolina), a mascot (Chanticleer) and a color (teal) that are basically never associated with dominance on the gridiron. It involves a program with three years of Football Bowl Subdivision experience that entered September […]
Outside of Orlando, where the University of Central Florida anointed itself the 2017 national champion, college football hasn’t built much momentum toward allowing a team that isn’t in a Power Five conference a chance to compete for a title. In six years of the College Football Playoff, the lower-profile Group of Five conferences have been […]
An overhauled, high-scoring offensive machine introduced by an outsider. A head coach in his fourth season and an unexpected, undefeated title run. A national championship trophy hoisted in New Orleans, less than 100 miles from campus, with a tiger of purple and gold stripes triumphing over one of orange, purple and white. The year was […]
College football isn’t exactly running it back with the same playoff matchups as in past years — LSU is a first-time playoff participant and a relatively fresh face — but the more things change, the more they stay the same. Monday night’s national championship game between LSU and Clemson is the fifth-straight between two teams […]