In the world of College Football, two beat-downs of epic proportions is what the country witnessed both Friday night and Saturday afternoon... Oregon and TCU made major statements in their last games, and now it is up to Alabama and Florida State to join that conversation and fully secure their places in the brand spanking new College Football Playoff.
Oregon cleaned house against #7 Arizona 51-13 in the Pac-12 Championship Game Friday night, notes USA Today. Heisman Trophy front-runner Marcus Mariota threw for two touchdowns and 303 yards as he lead the high-powered Ducks offense to 617 total yards of offense, as stated by CBS Sports.
The Ducks also ran the ball for over 300 yards as there was little the Wildcats could do. Freshman running back Royce Freeman went for 114 yards on 21 attempts.
The #TCU Horned Frogs kicked off against Iowa State earlier today, and this one also resulted in a blowout. Quarterback Trevone Boykin passed for a career high 460 yards and caught a touchdown pass on a trick play.
With both Oregon and TCU making these major statements, Alabama and Florida State are now on the clock. Alabama will face a major test against #16 Missouri in the SEC Championship game today, while Florida State will have the biggest challenge going up against #11 Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship on Saturday night.
With Ohio State right on the outside looking in, neither team can afford even the slightest stumble.
If all goes according to plan, and Alabama and Florida State both win, then it looks like we might have a format looking something like this:
#1 Alabama vs #4 TCU
#2 Oregon vs #3 Florida State
Most likely the Oregon-Florida State game will be played in the Rose Bowl. The committee's visible disrespect for unbeaten Florida State, ranking them #4 behind TCU, is pretty transparent. It's a direct challenge thrown their way to take care of business tonight, so they then can leap-frog TCU into the #3 spot, setting up the Oregon battle in the playoff.