Columnist takes sides on college football playoffs

Andrew Holtan

As we headed into the weekend in college football we had six top 25 matchups.

The game that probably impacted the playoffs the most was in East Lansing, Mich., where No. 8 Michigan State squared off against No. 14 Ohio State. The winner of this game would put them in the drivers seat to win the Big Ten East and go to the Big Ten championship game and if they win that they should get in. Ohio State won the game 49-37 giving them sole possession of the Big Ten East.

Ohio State has what I would call a trap game next at Minnesota. The Gophers are coming off a huge 51-14 victory over a good Iowa team and believe that they are contenders for a Big Ten title. As long as Ohio State doesn’t take them lightly I think they should beat the Gophers and win out and go on to the Big Ten title game. I see them winning this but not getting into the playoffs because the SEC will probably get in two teams because the Big Ten is so weak this year.

Next, we next head to the Big 12. We start in Fort Worth, Texas where No. 6 TCU faced off against No. 7 Kansas State. TCU won 41-20 and now probably has the easiest road out of anyone to make it to playoffs with no games against top 25 teams and not having to win a championship game because the Big 12 does not have one. Earlier in the day in Norman, Okla. the No. 12 Baylor beat No. 15 Oklahoma 48-14. This puts Baylor also in a position to win out. If both TCU and Baylor win out, I see TCU getting in over them for the fact that they have a better non-conference schedule with a win over Minnesota. Also they have four wins over ranked opponents while Baylor has only three.

Now on to wild and crazy SEC. We first start out in Baton Rouge, La. where No. 5 Alabama faced a hostile crowd at No. 17 LSU. Alabama looked to be finished LSU kicked a field goal to put them up 13-10 with 50 seconds left but Blake Sims led his team on 9 play, 55 yard drive to put in a field goal to tie up with no time remaining sending the game to overtime. Alabama would score and then hold LSU and win the game 20-13. Earlier in the day we saw No. 3 Auburn lose at home to unranked Texas A&M. This basically finishes Auburn as they still have to go to Georgia and finish the season at Alabama. The SEC West will be decided next weekend when No.1 Mississippi State heads to Alabama to take on the Crimson Tide. I see Alabama winning this game and winning out and going to playoffs. I do also see Mississippi State finishing the season with one loss and finding their way into the playoffs.

We next head out west where No. 4 Oregon beat No. 17 Utah 51-27. The Ducks have two regular season games left against Colorado and Oregon State which should be easy wins as long as they don’t catch themselves looking ahead and then they will play the Pac 12 championship game against most likely Arizona State. I see them winning this game and making the playoffs.

It should be a very hectic last few weeks of college football and should be very fun to watch.