College Football Playoff 2014: Full Bowl Predictions for Biggest Matchups
In the matter of a few days, history will be made as the first ever College Football Playoff field of four will be set.
That doesn't mean that things are any closer to being figured out as Week 15 approaches, however. Just about every team in the running for a playoff spot will have to take care of business over the weekend, with many of them going up against top competition in conference championship games.
More chaos could be in store, which would certainly make for a fitting ending to a chaos-rich season. Either way, the disagreements and objections to whatever the CFP committee decides upon are inevitable.
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With only one weekend separating us from those decisions, let's go ahead and make some predictions as to how everything will unfold.
Check here for the official College Football Playoff rankings.
College Football Playoff Predictions
Sugar Bowl: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 TCU
Rose Bowl: No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 3 Florida State
National Championship: TBD (semifinal winners)
While no team enters Week 15 with its CFP spot wrapped up, the big focus over the final weekend remains centered around how the final few spots will shake out.
And there's no better debate than that surrounding the Florida State Seminoles, who have fallen all the way to No. 4 despite failing to lose a game. The culprit has been their ugly wins, with seven of their victories coming by six or fewer points.
But with everything on the line in the ACC Championship Game against No. 11 Georgia Tech, Jimbo Fisher's squad will do just as it always does—pull out the victory and remain (barely) alive for a quest to repeat as champions.
A win over the Yellow Jackets will catapult the Seminoles back up to No. 3 over TCU, as the Horned Frogs face a lowly Iowa State team.
Looking for as many style points as they can muster, the Horned Frogs won't have any problem stating their case as well.
As Fox Sports Southwest's David Ubben noted, even an ugly win shouldn't be enough to knock TCU out of the picture:
TCU's playoff spot will come at the expense of Big 12 rivals Baylor, who topped the Horned Frogs head-to-head but have failed to post as impressive of a season overall. Without TCU blowing a 21-point fourth-quarter lead in Waco, Texas, this wouldn't even be a conversation.
The overall result might not be a favorable one for Florida State, which will have to travel to face Oregon in the Rose Bowl instead of a much friendlier geographic matchup against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. But the 'Noles won't have much to complain about by getting into the Top Four after such a questionable season.
As for the other two spots, they will go to the undoubted best two teams in the nation—Alabama and Oregon.
The entire SEC enters the weekend nervous, as an Alabama loss to Missouri would almost certainly end the conference's national title hopes. But that won't be in the cards, as the Tide offense will take it to a Missouri team that has beat just one team over .500 in SEC play over its last two division-winning seasons.
Oregon will have to go through No. 7 Arizona—the only team it has lost to this season. Unlike earlier in the season, however, the Ducks offense has no real weaknesses and should put up the points necessary.
Should both Alabama and Oregon then take care of business in the CFP semifinals, quite the championship game would be set, as NBC Sports' Josh Elliott noted:
No matter how things shake out, it's almost guaranteed that there will be those out there who disagree. The formula simply can't be perfect—not until a larger playoff system is implemented.
It will never be a unanimous decision, but it will be hard to say that the CFP committee didn't get it right if Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and TCU are left standing after Week 15.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
