Four teams. One goal.

Super Saturday has arrived. No. 1 seed LSU will take on No. 4 Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl semifinal. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. Afterward, No. 2 Ohio State will meet reigning champion and No. 3 seed Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl.

Today’s winners will meet in New Orleans on Jan. 13 to crown the national champion. Who will that be? That’s part of the 5 bold predictions about today’s College Football Playoff semifinals.

1. Both winning teams will score 40+

No. 1, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6.

Those are the national scoring ranks of the Playoff teams. All 4 average at least 43 points per game.

Defense might win the Super Bowl, but offense wins national championships. Playoff games tend to high-scoring affairs. Eight of the previous 10 semifinal winners each scored at least 30 points; 6 scored 35 or more and 4 topped 40. (Likewise, 4 of the 5 Playoff champions scored at least 35 in the title game, and 3 topped 40.)

Today might be the highest-scoring semifinal day in history.

2. Joe Burrow will become the 5th QB in FBS history to top 5,000 yards and 50 TDs in the same season

Burrow enters the Peach Bowl against Oklahoma with 4,715 yards and 48 TDs.

He has thrown at least 3 TD passes 11 times in 13 games this season.

He has topped 286 yards 12 times this season.

He’s about to join the most exclusive quarterback club in college football history.

  • B.J. Symons (Texas Tech, 2003): 5,833 yards, 52 TDs
  • Colt Brennan (Hawaii, 2006): 5,549, 58 TDs
  • David Klingler (Houston, 1990): 5,140, 54 TDs
  • Derek Carr (Fresno State, 2013): 5,082, 50 TDs

3. The Heisman Trophy winner will reach the National Championship Game

It didn’t happen last year. Kyler Murray lost in the semifinal.

It didn’t happen in 2017. Baker Mayfield lost in the semifinal.

It didn’t happen in 2016, either. Lamar Jackson didn’t sniff the Playoff.

Alabama’s Derrick Henry, in 2015, is the most recent Heisman Trophy winner to reach the championship game. Henry led the Tide to the national title that season.

Will Joe Burrow become the 2nd Heisman Trophy winner to win the a title in the Playoff era? That’s a bold prediction for later … but he’ll get the chance.

4. Trevor Lawrence will throw for 300 yards vs. Ohio State

Not bold enough for you?

Lawrence has only topped 300 yards twice this season — and today he faces the nation’s No. 2-ranked passing defense.

Ohio State allows just 148 yards per game through the air. Part of that is competition. Part of it is the fact Chase Young makes quarterbacks uncomfortable. Michigan was the only team to throw for 300 yards against Ohio State and that came in a lopsided loss.

But the Buckeyes haven’t seen anybody quite like Trevor Lawrence and these wideouts.

Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross are equal opportunity assassins. Last year, Ross got to 1,000 yards and Higgins just missed. This year, Higgins has put up slightly bigger numbers. Ross is a high-pointing highlight reel, but all Higgins does is catch TD passes. (Actually, he does more than that, but he already has 13.)

5. LSU is a lock. Fiesta Bowl? I’m still not sure what the best story would be

I say it all the time: I root for the best story.

Joe Burrow vs. The Team That Didn’t Think Joe Burrow Was Good Enough is the 2nd-best ending to the 2019 college football story. (The only better story would have been Tua vs. Jalen for it all.)

Joe Burrow, likely No. 1 overall draft pick in 2020, vs. Trevor Lawrence, likely No. 1 overall draft pick in 2021, is a pretty fine tale, too.

As much as I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Jalen Hurts do his thing, and as much as I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Lincoln Riley do his thing (dating to his days at ECU when I was a college editor in North Carolina), a Hollywood movie would have to be in the works for Oklahoma to derail LSU.

I’d be more shocked if Oklahoma won than if LSU became the 1st Playoff team to score 60.

The Fiesta Bowl is different. I can make a strong case for either team. No result would shock me. Chase Young could end Clemson’s dreams early with a strip sack. Travis Etienne could become an orange-and-purple version of 2014 Zeke Elliott, too. Etienne is wildly underrated, but he’s the weapon that gives Clemson’s offense balance. This year, he’s become much more of a threat in the passing game, too.

Ultimately, I trust Lawrence a lot more than I trust Justin Fields, but I can’t deny the best story would be Burrow — Mr. Football in Ohio — vs. the team he left.

Burrow will be New Orleans. I think Dabo’s Tigers show up to defend their title, but I’d rather see Burrow cap his college career by putting 50 on his former team.