ESPN ranks the 10 best College Football Playoff games, SEC-Big 12 thriller takes top spot
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The College Football Playoff has crowned 12 NCAA champions. Despite this, its best game was not one where a team won a title, according to ESPN’s Bill Connelly.
Wednesday morning, Connelly revealed his 10 best College Football Playoff games. Four championship bouts made his list, but they all paled in comparison to the Georgia Bulldogs–Oklahoma Sooners semifinals clash in 2017.
“This game basically featured three acts,” Connelly wrote. “First, Oklahoma turned the game into a big-play track meet and seemed in control. Then, Georgia stormed back, grabbing three extra points before halftime and then dominating the third quarter. And then, in the third act, all hell broke loose.”
For fans who forgot, this game — a Rose Bowl tussle — ended 54-48 in double overtime on Sony Michel’s 27-yard touchdown run. Michel and Nick Chubb combined to run for 326 yards and five touchdowns on just 25 carries (13.0 yards per carry!) against the Sooners. Rodney Anderson racked up 201 yards himself for Oklahoma in what was Baker Mayfield’s final collegiate game.
Georgia’s ensuing championship game loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide slotted at No. 2 on Connelly’s list. Both the Crimson Tide’s title matchups vs. the Clemson Tigers made the top 10, as did the Bulldogs’ semifinal triumph over the Ohio State Buckeyes. Georgia and Oklahoma — who played one another for the first time in that 2017 contest — face off for the second time ever on Saturday (3:30 p.m. E.T., ESPN).
