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The first College Football Playoff is in the books, and it’s time to crown some winners and losers.
Winner: Urban Meyer
No doubt about it… the former Florida Gators head coach is back on top in college football. Many of the SEC faithful will still claim Nick Saban as the top coach in the country, but Urban Meyer is a consensus No. 2 at the minimum. It’s scary how good Meyer had his team playing heading into the biggest games of this year, and it appears that Meyer is just getting started in Columbus.
Thankfully for SEC fans and fans outside of Ohio, Jim Harbaugh is on his way to Michigan to at least distract Meyer during Big Ten play.
Winner: Alabama (sort of)
While Alabama’s loss in the Sugar Bowl is difficult to overlook, Ohio State’s crushing victory over Oregon helps… sort of. Heading into the championship game, there was a feeling that perhaps Alabama was exposed and didn’t belong. After Ohio State beat Oregon, however, this focus somewhat shifted to the ‘Noles of Tallahassee who were beat handily by Oregon. Which brings us to…
Loser: Florida State
Despite not losing a game for essentially two years, Florida State showed plenty of cracks as they fought their way through an undefeated regular season and playoff berth in 2014. As many anticipated, the Seminoles were exposed by Mariota’s Oregon Ducks. With that said, Jimbo has Florida State up and running in Tallahassee, so even without Jameis next year, this team should be loaded again.
Loser: Marcus Mariota
As we inch closer to the NFL draft, much of the focus will remain on the quarterbacks from Oregon and Florida State. Winston is widely considered the more NFL ready of the two due to his pocket passing ability, and Mariota’s championship game didn’t help.
Red zone difficulties plagued the Ducks offense. Against a stingy defense in the red zone where less space exists, Mariota’s throws often missed. Nobody doubts that Mariota is a stud with high character, but can he be a quality NFL passer? Time will tell.
Winner: Cardale Jones
The story of Cardale Jones is one of the most unique one can recall in college football. A third-string QB entering a conference championship game, Jones then wins three straight games as a starter against three quality opponents in essentially win-or-go-home games.
Now, after just three starts as a college quarterback, the redshirt sophomore is considering a jump into the NFL Draft this year.
Winner: Selection Committee
As the playoff field was set, one of the more dominant storylines was TCU getting left out. When the Horned Frogs pummeled Ole Miss in the Peach, it provided additional ammo for the argument. Ohio State beating Alabama and handling Oregon essentially kills that discussion, however. Ohio State proved that they belonged, and the committee can be considered a success this year.
Winner: Jersey Sales
I can’t resist… with Ohio State back on top in college football, jersey sales will go through the roof. Zing!
Winner: The Big Ten
The Big Ten had a good bowl season, and Ohio State taking back the championship makes it even better. Ohio State vs. Michigan will be quite a rivalry in the years ahead.
A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.
