NCAA Football Takeaways Week 14
The College Football Playoff finalists were announced on Sunday, and the final four teams left some people scratching their heads.
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The Michigan Wolverines are No. 1, and rightfully so after their undefeated season, culminating in a Big Ten Conference Championship shutout victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Also, the Washington Huskies climbed into the No. 2 spot with their narrow Pac-12 Championship win over the Oregon Ducks. The Huskies also finished the season 13-0, their first undefeated season since 1991.
The Texas Longhorns jumped from No. 7 into the playoffs at No. 3 after their 49-21 win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys, winning the Big 12 Championship.
To me, the Longhorns squeezing into the playoffs feels like a bit of a reach.
Sure, Texas destroyed Oklahoma State, but that was expected considering the 14.5-point spread, and this is the same Cowboys team that lost to the South Alabama Jaguars 33-7 on September 16th and then got obliterated by the UCF Knights 45-3 on November 11th.
Oklahoma State needed two overtimes to defeat the sub-.500 BYU Cougars just to get into the Big 12 Championship.
I don’t see how the Longhorns’ victory was that impressive, but the Playoff Selection Committee must have seen something.
Quinn Ewers just got handed a WWE title belt by The Undertaker after winning the Big 12
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) December 2, 2023
Texas is so back.
pic.twitter.com/jLUUtCSnjH
Finally, the Alabama Crimson Tide are back in the College Football Playoff once again after their upset-win over the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Conference Championship.
Just when it begins to look like Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide have been usurped as the kings of the SEC, Alabama comes storming back to take what is rightfully theirs.
Like Texas, the Crimson Tide also jumped four spots in the rankings, pushing out the undefeated ACC Champion Florida State Seminoles and the Georgia Bulldogs.
Somehow, Georgia fell five spots and out of the playoffs with their lone loss to Alabama.
For a team like the Bulldogs, to be the consensus favorite all season, and ultimately get pushed out because of a three-point loss, it feels a little harsh.
Hopefully, next season’s 12-team playoff will eliminate these somewhat confusing outcomes.
If there was a 12-team playoff this season, here’s what the playoff could have looked like:
The 12-team college football playoff system for 2024 should have started this season. This really would have been more interesting & entertaining than what's happening currently. pic.twitter.com/QPCTOzUNwU
— JAYFORCE (@Jayforce) December 4, 2023
The 12-team College Football Playoff is going to be a lot more interesting.
Underdog Conference Champions
Conference Championship weekend came away with some interesting outcomes, with some underdogs stealing conference titles away from their favored rivals.
Alabama taking down Georgia in the SEC Conference Championship was the most notable.
Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe ran for 39 yards on the final drive, picking up a necessary first down and grinding down the clock, sealing a win for Alabama after being set as +5.5-point underdogs.
Jalen Milroe may have sealed the deal for Bama! pic.twitter.com/5yT0HzJuBp
— Jared Block (@jaredrblock) December 3, 2023
Washington was a +10-point underdog to Oregon, and picked up a huge upset win to take the final Pac-12 Championship game.
Ducks’ QB Bo Nix recorded season-lows in completion percentage (61.7%) and passing yards (239) in the loss.
Nix may have lost a playoff berth, a conference championship, and the Heisman Trophy with one subpar performance.
The Huskies’ moneyline of +310 on BetRivers surely made some bettors happy.
STILL UNBEATEN! 🔥
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 2, 2023
MICHAEL PENIX JR. AND WASHINGTON TAKE DOWN OREGON TO WIN THE PAC-12 TITLE 😤 pic.twitter.com/HWrx9FvKEY
There were also two interesting outcomes in non-Power Five conferences.
The SMU Mustangs defeated the then-No. 22 Tulane Green Wave to win the AAC Conference Championship.
SMU was a +2.5-point underdog and their backup quarterback Kevin Jennings was under center, and they still came away victorious, winning 26-14.
Tulane scored a season-low 14 points and only gathered 269 total yards of offense, their first contest under 300 total yards of offense all season.
The MAC Conference Championship went to the Miami-Ohio RedHawks after their 23-14 win over the Toledo Rockets.
MIAMI OHIO +225 pic.twitter.com/cBDizjxgjd
— Hammer DAHN (@HammerDAHN) December 2, 2023
It was a frustrating loss for Toledo, with this loss being their first since the opening contest of the season, a 30-28 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Losing a conference championship at home after winning 11 consecutive games has to sting for Toledo.
Miami-Ohio was a +6.5-point underdog with a moneyline of +215 on bet365.
In the last three seasons combined, underdogs in conference championship games are 14-17 straight up.
There’s money to be made on underdogs in Conference Championship week.
The Transfer Portal
With the College Football Bowl Season rapidly approaching, there are 43 bowl games coming up for bettors to wager on.
Before placing any bets, take a look at the transfer portal and see which players intend to leave their current team and may not be on the field for their bowl game.
The winter transfer portal just opened on December 4th and will run through January 2nd, 2024.
Until January 2nd, there will be a plethora of players changing schools and many have already announced their intentions to transfer.
Breaking: Ohio State QB Kyle McCord has entered his name into the transfer portal. pic.twitter.com/vFUg3566cy
— ESPN (@espn) December 4, 2023
Notable players that are looking to transfer are Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord, Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward, and Oregon State quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei.
Also, conference realignment may have played a factor in Ward and Uiagalelei leaving their respective schools, as Washington State and Oregon State are the final Pac-12 schools looking for a new conference in 2024.
For Uiagalelei and Gabriel, this will be the third program for each man in their college careers.
Ohio State isn’t losing just McCord either, plenty of players are looking to move on from the Buckeyes’ program.
Ohio State players in the Transfer Portal:
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) December 4, 2023
5 ⭐️ WR Julian Fleming
5 ⭐️ QB Kyle McCord
4 ⭐️ RB Evan Pryor
4 ⭐️ S Cam Martinez
4 ⭐️ DE Omari Abor
4 ⭐️ LB Reid Carrico
4 ⭐️ S Kye Stokes
4 ⭐️ CB Jyaire Brown
4 ⭐️ CB Ryan Turner
3 ⭐️ OL Jakob James
3 ⭐️ C/G Vic Cutler
K Parker Lewis…
At FanDuel, Ohio State is currently a 2.5-point favorite over the Missouri Tigers in the Cotton Bowl.
As for Oklahoma and Oregon State, they are both underdogs in their bowl games.
DraftKings has the Sooners at +3.5 on the spread against the Arizona Wildcats in the “Valero Alamo Bowl” and the Beavers at +10.5 on the spread against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the “Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl”.
A fan of both the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers, which is rare! Thomas provides sports betting content with the intent to educate and entertain. A lover of sports statistics and the stories those stats tell. A Pittsburgh Pirates follower that has become calloused by the Pirates\' ineptitude. His best bet was a 5-Leg College Football underdog parlay with odds of +64000. He only wagered $0.50 on it.
