1st Round of the Playoffs – The Process Works
The 1st round of the playoffs is now behind us and it was an interesting weekend all round. It is of course far easier to keep track of games when there are so few and I think I managed to watch most of every playoff game! The 1st round served up two evenly matched teams and two potential banana skins, and I joined the lads on College Football UK to give my thoughts leading into the weekend. My takeaway post the results is that the process works and I will explain what I mean by that below.
A reminder of how we got here
Briefly, the CFP committee selects its top 12 teams to play in the playoff. We go through an arduous process where they put out a ranking far too early and then update it weekly. The top 4 teams in these rankings receive a bye to the second round. The remainder have to play in the 1st round which was played on Campus.
As ever there was much debate around the final few rankings with Notre Dame feeling particularly aggrieved after missing out at the expense of Miami.
1st Round Results
Alabama (9) defeated Oklahoma (8) 34-24 in Norman, Oklahoma
First up in the early hours of Friday night in the UK, it was Alabama at Oklahoma.
I was expecting this to be a compelling but close game in the build up. I had something like 21-20 in my mind to Alabama. It was certainly compelling but not for the reasons I expected.
Oklahoma jumped out to a 17-0 lead which I was not expecting, give their recent struggles. Alabama then clawed themselves back into the game however and a 50-yard pick six from Zabien Brown tied the game (post extra point) and shifted momentum. In the second half, Alabama started to pull away. The Sooners could have made it closer, save for costly mistakes and missed two FGs in the final quarter.
Embed from Getty ImagesMiami (10) defeated Texas A&M (3) 10-3 in College Station, Texas
The 5pm UK time kick off followed on from College Gameday on DAZN. All eyes were on how Carson Beck would do for Miami in his first playoff start.
The game was played in very windy conditions which didn’t help the kickers….Miami missed 3 FGs and Texas A&M 1.
This was an encounter dominated by the defences and the first to remain scoreless in this era at halftime. It was 3-3 going into the final 2 minutes until Miami star WR Malachi Toney scored a late touchdown. The game then came alive at the death, as Texas A&M pressed and it was ended by a Miami interception in their own end zone.
Tulane (11) loses to Ole Miss (6) 10-41 in Oxford, Mississippi
Tulane had a great season, winning the American conference and getting into the playoffs. Carrying so much momentum, the question was could they go into Oxford and take advantage of an Ole Miss team, playing without departed HC Lane Kiffin?
No was the answer. Ole Miss overwhelmed Tulane from the very start, scoring after 59 seconds. Whilst one sided on the scoreboard, Tulane did still have 421 yards of offense but couldn’t always convert it to 1st downs and points. Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss finished with 23 completions from 29 attempts for 282 yards and 1 TD. He also ran two touchdowns in, gaining 36 yards of rushing on 6 carries.
James Madison (12) loses to Oregon (5) 34-51 in Eugene, Oregon
The final playoff game of the weekend started at 12.30am UK time. JMU were on the high of wining the Sun Belt championship and making their first playoff appearance. They were certainly going to make the most of it, if their social media campaign was anything to go by!
However, reality came home to bite them very quickly with Oregon scoring on their first 5 drives. The first half ended 34-6 and the gulf in quality really came through as JMU were also overwhelmed.
The score reached 48-13 before Oregon throttled back and pulled some starters on defence. This allowed JMU to get some offense going and claw the score back to 51-34. Oregon HC Dan Lanning was visibly frustrated with the 2nd half showing but there was enough daylight in the score by that point for it to be academic. A great effort however by JMU who should be proud of their season.
Embed from Getty ImagesA Farce or a Learning Process?
There has been some criticism post the games, that having the likes of Tulane and JMU in the playoffs is farcical. It is said to be a waste of time having them come to these games and getting thumped like they did. The argument goes that there should be a separate playoff for G6 conferences to leave the CFP for the “elite” Power 4 + Notre Dame.
I have some sympathy for this as it must be said that Notre Dame (who missed out on a berth) would have been more competitive in either game. I have said before that I am not a fan of the playoff committee and think there should be an entirely new structure. But that is one for another day….
However, in the current format I think Tulane and JMU both earned their places and earned the right to compete. The magic of these knockout competitions is that you never truly know and strange things can happen.
Also, Tulane and JMU will learn from their experiences – the players, coaches and the whole of their respective institutions. Their football programmes will grow, and their recruiting stock will improve which can only be good for the sport. This format of the CFP is only in its 2nd year, but it is important that as many teams as possible can have access. I would rarely watch a whole JMU or Tulane game but I watched both teams from start to finish. For that reason I would say the process works.
Would it have been nice if they were more competitive? Yes, but they will only get better from having the exposure and hunger to get back to this stage again.
What Next?
Thursday 1st January 2026
12.30 AM (UK) – Goodyear Cotton Bowl
Miami (10) v Ohio State (2)
5pm (UK) – Capital One Orange Bowl
Oregon (5) v Texas Tech (4)
9PM (UK) – Rose Bowl presented by Prudential
Alabama (9) v Indiana (1)
Friday 2nd January 2026
1AM (UK) – Allstate Sugar Bowl
Ole Miss (6) v Georgia (3)
Some great matches to look forward to and I will be thinking about how these will go over the holidays. Until then I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year!
