What’s Going To Happen in the College Football Playoff National Championship
Is Ohio State going to be 2014 Ohio State or 2014 Oregon.
2014 Oregon couldn’t have been more loose, more salty, and more focused to take on Florida State in first ever College Football Playoff game. It entered the Rose Bowl with a swagger, an attitude, and a fight after being tired of the finesse label. One 59-20 win later, the Ducks became the hot thing going into the College Football Playoff National Championship.
But once they got to Dallas, everything started to tighten up.
The team wasn’t quite as outgoing. It wasn’t quite as playful. It wasn’t quite as edgy – at least in a good way. It’s as if it kicked in that, all of a sudden, this was about to get very, very real.
On the flip side, if there’s ever been a more chilled and confident team for a big game that that Ohio State bunch, I haven’t seen it.
To a man, each one just assumed it was a done deal, and it started from the head coach. To paraphrase Urban Meyer, “look, we’ve got this.”
42-20 Ohio State. National champion.
Beating Clemson to get redemption for last year’s Fiesta Bowl was everything to this 2020 Ohio State team.
The program was desperate to get back on that field as soon as humanly possible to right the wrong after coming so achingly close to playing for it all. It was their all-consuming focus, and it all came roaring out in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.
But was that it? Can the team possible muster up the same fire and focus?There’s still one more game to play.
To add another comp to the mix, the 1980 US Olympic hockey team still had to beat Finland for the gold medal after beating the USSR.
Alabama is hardly going to be complacent.
It only seems like Nick Saban wins the national championship every year, but Bama wasn’t even in last year’s College Football Playoff and got rim-rocked in the 2018 season national championship in that 44-16 nightmare against Clemson in Santa Clara.
It might seem silly to put it this way, but Alabama has only won one national title since 2015 and lost two since then.
Ohio State might have been working all year to get back to the College Football Playoff and win a game – especially against Clemson. Alabama has been working for two years to win it all again.
To wear out the comparison thing, maybe think of Ohio State as 2016 Clemson.
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That team barely lost the 2015 national championship to Alabama, came in totally focused to start 2016, and … it had its share of issues.
The Tigers dealt with a should’ve-lost squeaker of a win against NC State, got by a solid Florida State team, and lost to Pitt in a wild firefight. The 42-35 win over Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship wasn’t exactly confidence-inspiring.
But it came out and destroyed Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinals, and Deshaun Watson led a game-winning drive for the ages to beat Alabama for the national title.
This Ohio State team had a whole lot of issues to get to this point, but it’s here.
It has the quarterback, it has the momentum, and it has the offense to keep up with Alabama.
Expect a classic to close out a tumultuous 2020 college football season with something amazing that comes down to who has the ball last. It’s a true flip-a-coin pick, but …
College Football Playoff National Championship: Ohio State vs Alabama Prediction, Line
Ohio State 45, Alabama 41
Bet on Ohio State vs Alabama with BetMGM
Alabama -8, o/u: 75
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Straight Up Confidence out of 5: 1
– CFN Experts Picks: CFP National Championship
Must See Rating: 5
5: 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship
1: 2020-2021 college football bowl season
College Football Playoff National Championship History
Jan. 13, 2020 LSU 42, Clemson 25
Jan. 7, 2019 Clemson 44, Alabama 16
Jan. 8, 2018 Alabama 26, Georgia 23 OT
Jan. 9, 2017 Clemson 35, Alabama 31
Jan. 11, 2016 Alabama 40, Clemson 34
Jan. 12, 2015 Ohio State 42, Oregon 20
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