Predicting Semifinals of College Football Playoff

by Eric Fulton
We are down to four teams in the first College Football Playoff in the Football Subdivision (FBS). And the remaining teams are all bedrock teams in college football. Two more common things that the final four teams have are none of the teams won their respective conference, and none were in the top four seeds going into the playoff. While I’m happy that four blue bloods are looking to win the national championship, the surprise is that the top four seeds are already out. I picked Texas, Penn State and Ohio State to win their games in the previous round. Even though Georgia was starting a backup quarterback, I thought they would still find a way to win the Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame was the better team that evening and they move on to the semifinals.
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Now, it is time to look at both matchups. 

​No 7. Notre Dame vs. No. 6 Penn State - Capital One Orange Bowl (Miami Gardens, Fla.) - Thursday January 9th at 6:30 PM (CST) on ESPN

Notre Dame and Penn State meet in the first semifinal game of the College Football Playoff. Both teams feature a strong running game and a stingy defense. This is shaping up to be a low-scoring affair in which the team who has the ball last with the lead wins the game. Quarterback play will be critical in this game. Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard and Penn State’s Drew Allar are not the top quarterbacks in college football, but they can be effective when they work with the lead. What I do love most about the game is the coaching matchup. Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and Penn State’s James Franklin have succeeded during their South Bend and Happy Valley tenures. Now, one of them will guarantee themselves to coach in the National Championship game on January 20th, in which if they win the Championship game, they will become the first Black head coach to win the FBS National Championship. It will be a close game, but I am leaning toward Notre Dame advancing to the National Championship game.

No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 5 - Texas Goodyear Cotton Bowl (Arlington, Texas) – Friday, January 10th at 6:30 PM (CST) on ESPN

The Longhorns and Buckeyes are scheduled to meet on August 30th to kick off the 2025 College Football Season. But first, they will meet for a spot in the National Championship game. This has the potential of being a high-scoring affair at AT&T Stadium. Quarterbacks Will Howard (Ohio State) and Quinn Ewers (Texas) occasionally make mistakes, but when they get things going, many points can be scored. Texas had to come back to beat Arizona State in double overtime in the Peach Bowl. I don't think they have a defense that can stop Ohio State's excellent offense. Meanwhile, Ohio State's defense is playing their best football through the first two games of the playoffs. We've seen Texas' offense struggle against good teams (twice against Georgia). I can see this game going two ways: a shootout or one team dominating from kickoff to the end. Either way, I am going with Ohio State with all of the momentum they have been carrying during this playoff run.