College Football Playoff Projections Week 15: Is Ohio State In? Which Two-Loss Teams Stand a Chance?

Projected College Football Playoff Match-Ups

Sugar Bowl: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Oregon Ducks

Fortunately, with Mississippi State out of the picture, there is no concern over a rematch in these projections, so we can base everything on seeding. As the top seed, Alabama would have the right to play in the Bowl Game closest to home, and that would be the Sugar Bowl. This is exactly what the committee would want, because even in the Playoff, it keeps the SEC tie-in. Alabama would obviously play Oregon, since they were the bottom seed in our projections, and unless you failed geography so many times you couldn’t get past the 4th grade, we don’t need to tell you why the Sugar Bowl, in New Orleans, is home-field advantage for Alabama over Oregon.

As far as the game goes, this would be an epic clash. It is a clash of different regions, different cultures, and completely different styles of football. Alabama is the old-school, jimmy’s and joe’s, boring, defensive and physical team from the Deep South that dominates you with brute force (although that wasn’t necessarily the case in the Iron Bowl). Oregon is the finesse, quick-scoring, offensive heavy X’s and O’s team from the West Coast. Who wouldn’t want to see this match-up? It would finally put the different styles of football on display.

Rose Bowl: Florida State Seminoles vs. Ohio State Buckeyes

While Alabama-Oregon would be an epic clash of styles of play, Florida State-Ohio State would definitely be nothing to sneeze at. Remember, this was the national championship game that everybody wanted last year. This year, as No. 2 and No. 3 teams, they would obviously meet each other in the Rose Bowl since the Alabama-Oregon game would be in the Sugar Bowl. And the Rose Bowl would at least get to keep its Big Ten tie-in, the same way the Sugar Bowl gets to keep its SEC tie-in, so that’s something exciting to pay attention to.

This game, in many ways, could also be a clash of styles the way Alabama-Oregon would be. But unlike Oregon, it would involve two, not one, high-profile coaches who have won national titles and a game between two programs who have multiple national titles. And both teams have the Jimmy’s and Joe’s. However, Ohio State would be more like Oregon with Urban Meyer’s exciting spread offense, and Florida State would be more like Alabama, with Jimbo Fisher using a pro-style offense and dominant talent to overpower his opponent.

Next: Analyzing One-Loss Teams Still in the College Football Playoff Race