Q&A: Who will play in the CFP semifinals? Will Caleb Williams still win the Heisman?
J. Brady McCollough (LA Times) — Once No. 4 USC was routed in the second half Friday night by Utah in the Pac-12 championship game, it became immediately clear which four teams would make the College Football Playoff and compete for a spot in the national title game at SoFi Stadium.
No matter what happened Saturday, No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Texas Christian and No. 5 Ohio State would finish the regular season as the only teams nationally unbeaten or with one loss. A two-loss team has never made the CFP field.
The only thing left to determine is seeding. After TCU’s 31-28 overtime loss in the Big 12 championship game to Kansas State, the Horned Frogs have opened themselves up for debate about whether they should remain ahead of Ohio State, which did not play Saturday after losing to the Wolverines, 45-23, in Columbus last weekend. It is likely the CFP selection committee will avoid a semifinal rematch between Michigan and Ohio State and keep TCU at No. 3. But it’s at least a question now.
When will we learn who made the CFP semifinals?
The College Football Playoff selection committee will reveal the top of the bracket Sunday at 9 a.m. PST on ESPN.
What about the rest of the New Year’s Six bowls?
ESPN will reveal the final CFP top 25 rankings and pairings for all New Year’s Six bowls at 11:30 a.m. PST. Announcements for the non-playoff bowls tend to get announced during the broadcast, with the final lineup set by early afternoon.
What bowls will USC and UCLA play in?
USC will likely land in the Cotton Bowl, facing off against Tulane. UCLA’s outlook is a bit more murky, but the Sun Bowl remains a potential destination.
Will Caleb Williams still win the Heisman Trophy?
Entering Friday night, it felt as if Caleb Williams had the Heisman Trophy locked up. After passing for 363 yards and three touchdowns and playing the entire second half with an injured hamstring, the only thing Williams didn’t do was lead the Trojans to a heroic win. He once again proved that he would be a worthy Heisman winner.
Saturday morning, TCU quarterback Max Duggan made his move, willing the Horned Frogs back from another second-half deficit to send the game to overtime. But the fact that Duggan could not finish it off in overtime makes it unlikely he will be able to garner the late votes to overtake Williams.
How do I get tickets to see the CFP title game at SoFi Stadium?
The majority of game tickets are allocated to the two participating institutions and sold directly through each school. Many others will be available on the secondary market.
latimes.com
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Final Standing – Contest Over
Click here to see an the original post for a complete breakdown on the accounting.
TBD Contest – The Final Week (2022)
Ranking of the 41 college football bowl games (emphasis on Pac12 and California teams) 3. Rose Bowl: No. 8 Utah (10-3) vs. No. 11 Penn State (10-2)4. Cotton Bowl: No. 10 USC (11-2) vs. No. 16 Tulane (11-2)7. Alamo Bowl: No. 12 Washington (10-2) vs. No. 20 Texas (8-4)9. Holiday Bowl: No. 15 Oregon (9-3) vs. North Carolina (9-4)12. LA Bowl: Fresno State (9-4) vs. Washington State (7-5)15. Sun Bowl: Pitt (8-4) vs. No. 18 UCLA (9-3)17. Las Vegas Bowl: Florida (6-6) vs. No. 14 Oregon State (9-3)34. Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: San Jose State (7-4) vs. Eastern Michigan (8-4)36.… Read more »
Actually Clay will now get a lifetime extension at Georgia Southern for a 6-6 record and leading them to the Camellia Bowl.
I’m excited that we’re going to the Cotton Bowl. I would hope the non-injured players participate in the game rather than focusing on the NFL but we can’t control their decisions. Those players who opt out will allow other players a chance to prove themselves.
At least, we’re not like UCLA who is going to the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso. I still have nightmare of SC’s trip there in 2012 and Kiffin in the parka coat.
That sure was a freakin’ 21-7 disaster. 10 years ago. Wow.
Caleb Williams Says He Will Play in Cotton Bowl. He said he will play through the injury and face Tulane. Whether the Trojans will hold him out of the game out of an abundance of caution is a whole other story, though. Coach Riley called it a “significant hamstring injury” and didn’t commit to Williams playing in the big game. He shouldn’t play if not 100%. Caleb should have been taken out Friday after the first quarter. Bohn needs to have a sit down with LR, the team doctor and the head athletic trainer. The topic, why he wasn’t pulled.… Read more »
I bet we see Miller Miss playing in cotton bowl. Also wouldn’t be surprised if Voorhees, Addison, Tuli, and Blackmon do not play. If I were coach I would support their decision either way. It’s not the playoff, and they have a bunch at stake. What happened to Neilon can certainly happen in this game. We have a month to prepare, time to get those backups ready.
*Moss
I hear Caleb says he is playing. We shall see.
College Football Playoff Final Top 25 Rankings 1. Georgia Bulldogs 13-0 (1) 2. Michigan Wolverines 13-0 (2) 3. TCU Horned Frogs 12-1 (3) 4. Ohio State Buckeyes 11-1 (5) 5. Alabama Crimson Tide 10-2 (6) 6. Tennessee Volunteers 10-2 (7) 7. Clemson Tigers 11-2 (9) 8. Utah Utes 10-3 (11) 9. Kansas State Wildcats 10-3 (10) 10. USC Trojans 11-2 (4) 11. Penn State Nittany Lions 10-2 (8) 12. Washington Huskies 10-2 (12) 13. Florida State Seminoles 9-3 (13) 14. Oregon State Beavers 9-3 (15) 15. Oregon Ducks 9-3 (16) 16. Tulane Green Wave 11-2 (18) 17. LSU Tigers 9-4… Read more »
If the 12 team playoff was this year, the top 4 teams would be Georgia, Michigan, Clemson, and Utah in that order. All Conference Champs, all winners the past 2 weeks. As it should be. No nonconference champs, no losers and losers that did not play this weekend should play in a national semifinal game. Oh and USC(10) would play at Alabama(7). Hopefully, if you played in your conference championship game you would get higher seed, even if you lost, than if you stayed home. This year USC looks bad their last game after an exhausting 3 game run so… Read more »
It’s official: USC in the Cotton Bowl vs TULANE
We’re gonna miss this guy, always reliable and steady, leader Brett Neilon.
Seems like a great guy all around. Hated seeing him go down.
Wherever USC ends up, they stepped it up from last season and did a total 180. This was a fun season, which we have not had in a very long time. Tulane is a very good team and has the ability to really surprise USC in the Cotton. Not worried about it, I know we have guys sitting out and it is just a chance to see our seniors one more time.
OHIO ST will get hammered by GA based on who they showed up to be against MICH (big insight, huh?!). The Buckeyes looked slower than I expected on D and I think GA will embarrass the Buckeyes who are lucky to be #4 after such a brutal big loss to their rival at home in The Shoe. It turns out Ryan Day (who was born on 3rd base per Jim Harbaugh) still has a lot to prove. It’s been a very strange season in some ways. For this roster-thin USC team led by a magical player at QB to get… Read more »
AP and Coaches Polls AP Georgia (62 1st-place votes) Michigan (1) TCU Ohio State Alabama Tennessee Utah USC Penn State Clemson Kansas State Washington Florida State Tulane Oregon LSU Oregon State UCLA Notre Dame South Carolina Texas UTSA Troy Mississippi State NC State Others receiving votes North Carolina 39, UCF 36, Cincinnati 32, Ole Miss 27, Fresno State 25, Purdue 17, South Alabama 17, Illinois 11, Boise State 6, Pittsburgh 4, Minnesota 2, James Madison 1 Coaches Georgia (59 1st-place votes) Michigan (2) Ohio State TCU Alabama Tennessee Penn State USC Kansas State Utah Clemson Washington Florida State Oregon LSU… Read more »
Hey Ohio State …..You better play better when you step on that field vs Georgia <<<<< Just Saying !
Bryan Fischer
@BryanDFischer
·
6m
The New Year’s Six is set:
Fiesta (semi): TCU vs. Michigan
Peach (semi): Ohio State vs. Georgia
Rose: Utah vs. Penn State
Cotton Bowl: Tulane vs. USC
Orange Bowl: Clemson vs. Tennessee
Sugar Bowl: Kansas State vs. Alabama
Assuming the Caleb gets the Heisman (I think he will – he is a far superior talent to Duggan, was injured in his last game, and Duggan did not win the game), great year for the Pac. It gets the Heisman and 2 New Year’s Six bowls, both of which are winnable. To be honest, I am glad SC is not in the CFP – I would not want to play either MI or GA. Great year, but we are simply not ready this year.
Top 6 seeds
Since I am ALWAYS hoping that ….on an everyday basis ….. SC’s lets say …..IMAGE ……Constantly gets higher and higher GRADES …..I was hoping for an Alabama or even Kansas State …..Tulane ? ….Yea I guess …..Yea ok I guess .
Not real excited for this matchup Wondering who will be out injured.
Actually, I think USC vs TULANE will be an excellent contest. Certainly much better than trying to survive easy #1 GA basically at home in Atlanta.
I think USC got treated very fairly in the polls after UTAH demolished us.
Don’t think we would have showed well at all against Georgia. Polls were more than fair. Expected 10-12
Allen, I honestly think GA would have done to SC what they did to OR the first week of the season. We are in the perfect bowl game – a New Year’s Six against an opponent which we can beat.
I think TULANE looks pretty athletic and dangerous. Expect a dogfight from them. For some reason, I’m concerned about USC’s injuries/player losses for the Cotton Bowl.
Who even knows who will be on the field that day. The fact is, historically, teams that have dramatic reversals of fortune on championship weekend, and end up in “lesser” bowls because of it, tend not to show up and get beat. Last example I can think of was our debacle against Iowa in Clay’s tenure. It is just a fact of life – it is hard to get a team up for an exhibition after their hopes and dreams were dashed. Playing Tulane is not going to help. Who cares if you beat Tulane? That’s the problem. And, Tulane… Read more »
All true. USC had control of a bright-looking path directly to the #3 or #4 PO spot, if only Caleb Williams hadn’t tweaked his hamstring. Hope he heals fast and this quickly composed team sticks together.
December 29, 1992 “Freedom Bowl” Fresno State 24-USC 7
Yeah – that Sun Bowl we played under Kiffin too. I think we only scored 7 points in that one as well.
I’ll never forget losing to the Bulldogs. My ex-wife was a Fresno State alum and gave me so much sh*t after they beat us in that game. As I recall, Trent Dilfer was the Fresno State QB and he torched USC. Tulane looks like it has a high-powered passing game so I wouldn’t be surprised if they put up some numbers against us in the Cotton Bowl. The last time SC was in the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State thrashed us.