To say the committee got it right is too easy. There really was no other four team combo worthy of the playoffs. Notre Dame lost at home to Number 4 Cincinnati. Despite Georgia not winning the SEC, no conference champion outside the CFP can claim their record. Oklahoma St could have made it interesting, but goal line play calling became questionable, and they came up an inch or two short. The order of the top 4 could be debated, but I’m sure America loves to prospect of a non-SEC final game. I’m ok with the order they had: Alabama, Michigan, Georgia, and Cincinnati.

OK, so brag time from the preseason show. I accurately predicted 4 of the 10 conference champions. That’s easy math of 40%. I also correctly selected the Cotton Bowl semifinal of Bama v Cinci. My partner in crime, Steve W, was correct that two SEC schools would make the playoffs. He just had a little more faith in Texas A&M than Georgia. W was over sold on Indiana, but his dark horse Iowa won the West. He called the Purdue bounce back, the aTm upset of Bama, and Billy Napier picking this year to move to the big time. He went 5-7 on the Over/Under game. We were both way off on Oklahoma.

I closed the regular season at 39-31-1. That essentially puts me at 55%. Not bad and I’ll take it. Profit is profit. I will have bowl bets ready as we learn who is out and what coaches are where. I did throw some action on the Money Line for Cincinnati at +400. If Alabama loses, I want something for my trouble. Obviously, no picks this week. I’m interested to see what the injury situation looks like for the playoff teams. An the Vegas Bowl is in the new stadium this year, but I have seen both teams live.

The coaching carousel has been insane so far. Shocking enough that a coach left Oklahoma for another job (albeit USC), but in the same year one leaves Notre Dame? LSU or not, Notre Dame is not the kind of program you leave for another college. It will be interesting to see the rest of the movement. Some of the bluest bloods have been involved this cycle and who knows what happens when those still looking make their plays. Urban to ND? Venables to Oklahoma? Who else gets fired or moves on remains to been seen.

We have reached championship week and I hit 8 of the 20 division winners. 40% is not too bad. In order to get here we witnessed one of the greatest rivalry weeks in recent memory. Most of the big, famous rivalries had so much at stake that most of the games were instant classics. CUSA and PAC12 get our weekend started with Friday night deciders. I still think UTSA is the pick and while preseason I had Oregon, Utah is playing better right now. Saturday will show us who makes the playoffs. It is very difficult to beat a team twice, can Oklahoma St do just that against Baylor? Northern Illinois has my nod against Kent St. San Diego St will be hard to top when Utah St comes to town. I’m sticking with Louisiana despite their coach becoming a Gator. I think Houston plays Cincinnati close and Pitt handles Wake Forest. The biggest question is if Michigan can avoid the let down against Iowa. Oh, and USC goes to Cal in a make game that I had picked earlier in the year, but the line changed drastically.

I went 0 fer last week. I now sit at 37-29-1. This week is always tough to pick as the teams are typically close. I have Utah (-3), Louisiana (+2), Houston (+10), and San Diego St (-4). I grabbed the Over (+48) for Baylor v Oklahoma St. I would not have been an Over lean until I saw the explosion at Bedlam. As always, there is a Parlay and a Teaser. I also grabbed Michigan to take the whole thing at +1000.