6 College Football Playoff storylines to pay attention to
The debates didn’t exactly end once the College Football Playoff selection committee unveiled its four playoff teams, but the decision has been made. Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama have been granted an opportunity to compete for the last national championship in the four-team College Football Playoff era, and there are some fascinating storylines to keep track of.
The coaching matchup of Jim Harbaugh and Nick Saban, Steve Sarkisian going against one of his former programs, and the final go for the four-team playoff with massive changes coming to the entire sport in 2024 are among the themes of this year’s College Football Playoff.
Here are six storylines worth your attention during this year’s College Football Playoff, in no particular order.
Michigan at the top of the world. Can they stay there?
If playoff experience is a factor in this year’s College Football Playoff, Michigan appears to have that on its side. Yes, Alabama has plenty more overall playoff experience in the playoff era, but this particular Michigan program is coming off two losing trips to the playoff in the past two seasons, and they are the only program making a trip from last year’s playoff field.
Michigan’s entire mission this season has been not to just get back to the playoffs, but to finish the job. Well, they’re here now and the opportunity is right in front of them. As much as beating Alabama would be a major win for Michigan at this point, the season will still feel incomplete for the Wolverines without celebrating a national championship victory.
The no. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff has reached the national championship game each of the last five seasons and in seven of the 9 seasons with the College Football Playoff. The no. 1 seed has won it all just three times, including two of the last three seasons.
Ohio State is the only Big Ten team to win a College Football Playoff national championship. The Buckeyes won the first national title of the playoff era in the 2014 season.
Will Nick Saban have a winning record in the College Football Playoff era?
Nobody can justifiably dispute the idea that Alabama head coach Nick Saban is among the best coaches of all time in the history of college football. But did you know he is at risk of having a losing record in the four-team College Football Playoff era?
Saban will be taking Alabama to the College Football Playoff for an eighth time, two more than the next most appearances by Dabo Swinney of Clemson. Despite winning a couple of national titles in the playoff era, Saban is actually 3-3 all-time in the College Football Playoff. So there is a chance Saban ends this four-team playoff run with a losing record. Who could have ever imagined that would be a possibility?
Of course, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh is 0-2. Washington’s Kalen DeBoer and Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian are making their head coaching debut in the College Football Playoff.
Steve Sarkisian going up against his former program
The Washington vs. Texas semifinal is a bit of a full-circle moment for Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian got his first chance at being a head coach by the Washington Huskies in 2009 after four years as a rising assistant on the coaching staff of USC’s glory days under Pete Carroll. Sarkisian went 34-29 at Washington and helped to put the program on a better footing to continue building into a legitimate Pac-10 and Pac-12 contender. But the overall record was a bit mediocre and his run with the program ended when he accepted an opportunity to become the next head coach at USC in 2014.
Sarkisian’s return to USC did go smoothly and was mired in unfortunate headlines and a quick firing in 20125 as a result. Sarkisian joined the Alabama football staff under Nick Saban as an analyst and later was given an opportunity to be the offensive coordinator to replace Lane Kiffin. Sarkisian returned to Alabama after a brief stint in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons, and Sarkisian used his success at Alabama to lead to his current position as head coach of the Longhorns.
Is Michael Penix the most exciting player in the playoff?
The Heisman Trophy will be awarded by the time the College Football Playoff gets going on Jan. 1, 2024. And this year’s Heisman Trophy winner could end up being Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The former Indiana quarterback has been a major lift for the Huskies since his arrival from the transfer portal in 2022. This season saw Penix pass for 4,218 yards and 33 touchdowns with just 9 interceptions.
Three Heisman Trophy winners have been on a national championship team in the College Football Playoff era. They are Alabama running back Derrick Henry in 2015, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow in 2019, and Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith in 2020.
Last ride for the Pac-12 and Big 12 as we know it
Washington and Texas will meet in the Sugar Bowl, the other College Football Playoff semifinal. They will do so as the last conference champions of the Pac-12 and Big 12 before the entire college football landscape transforms in 2024.
Washington won what will likely be the final Pac-12 championship in conference history. The Conference of Champions is losing all but 2 members to realignment changes in 2024. Washington will join Oregon, USC and UCLA in moving to the Big Ten. Cal and Stanford are moving to the ACC. And Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah are all leaving for the Big 12.
The same Big 12 that is about to lose Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC. The two landmark programs will be impossible for the Big 12 to replace, so the conference will have a much different feel next season. But at least the Big 12 will still have a flag to wave in 2024 as opposed to the Pac-12.
Big Ten and SEC present on one side, future on the other
It is impossible to ignore the fact that all four teams in this year’s College Football Playoff may come from four different conferences in 2023 but will be in one of two conferences a year from now. And it may be fitting that the Big Ten and SEC’s current members are facing off in one semifinal game and the incoming members are paired in the other.
Michigan and Alabama are as Big Ten and SEC as they come and few programs have the kind of history in their respective conferences they do. They will face each other in the Rose Bowl, a bowl game steep in history with the Big Ten.
Washington will join the Big Ten in 2024 and Texas will join the SEC. So while the eyes of the Big Ten and SEC will be locked in on the result of the Rose Bowl, the attention and smack talk will quickly shift to the Sugar Bowl between the Huskies and Longhorns. Texas fans will surely be chanting “S-E-C” in New Orleans if things go well in the Sugar Bowl, while Washington fans will hope to get an early crack at Michigan in a preview of potential Big Ten championship bouts to come.
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