Duke receives 32 votes, fifth-most for unranked teams
The Blue Devils were off on championship weekend after collapsing late in the season to give the Coastal Division crown to Georgia Tech, but still have an outside chance at finishing the season in the AP Poll with a win in their bowl game and some help. Duke will find out where it is playing Sunday evening and look to win its first bowl game in 52 years to continue the program's meteoric rise.
Alabama mauls Missouri for SEC Championship
The Crimson Tide extended the West division’s streak of SEC Championships to six with a 42-13 rout of Missouri. Alabama was awarded the No. 1 spot in both the final AP Poll and the inaugural College Football Playoff as a result of its late-season dominance. Quarterback Blake Sims led the way for head coach Nick Saban’s squad, as he threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns on 23-for-27 passing with no interceptions.
Running back Derrick Henry led the way on the ground, going for 141 yards on 20 carries with two scores. Alabama out-rushed Missouri 242 to 41 on the day and the Crimson Tide defense frustrated the Tigers offense all day. Quarterback Maty Mauk did not throw an interception, but completed less than 50.0 percent of his passes and looked erratic most of the day. Saban will now have more than three weeks to game plan for the national semifinal game to be played Jan. 1 at 8:30 p.m. The Crimson Tide will face No. 4 Ohio State at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Ohio State wins Big Ten Championship in 59-0 slaughter of Wisconsin
The Buckeyes came into their matchup against Wisconsin with a lot of question marks on their resume. They were playing with their third string quarterback, Cardale Jones, after losing Braxton Miller in training camp to a shoulder injury and J.T. Barrett the previous week to a broken ankle. They had lost earlier in the season to a Virginia Tech team that finished the season 6-6 overall, 3-5 in the ACC and lost to an awful Wake Forest team 6-3 in double-overtime. And even if they won the Big Ten, it’s the Big Ten, widely recognized as one of the weakest of the Power Five conferences.
But head coach Urban Meyer and Ohio State did not just go and beat the Badgers, they throttled them from the opening play. Third-stringer-turned-starter Cardale Jones threw a 39-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes into the game and that was all the points the Buckeye offense would have to put up. Jones did not need to throw the ball often throughout the game as running back Ezekiel Elliot led the charge, with 220 rushing yards on 20 carries for two scores.
The Ohio State defense smothered Heisman candidate Melvin Gordon, holding him to just 76 yards on the ground on 26 carries. Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave threw three interceptions and completed just 39.5 percent of his passes. The Buckeyes earned their berth into the College Football Playoff and will have their toughest test of the year when they face Alabama on New Year’s day. They also rose one spot up to No. 5 in this week's AP Poll.
Florida State holds on one more time, claims third straight ACC title
Another week, another win for the Seminoles. Florida State finished off a second consecutive undefeated regular season with a 37-35 win against Georgia Tech in the ACC championship Saturday night. The Seminoles were awarded the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff for their efforts and will head to Pasadena, Calif., to face No. 2 Oregon Jan. 1 at 5 p.m.
Saturday night against the Yellow Jackets, quarterback Jameis Winston had one of his best games of the season, throwing three touchdowns and no interceptions while completing 70.0 percent of his passes. Running back Dalvin Cook took every carry out of the backfield with starter Karlos Williams out due to a concussion. Cook carried the ball 31 times for an impressive 177 yards and a touchdown. Florida State was second in the AP Poll despite being tabbed third in the College Football Playoff.
High-powered Oregon runs past Arizona for first Pac-12 title since 2011
After two years of having Stanford sneak by them, the Ducks reclaimed the Pac-12 title in a 51-13 beat down of Arizona, avenging an early season loss at the hands of the Wildcats. Heisman favorite Marcus Mariota looked on point as ever, completing 25-of-38 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns. He also added three rushing touchdowns for good measure.
Running back Royce Freeman led the way on the ground for the Ducks with 114 yards on 21 carries and Kenny Bassett added a rushing touchdown. Oregon will most likely enter its national semifinal game at the Rose Bowl against Florida State as favorites and is currently favored by eight points. The matchup is also an intriguing one outside of the team dynamics.
Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston will step on the field for the Seminoles looking to keep his undefeated career alive while probable Heisman Trophy winner Mariota will try to lead Oregon to a long-awaited national championship. The Ducks last appeared in a national title game during the 2010 season, but lost 22-19 to Auburn and Cam Newton.
Baylor, TCU Named co-champions of Big 12, neither team in the inaugural CFP
TCU started the meaningful games Saturday with a 55-3 rout of Iowa State—one of the worst teams in the Power Five conferences. Baylor followed that up with 38-27 win against then-No. 9 Kansas State. The Big 12 announced prior to any of the games that if there were a tie atop of the conference at the conclusion of the weekend, it would name co-champions of the conference and leave the decision up to the committee as to which, if any, team should be included in the College Football Playoff.
As it turns out, “if any” became an all-important statement as both the Horned Frogs and the Bears were left on the outside looking in. After being ranked No. 3 by the selection committee just five days ago, TCU will go into the playoffs ranked No. 6 while Baylor got the nod at No. 5. The Horned Frogs will head to Atlanta to face No. 9 Ole Miss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Dec. 31 at 12:30 p.m. Baylor will match up against No. 8 Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl Jan. 1 at 12:30 p.m in Dallas.
In the AP Poll, Baylor was ranked No. 4 after its strong win and head-to-head win against the TCU, which fell to No. 6 also in the AP top 25.
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