By Nunnie Robinson, Westside Gazette Sports Editor
The College Football Playoffs have been exhilarating, distressful, tantalizing, disappointing, exhausting, opportunistic and emotionally draining for rabid fans, administrators, coaches and their institutions, depending on their teamâs performance during rival week and Thanksgiving weekend.
In any conceivable scenario,   chaos, confusion and uncertainty reign supreme. It wasnât surprising that upsets occurred with such frequency, but the winners left many prognosticators baffled. Who really thought a 5 loss Michigan team minus 2 star players would defeat Ohio State in Columbus, leaving the Buckeyes scrambling for a spot in the tournament. OSUâs loss gifted Penn State, which will now battle unbeaten Oregon for the Big Ten title and a first round bye.
Miamiâs second defeat at the hands of the Syracuse Orangemen probably sealed their exit out of the playoffs, opening the door for Clemson to earn a spot in the ACC championship versus first year conference upstart SMU. The winner will probably be the only ACC representative.
The SEC, which spent the year beating each other up, has 3 teams looking from the outside in, all with 3 losses: Alabama,  Ole Miss, and South Carolina. Two seasonal combatants – Texas and Georgia (a dominant road win for the Bulldogs), will vie for the SEC championship. Remember conference winners receive a first round bye. The CFP Top 25 will be announced tonight, and the conference champions will be determined this weekend. One thingâs for certain: some really good football teams wonât make the cut, but you must agree that 12 is better than 4.
Following are my unscientific predictions to make the playoffs.
- Oregon 2. Texas 3. Clemson 4. Notre Dame 5. Georgia 6. Penn State 7. Ohio State 8. Tennessee 9. SMU 10. Boise State 11. Arizona State 12. Alabama.
My sleepers are South Carolina and Miami.
Itâs going to be interesting.
