Odată cu încheierea meciurilor din prima rundă, grupa de playoff de fotbal universitar 2024-25 avansează în sferturile de finală în ajunul Anului Nou și în ziua de Anul Nou. A doua rundă începe pe 31 decembrie, când Boise State, capul de serie nr. 3, înfruntă Penn State, cap de serie nr. 6, în Fiesta Bowl, care începe la 7:30 pm ET. Apoi, acțiunea continuă cu trei jocuri sâmbătă, începând cu numărul 4 Arizona State vs. nr. 5 Texas în Peach Bowl la 1 pm ET. Urmează numărul 1 Oregon vs. 8 Ohio State la Rose Bowl la 5 pm ET și apoi numărul 2 Georgia vs. 7 Notre Dame în Sugar Bowl la 8:45 pm ET.
Cele mai recente cote pentru playoff de fotbal universitar afișează Penn State (-11), Texas (-13,5), Ohio State (-2,5) și Georgia (-1,5) ca favorite în acele meciuri din sferturile de finală CFP. Între timp, Texas este acum favoritul cu +310 pentru a câștiga totul în cotele actualizate la viitor CFP, urmat de Ohio State la +330 și Oregon la +480. Înainte de a bloca oricărei alegeri ale categoriei de playoff de fotbal universitar sau pariuri la campionatele naționale, asigurați-vă că vedeți cele mai recente predicții pentru playoff de fotbal universitar din modelul dovedit SportsLine.
Modelul simulează fiecare joc FBS de 10.000 de ori. De la înființare, a generat un profit la pariuri de peste 2.000 de dolari pentru jucătorii de 100 de dolari la alegerile sale de fotbal din colegiu de top cotate și este 43-35 la alegerile de top în sezonul 2024. De asemenea, i-a câștigat pe toți cei patru câștigători în primul tur al playoff-urilor de fotbal universitar. Oricine urmărește la casele de pariuri sportive și la aplicațiile de pariuri a înregistrat randamente impresionante.
Acum, și-a îndreptat atenția către cele mai recente cote de fotbal universitar și linii de pariuri la fotbal universitar pentru grupa Playoff de fotbal universitar 2024-25. Mergeți aici pentru a vedea fiecare alegere.
Cele mai bune selecții pentru playoff de fotbal universitar 2024-25
O echipă pe care modelul este în frunte pentru Playoff-ul de fotbal al colegiului este Penn State, cap de serie nr. 6, pe care o are pe locul 3 Boise State dominant, în drum spre o cursă adâncă în bracket. Nittany Lions vin dintr-o victorie convingătoare în fața SMU în prima rundă, câștigând cu 38-10, în ciuda faptului că au ridicat doar 325 de metri de ofensă totală.
Apărarea Penn State a menținut atacul cu scorul de top 10 al SMU la 253 de metri și 10 puncte în timp ce a forțat trei refaceri și a marcat de două ori în victorie. Nittany Lions ocupă acum locul șase în țară în ceea ce privește apărarea punctajelor (15,9 puncte pe meci) și au ținut cinci dintre ultimii șase adversari la 106 de metri pe sol sau mai puțin.
Boise State depinde în mare măsură de atacul său rapid, Ashton Jeanty, vice-campionat al Trofeului Heisman, adunând 2.497 de yarzi și 29 de aterizări la sol în acest sezon. Jeanty s-a grăbit pentru 192 de metri și trei touchdown-uri într-o înfrângere cu 37-34 în fața Oregonului la începutul sezonului
Cu toate acestea, Broncos nu s-au confruntat cu acest calibru de apărare de atunci, iar modelul prezice că Penn State îl încetinește suficient de mult pe Jeanty pentru a acoperi diferența de 11 puncte în peste 50% din timp și pentru a avansa aproape 80% din timp. Vezi aici previziunile complete ale playoff-ului de fotbal universitar.
Cum să faci alegeri ale echipei de fotbal pentru playoff
Modelul a simulat, de asemenea, restul grupului College Football Playoff și necesită mai multe surprize, creând un joc șocant pentru titlu. Puteți obține selecții complete CFP numai la SportsLine.
Așadar, ce alegeri din playoff de fotbal universitar poți face cu încredere și ce echipe surprinzătoare se îndreaptă spre meciul pentru titlu? Consultați cele mai recente cote de fotbal universitar de mai jos, apoi vizitați SportsLine pentru a vedea ce echipe fac alergări profunde, toate dintr-un model de computer dovedit, care a întors cu mult peste 2.000 USD în profit de la începuturi și aflați.
Programul playoff-ului de fotbal universitar, cote de joc
Vezi aici previziunile complete pentru playoff de fotbal universitar
marți, 31 dec
19:30 ET (Fiesta Bowl): nr. 3 Boise State vs. nr. 6 Penn State (-11, 52)
miercuri, 1 ianuarie
13:00 ET (Peach Bowl): nr. 4 Arizona State vs. nr. 5 Texas (-13,5, 52,5)
17:00 ET (Rose Bowl): nr. 1 Oregon vs. nr. 8 Ohio State (-2,5, 55)
20:45 ET (Sugar Bowl): nr. 2 Georgia vs. nr. 7 Notre Dame (+1,5, 44)
joi, 9 ianuarie
19:30 ET (Orange Bowl): Georgia/Notre Dame vs. Boise State/Penn State
Vineri, 10 ianuarie
19:30 ET (Cotton Bowl): Oregon/Statul Ohio vs. Statul Arizona/Texas
luni, 20 ianuarie
19:30 ET (Campionatul național de playoff de fotbal universitar): TBD vs. TBD
Happy holidays everyone! The College Football Playoff has kicked off, with a ton of top-end prospects taking part. Here’s our third 2025 NFL mock draft to unwrap as a present, stuff your stocking, or do whatever else you want.
In this edition, Nate Tice makes the selection of the odd-numbered draft picks while Charles McDonald selects the even. Draft order via Tankathon.
Previous mock drafts:1.0 | 2.0
1. New York Giants — Cam Ward, QB, Miami
Ward seeks explosive plays and will bring a calmness to the QB position, both traits that have been desperately missing in recent years in New York. Ward has things to clean up, namely his heat check moments that can get him in trouble, but pairing Ward with the electric Malik Nabers would bring explosive plays in bunches even as Ward continues to refine his game. — Nate Tice
2. New England Patriots — Travis Hunter, CB/WR, Colorado
Travis Hunter might be the best overall player in the class, and the Patriots need help at skill positions on offense and defense. Hunter would make a lot of sense as a shutdown cornerback across from Christian Gonzalez and can step in on offense here and there as needed. — Charles McDonald
3. Jacksonville Jaguars — Will Campbell, OT, LSU
Campbell plays like a veteran even at just 20 years old. He can consistently bend and move defenders in the run game and has the footwork, awareness and hand technique to consistently win in pass protection, even without ideal arm length. Whether he stays out at OT (I think he can) or has to move inside, I think Campbell is the best overall offensive lineman in this class and a winning player who would boost a Jags line with his maturity no matter where he ends up starting.
4. Tennessee Titans — Will Johnson, CB, Michigan
The Titans need a quarterback desperately, but they could also use a topflight cornerback to pair with some of the front seven talent that they already have accumulated. Will Johnson, step on down.
5. Cleveland Browns — Abdul Carter, Edge, Penn State
Here’s the pass rusher with the most upside in this draft. Carter is twitchy and can bend around the corner. He still has to work on his overall consistency, especially against the run, where he can take himself out of too many plays. The Browns have gigantic questions looming at QB and even the future of their OL beyond 2025, but the thought of pairing Carter with Myles Garrett is exciting. And terrifying for offenses.
Nate Tice and Charles McDonald’s third 2025 NFL mock draft is here, just in time to be unwrapped around the holidays. (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports)
6. Las Vegas Raiders — Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
Another team with a dire quarterback situation, the Raiders opt to take Sanders to shore up that position for them. They can’t walk into another season with Aidan O’Connell as their best option, even though he’s a good backup option to have moving forward.
After battling an ankle injury at the beginning of the year, Williams has started to ramp up his play — and the production has followed. Williams has an excellent combination of length, strength and explosiveness. With the added bonus of being able to affect the game from multiple spots along the line. His best ball is ahead of him and would be a fun fit next to Derrick Brown for a Panthers defense needing needle-movers.
8. New York Jets — Mason Graham, DT, Michigan
Gang Green’s defense still has some of the top players in the NFL, but their depth was lacking this season as their defensive performance took a nosedive following the firing of Robert Saleh. Graham is a solid reinforcement for Quinnen Williams on interior defensive line.
9. Chicago Bears — Kelvin Banks Jr., OT/OG, Texas
Banks is explosive, plays balanced and can have impact snaps in the run and pass games. He’d be best at guard as a pro, which would be a great fit for the Bears who desperately need a boost on the inside and at right guard. The Bears targeting positional versatility doesn’t hurt at all, though.
10. New Orleans Saints—Malaki Starks, S, Georgia
The Saints can’t be picky at this point in their roster building journey. They’ll need help just about everywhere as they try to rebuild while staying cap compliant. Starks is a strong player to add on the backend of their defense who can play any safety position.
11. San Francisco 49ers—Josh Conerly Jr., OT, Oregon
Conerly has light feet and can get to the second level in a hurry. His strength was a big question mark heading into this season and even over the first month. But he has really put it together over the second half of the season, showing off the ability to anchor and sustain blocks with much more consistency and playing with much better awareness for post-snap movement. Conerly is athletic enough to stay on the outside, but I could see his skill set translating across the offensive line. Perfect for a 49ers offense that needs to inject talent up front, and possibly start thinking about a Trent Williams succession plan.
12. Miami Dolphins—Jalon Walker, LB, Georgia
Miami found a hit last year when they picked Chop Robinson out of Penn State to bolster their pass rush, and they dip in the well again here. Walker can be an all-around weapon for the Dolphins’ front seven, but he’s at his best when he’s moving forward and wreaking havoc against opposing offensive lines.
13. Indianapolis Colts — Shavon Revel Jr., CB, East Carolina
The Colts’ defense has actually stepped up in recent weeks. They could still use a player at outside cornerback to pair with JuJu Brents when he returns from injury. Enter Revel, a cornerback with a prototypical build and the easy movement ability to develop into a true outside one-on-one defender. Revel suffered a season-ending ACL injury in September, but his aggressive play when he was on the field should keep him high on boards. Plus he has the length and other traits that make sense for what general manager Chris Ballard and defensive coordinator Gus Bradley prefer at the position.
Cincinnati needs to get more stout and physical up front to get back to being a real contender in the AFC — there might not be a better player to do that than the 330-pound Grant. He might not be a stat-stuffer in the NFL, but he can plug holes and has some real upside.
This would be a huge get for the Cowboys. McMillan is my easy WR1 in this class and offers true X-receiver upside at the next level. His size (6-foot-5, 212 pounds), catching range, and surprisingly easy bend for such a big receiver gives him matchup-wrecking potential. Pairing McMillan’s ability to win outside with CeeDee Lamb operating from the slot and Dallas would have ideal synergy between two pass-catchers. Ashton Jeanty is exciting, but McMillan would supercharge this offense and passing attack and has the added boost of fitting their personnel, even down to what Dak Prescott likes.
Arizona needs to shore up its defensive line if it wants to get serious about winning the NFC West. Harmon from Oregon is a talented player who can help the Cardinals get better up front immediately.
17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Shemar Stewart, DL, Texas A&M
It makes sense that Stewart was a former big-time recruit with how easy of a mover he is. Stewart can line up across the defensive line and his size, athleticism and do-everything style fits with what head coach Todd Bowles likes to do up front that changes based on the situation. It might be a bit of a hat-on-a-hat situation with what the Buccaneers have currently on their roster, but the other position that I looked at, inside linebacker, might be a reach here.
18. Seattle Seahawks — Tyler Booker, OG, Alabama
No team has a need for offensive line help more than the Seahawks. Booker is a stout interior player who will be able to get them moving in the right direction again — and could be one of the missing pieces they need to beat some of the tougher teams in the NFL.
19. Atlanta Falcons — Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss
Even with the Falcons starting to pick up some sacks in recent weeks, injecting their defensive front with more talent seems like their obvious near-term plan (I feel like I could have written this every year for the past decade). I actually like where the Falcons sit with their offensive personnel, but adding a talented player like Nolen, a more dynamic interior player than what Atlanta currently has, would give head coach Raheem Morris and defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake a fun player to work with and move around on their front. And his physicality would help the Falcons out on all downs.
20. Los Angeles Chargers — Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
The Chargers’ offense clearly has a vision and a plan, but they need more talented (and physical) players to make that happen. Warren might be one of the best players in the class, but falls to this pick due to that pesky positional value argument.
21. Houston Texans — Marcus Mbow, OT/OG, Purdue
Texans. Offensive line. Texans. Offensive line. We will see this pairing for the next hundred-plus days and thousand-plus mock drafts that happen. Justifiably so! C.J. Stroud is constantly under duress and the Texans’ run game is one of the least efficient in the league, despite Joe Mixon’s best efforts. Mbow is a very good athlete who springs out of his stance. He could look to add some lower body strength, but he plays tough and is able to bend and stay balanced in space, while also already showing off the ability to cut off defenders on the backside. He would boost the Texans’ offensive line no matter what spot he’d end up at.
22. Denver Broncos — Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
The quest to continue building around Bo Nix continues for the Broncos. The cupboard might not be as empty as previously thought on offense for the Broncos, but if they’re going to make this Nix thing work, they’ll need a few more wide receivers.
23. Los Angeles Rams — Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota
The Rams’ ever-revolving offensive line actually gets a first-round pick to plop in. Alaric Jackson is a free agent after this season and Rob Havenstein is another year older. Ersery would give the Rams a player with dozens of college starts under his belt, with still more to tap into and develop. Ersery has a large frame and plays with some pop on contact, while also being a solid mover in such a big frame and flashing improving hand placement (something that he could still clean up). Ersery would fit the Rams’ preference and give them the best of both worlds of having the experience to potentially play early and a player who could have more to develop for the future.
24. Washington Commanders — Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama
Campbell is the first true linebacker off the board, and he goes to a team that could stand to get a smidge faster on the second level of the defense. In a world where college football isn’t producing many true first-round talents at the position, the Crimson Tide product could be one of them.
25. Pittsburgh Steelers — Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri
I know the Steelers don’t typically (or mostly ever) draft wide receivers in the first round. But this Steelers offense has been lethargic when George Pickens isn’t on the field. And while players at other positions could be intriguing here for the Steelers — another cornerback opposite Joey Porter Jr., swapping out Najee Harris for Ashton Jeanty, possibly even a tight end like Colston Loveland — I went with the dynamic Burden, whose production was up and down in 2024 but his explosiveness was still apparent. Burden lined up mostly in the slot during college as Missouri liked to move him around the formation, but he showed off the ability to win from the outside and has the YAC and big-play potential to add to any offense. He fits perfectly opposite Pickens and in Arthur Smith’s offense.
A big, heavy-handed pass rusher for a team that loves big, heavy-handed pass rushers, Jackson had a solid year for Arkansas off the edge and projects well to the next level for defenses that like their pass rushers to be well-rounded players.
27. Green Bay Packers — Mike Green, Edge, Marshall
The FBS leader in sacks, Green is a riser among prospects. Green plays hard every snap and will even be disruptive against double teams. He’s only a redshirt sophomore but has already flashed secondary pass rush moves. It’s not all perfect and Green can get washed out when he doesn’t connect. Green’s athleticism, hard playing style, and flashes of advanced play remains an intriguing profile for the Packers to include.
28. Philadelphia Eagles — Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State
The Eagles always love drafting ahead for future needs on the offensive line, and Simmons could fill that role as an eventual replacement for Lane Johnson. Simmons has the talent to be a starting offensive tackle in the NFL, but needs some refinement.
29. Buffalo Bills — James Pearce Jr., Edge, Tennessee
The Bills look to constantly add to their defensive line and do so again with Pearce. While Pearce can be up and down against the run, he has upside as an impactful pass rusher. Pearce is long and can be a handful for offensive tackles right at the snap of the ball. He can be easily taken out of the play a bit too often, especially against the run. Pearce could continue to develop his consistency for a Bills franchise that prefers to have a deep rotational line under head coach Sean McDermott.
30. Minnesota Vikings — Tyleik Williams, DT, Ohio State
A dynamic interior presence would really take the Vikings’ defense to the next level. Williams could be that guy for the Vikings as he’s shown some real penetrative ability at Ohio State.
31. Detroit Lions — Jonah Savaiinaea, OG, Arizona
A team built through the trenches is exactly where my eyes went to to keep the good times rolling in Detroit. The Lions have remained one of the best offenses in the NFL despite signing new guards this offseason. The Lions keep the assembly line going with Savaiinaea, a guard who has a good thick build and plays consistently balanced. Savaiinaea is smart and knows how to use his hands. He plays right tackle for Arizona, but I like him best on the inside at the next level.
32. Kansas City Chiefs — Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
A steal! Ashton Jeanty is one of the two or three best players in the class but winds up in the hands of the Chiefs, who should be thrilled about being able to add him to the offense. Jeanty has a rare combination of strength, balance and speed that will make him a nightmare for NFL defenses.
Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff WriterDec 24, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
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Dave Wilson is a college football reporter. He previously worked at The Dallas Morning News, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun.
AUSTIN, Texas — Peter Taaffe saw it early. Little Michael Taaffe, in the second grade, had a look in his eye in his first Pop Warner football practices in the West Lake Hills area of Austin.
Michael was competing against third- and fourth-graders and was already exceedingly competitive — the result of being the youngest of four siblings all involved in youth sports. At the end of practice, when the coaches made the kids run wind sprints and most just wanted to get them over with to go home, Peter noticed his son would shift gears.
“Michael had this look on his face and he was not going to lose. He was going to be first, and his life depended on it,” Peter said, laughing. “I thought, this guy’s wired a little bit differently than everyone else.”
Steve Sarkisian heard about it early. The Texas coach admits he didn’t really know Michael Taaffe. Before Sarkisian arrived in Austin, he hadn’t recruited Taaffe at Alabama, as he had some other stars on his current Longhorns team.
But then again, nobody really had. Taaffe was a non-scholarship walk-on who endured grueling tryouts just to make it this far. But there was a common thread in the early returns from Sarkisian’s first summer in Austin, when he was getting to know his team before coaches could watch player-run workouts.
“Every player would come back, and I’d say, ‘Hey, how’d it go? How was 7-on-7?’” Sarkisian said. “They always would bring up Michael Taaffe. ‘Taaffe got another interception today. Taaffe did this, did that.’ And I’m like, who? I knew him … but I didn’t really know him.”
Sarkisian knows him now, as does the rest of the country. This season, the 6-foot, 195-pound junior defensive back started all 14 games for the Longhorns and was named a second-team All-America by the Associated Press after ranking second on the team with 63 tackles (5.5 for loss) with two interceptions. Taaffe has broken up seven passes, and has two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. And he has helped Texas — ranked 116th in pass defense last season — turn its secondary into a strength, ranking second nationally in passing yards allowed at 156.9 while allowing just 13.3 points per game.
Taaffe has been a vocal leader, earning a spot on the team’s leadership council before he ever played a game in college. He has been a Texas evangelist, including being the host for Arch Manning’s recruiting visit, selling him on what it means to be a Longhorn.
“I tried to give him my two cents of why he should come to Texas,” Taaffe said. “He [knew who I was]. I was just a freshman walk-on and he just acknowledged that I played at Westlake and had my success there…. We just started texting, and it was easy because he’s a likable guy. He’s a really awesome guy. It’s fun to be around him.
“I kept getting in his ear a little bit, and I think the coaches noticed that, so they put me with him…. It was a lot of one-on-one talk, about how are we going to get there?” Taaffe said last year of the visit. “Just me and him, how are we going to bring Texas football to where it needs to be?”
Taaffe has been a big-play star, including grabbing an interception that set up Texas’ touchdown in the 17-7 rivalry-renewing win over Texas A&M that earned the Horns a spot in the SEC championship game and kept their playoff hopes alive.
And he’s been a steadying force, even for corner Jahdae Barron, who won the Thorpe Award as the best defensive back in college football. Barron credits Taaffe with leading the charge — and keeping him in line, joking that he makes Taaffe mad every day in practice.
“Taaffe, he just keeps everybody going, no matter the adversity that we face,” Barron said. “He’s always there just harping on everybody, just making sure we’re staying engaged and mentally focused. That dude is amazing…. He loves us unconditionally, no matter the mistakes we make, no matter if we get on his nerves.”
And Texas will need Taaffe’s versatility Jan. 1 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (1 p.m. ET, ESPN) against Arizona State and its dynamic running back Cam Skattebo, the first FBS player with 1,500 rush yards and 500 receiving yards in a season since 2016.
ON SATURDAY NIGHT, Michael Taaffe sealed Texas’ first-round 38-24 win against Clemson, which was led by old friend and former Austin Westlake teammate Cade Klubnik. With 1:17 left in the fourth quarter and Clemson facing fourth-and-6 on the Texas 26, Taaffe put a big hit on Tigers receiver T.J. Moore, forcing an incompletion and essentially ending the game. He immediately ran to celebrate with Bevo.
It was a moment that Taaffe dreamed of as a kid, when he hoped to become the fifth generation of his family to attend Texas. His grandfather, Eddie Johnson, was an All-American swimmer for the Longhorns in 1957 and made sure Michael was steeped in Longhorn lore.
“He took the family to every game,” Michael’s dad, Peter, said. “We got there two hours before, weren’t allowed to leave during halftime so they could watch the band. Growing up in Texas, that’s just what you study, American history and Texas history. And then for us, you also studied, by proxy, Texas football history.”
Michael grew up watching players like Justin Tucker and Sam Ehlinger star for both his high school and for Texas, hoping to follow that path. He helped lead Westlake to Class 6A state championships in his junior and senior seasons, and had two interceptions of Southlake’s Quinn Ewers (his current teammate and quarterback) in the state title game after the 2020 season.
But Taaffe didn’t have an easy road to high school success. Westlake is a powerhouse, the kind of place where every kid ran competitive wind sprints at the end of second-grade football practice. He was on the lower-level B teams in eighth and ninth grade, then the next year, was on the sophomore team, considered the B team of the junior varsity, according to his high school coach, Todd Dodge.
Between his sophomore and junior years, he grew to about six feet tall and became a starter on varsity. In his final two seasons, he was the defensive MVP of Westlake’s state championship victories: once as a corner and once as a safety.
“I would venture to say that’s the first time that’s ever happened in 6A football history,” Dodge said.
Dodge said Taaffe was “our Travis Hunter,” because he needed him to also play wide receiver once the 2020 playoff run started. Taaffe’s 47-yard catch from Klubnik in the state semifinals set up the winning score against Galena Park North Shore, the No. 4 team in USA Today’s national rankings. Taaffe finished the season with 60 tackles, 5 interceptions, 18 catches for 297 yards with 3 touchdowns, and 19 punt returns for 365 yards.
But his senior year was 2020, and he couldn’t make any college visits because of the pandemic. All he could show coaches was game footage, so he was up against a lack of interest.
“Not only am I an overlooked white defensive back that’s small, but also it was during COVID and I couldn’t show my ability at camps,” he told former Longhorn stars Alex Okafor, Derrick Johnson and Jeremy Hills on the 3rd & Longhorn podcast.
But he did have interest from Ivy League schools, and FCS teams. Finally, in November, he got an FBS offer from Rice, and he committed. Around that same time, Texas had a bye week, and the Taaffe and Ehlinger families, who were close friends, spent the weekend together.
“Why aren’t you trying to go to Texas?” Sam Ehlinger, then the Longhorns’ starting quarterback, asked Taaffe, who said he didn’t even think it was an option.
“You absolutely have the ability, you’ve just got to let them know you want it,” Ehlinger responded.
Weeks later, after his second straight MVP performance in the state championship, he got a call from Texas. It wasn’t a scholarship offer, but a door was opened for a preferred walk-on spot, which doesn’t guarantee anything other than the coaches admitting they know your name. Taaffe bypassed a scholarship from Rice to bet on himself.
For Dodge, Taaffe’s journey is one he’ll use in coaching forever.
“He’s the perfect story,” Dodge said. “When you’re a high school football coach and you’re running a program that starts when they’re in the seventh grade and parents get bent out of shape when their kid’s on the B team when they’re in seventh, eighth or ninth grade, you put a good ol’ story like Michael Taaffe in your pocket and you throw that out there…. I mean if there’s anybody that ever earned themselves a scholarship and deserves one, it’s Michael Taaffe.”
Taaffe was a semifinalist for this year’s Burlsworth Trophy, given to the best player nationally that began his career as a walk-on, which was won by Oregon’s Bryce Boettcher.
Marty Burlsworth, the older brother of the late Brandon Burlsworth, the All-America Arkansas offensive lineman who is the namesake of the award, said Taaffe’s story is even more important this year with the debate around the future of walk-ons in college football.
As part of the House v. NCAA settlement, there could be a cap on roster sizes due to revenue sharing, and there’s uncertainty about how many spots there will be for non-scholarship players.
“Walk-ons will always be fan favorites because fans know the struggle, and they love and respect that,” Marty Burlsworth said. “With rosters being so fluid, your walk-ons, for the most part, are the anchor of your team. They’re the fabric of college football. For these guys to be able to have the opportunity to pursue a football career at their dream university is everything. College football needs to keep that.”
IN MARCH 2021, Jackson Coker, one of Taaffe’s best friends and a Westlake team captain who took him under his wing, died in a car accident on the way to a morning workout. In May of that year, another of Taaffe’s best friends, Jake Ehlinger, Sam’s brother and a fellow Texas walk-on, died of an accidental drug overdose when someone gave him a Xanax laced with fentanyl.
The Longhorns went 5-7, and Taaffe never saw the field. He admits it was a difficult year, because aside from the personal struggles, he was making plays in practice but couldn’t improve his spot on the depth chart as guys with stars beside their names in recruiting rankings would get the benefit of the doubt.
But he was where he wanted to be, which made a huge difference. His “why” was always to return Texas to excellence, to be a part of the same type of teams he watched in the stands as a child. And he wanted to honor his friends while doing it. Taaffe wears 16 as a tribute to Coker, and he wore a pocket square with Jake Ehlinger’s No. 48 on it as he walked into Kyle Field when the Longhorns played the Aggies.
In 2022, Taaffe played in 13 games and started against Kansas. The Longhorns improved to 8-5, and shortly before the Alamo Bowl, Sarkisian ended a team meeting by matter-of-factly saying, “One last thing: Michael Taaffe, you’re on scholarship.” The room erupted.
Last season, he was honorable mention All-Big 12, starting nine games, playing in 14, and helping Texas win a Big 12 championship — its first conference title since 2009 — and make the College Football Playoff. This year, he’s an All-American trying to lead the Longhorns back to a national championship.
“[It’s] crazy to think that I did envision this. I wanted to play for the University of Texas, not just to suit out,” Taaffe said earlier this season. “Texas had their struggles when we grew up and we watched Texas, but I also grew up watching ’09, the national championship [game] against Alabama, watching the ’08 team and how they had all their success, and Colt McCoy. I always envisioned when I came here to play here that that was the goal. That wasn’t just something that would be cool. That was the goal and that was what you worked for.”
Taaffe said he is not sure if he’ll return to school or give the NFL a shot after the season. He said he didn’t come to Texas for any reason other than to try to win a national championship. He’ll decide his future after that.
First, he’ll have to help the Horns get past Arizona State, and he’ll be one of the focal points in stopping Skattebo, who is second nationally in forced broken tackles with 102 and has 1,023 yards after contact this season. He’s also averaging 43 yards per game receiving from Sam Leavitt, and 55% of his receptions have resulted in first downs.
But Sarkisian has confidence in Taaffe, no matter how he got to this point. Texas is a recruiting powerhouse with an NIL budget that rivals all but a handful of teams nationally. The Longhorns can reload with transfers, such as when they added Clemson transfer Andrew Mukuba alongside Taaffe. But Sarkisian can’t get Taaffe out of the lineup. And he doesn’t want to.
“He is a critical component of our defense when he’s on the field,” Sarkisian said. “We play better defense from a communication standpoint, an ability to be on the same accord with the other DBs, with the linebackers, his playmaking ability, his preparation mentally, the physicality that he’s been playing with.”
Sarkisian won’t call Taaffe an overachiever. “We achieve whatever we do,” he said. But he also said Taaffe has been a living example for his team of what can happen when you get an opportunity and you maximize it.
For his Taaffe’s dad, though, all the attention and accolades aside, he just sees his son still running against the wind.
“He just has to win,” Peter Taaffe said. “Like I said, his life depends on it.”
Modelul computerizat avansat al SportsLine a dezvăluit alegerile și predicțiile pentru playoff-ul de fotbal universitar 2024-2025 după 10.000 de simulări
Quinn Ewers? BINE. Arch Manning? De ce nu. Bevo? Nu, mulțumesc.
Îndrăgita mascota lui Texas Longhorns, Bevo XV, nu va merge la Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl în următoarea rundă a playoff-ului de fotbal colegial, în timp ce echipa joacă Arizona State.
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21 decembrie 2024; Austin, Texas, SUA; Mascota live a lui Texas Longhorns, Bevo XV, în timpul primei runde a playoff-ului național CFP de la Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.(Mark J. Rebilas-Imagini Imag)
Organizatorii Peach Bowl au făcut anunțul luni.
„Iubim toate marile tradiții ale fotbalului universitar și, fără îndoială, Bevo este unul dintre cei mai buni, dar realitatea nefericită este că pur și simplu nu este suficient loc pe marginea stadionului Mercedes-Benz”, se arată în declarația lor.
„Cu constrângerile stadionului și prioritizarea siguranței lui Bevo, a jucătorilor, a tuturor camerelor de rețea, a personalului de asistență, a majoretelor și a fotografilor, din păcate nu îl vom putea avea pe Bevo pe teren la sferturile de finală CFP de la Chick- fil-A Peach Bowl”
NICK SABAN ÎL CORECTEAZĂ PE SHANE GILLIS DUPĂ GLUME COMEDIANȚE ANTRENORUL A SUPERVISAT ÎNCĂSĂLAREA ÎN TIMPUL POVESTIVULUI DEMANDARE A ALABAMA
Mascota Texas Longhorns, Bevo, este introdusă pe stadion înaintea unui meci împotriva Georgia Bulldogs pe 19 octombrie 2024, în Austin, Texas, pe Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)
Peach Bowl va avea loc pe stadionul Mercedes-Benz din Atlanta. A fost locul campionatului SEC dintre Texas și Georgia. Bevo a fost exclus și de la eveniment.
Bevo a avut o mică discuție cu mascota Georgiei, Uga, în trecut. Mascota a spart o baricadă la Sugar Bowl din acel an și aproape că a călcat în picioare câinele și privitorii de la Caesars Superdome din New Orleans.
Mascota Texas Longhorns, Hook 'Em, conduce parada Bevo înaintea meciului împotriva lui Clemson din primul tur al playoff-ului de fotbal colegial de pe stadionul Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial, sâmbătă, 21 decembrie 2024.(Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman/USA TODAY NETWORK prin Imagn Images)
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Texasul vine de la o victorie în primul tur cu 38-24 în fața lui Clemson. Ewers a fost 17 din 24, cu 202 de yarzi de trecere și o pasă de touchdown. Jaydon Blue și Quintrevion Wisner au alergat fiecare pentru mai mult de 100 de metri.
Urmărește Fox News Digitalacoperire sportivă pe X și abonați-vă la buletinul informativ Fox News Sports Huddle.
Ryan Gaydos este redactor senior pentru Fox News Digital.
Adam Rittenberg, scriitor principal ESPN23 decembrie 2024, 12:45 ET
Aproape
Reporter de fotbal universitar; sa alăturat ESPN în 2008. Absolvent al Universității Northwestern.
O apărare de la Notre Dame care a depășit accidentări cheie în tot sezonul trebuie să facă acest lucru din nou, deoarece jucătorul de apărare remarcabil Rylie Mills va rata restul playoff-ului de fotbal universitar cu o accidentare la genunchiul drept.
Antrenorul Marcus Freeman a confirmat luni perspectivele pentru Mills, care s-a accidentat în timp ce îl concedia pe Indiana Kurtis Rourke la începutul celei de-a doua reprize a victoriei de vineri, 27-17, în primul tur, pe stadionul Notre Dame. Mills, senior și căpitan, conduce Notre Dame în ambele sack-uri (7,5) și placă pentru înfrângere (8,5).
După meci, Freeman i-a spus lui Scott Van Pelt de la ESPN că accidentarea lui Mills nu pare să se încheie sezonul și că există „optimism” că Notre Dame ar putea să-l recâștige pentru sferturile de finală CFP împotriva capului de serie nr. 2, Georgia, pe 1 ianuarie, la Sugar Bowl Allstate.
Absența lui Mills ustură o apărare irlandeză Fighting care a pierdut deja cornerbackul All-America, Benjamin Morrison, și se termină în grabă pe Jordan Botelho și Boubacar Traore. Linia defensivă tocmai a recăpătat seniorul Howard Cross III, care a jucat împotriva Indianei după ce a ratat ultimele trei meciuri din sezonul regulat ale Notre Dame.
Juniorul Gabriel Rubio l-a înlocuit pe Mills în jumătatea sezonului împotriva Indianei și a terminat cu două tackle.
Notre Dame a primit vești bune despre accidentări, deoarece placajul ofensiv Charles Jagusah, un titular proiectat la placaj stânga, care a suferit un mușchi pectoral rupt în tabăra de pre-sezon, este disponibil pentru Sugar Bowl. Recent, a început să exerseze din nou.
Alineatul ofensiv de start Rocco Spindler, care a început împotriva Indianei înainte de a pleca cu o accidentare nedezvăluită, este discutabil pentru Georgia, a spus Freeman, în timp ce linebackerul Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa este, de asemenea, discutabil.
AUSTIN, Texas — Jaydon Blue a alergat 146 de yarzi și două touchdown-uri, ultima o explozie de 77 de metri în al patrulea trimestru, iar Texas a învins-o pe Clemson cu 38-24 sâmbătă în prima rundă a playoff-ului extins de fotbal colegial.
Touchdown-ul lui Blue în al patrulea sfert a venit după ce Clemson a revenit de la 31-10 la 31-24 la a treia pasă de touchdown a lui Cade Klubnik.
Texas (12-2) a avansat la 1 ianuarie Peach bowl pentru a juca campioana Big 12 Arizona State.
Blue a marcat, de asemenea, la 38 de metri de explozie cut-and-dash în al doilea sfert. La secunda sa, s-a aruncat în linie, a scuturat un tackler și apoi a depășit încă trei până la zona finală cu doar 11 minute rămase.
Quintrevion Wisner a adăugat 110 de yarzi în cursă și două touchdown-uri în prima repriză pentru Texas. Quinn Ewers a pasat pentru 202 de yarzi și un touchdown.
Klubnik, care a crescut în Austin, a pasat pentru 336 de metri și i-a adunat pe Tigers (10-4) în a doua repriză împotriva unei apărări din Texas care renunțase la doar patru touchdown-uri de trecere în tot sezonul.
Vicecampionatul la Southeastern Conference, Texas, este singura dintre cele patru echipe din playoff din sezonul trecut care a ajuns în noul teren de 12 echipe. Clemson a câștigat campionatul ACC pentru a ajunge în playoff. Tigrii au fost cap de serie numărul 12 la prima lor apariție din 2020 și a șaptea la general.
La pachet
Clemson: Tigrii au avut trei șanse mari de la patra în jos în al patrulea sfert. L-au transformat pe primul într-un touchdown când Klubnik i-a aruncat lui TJ Moore. Dar au rămas scurt în următoarele două. Keith Adams Jr. a fost umplut la Texas 1, iar pasa Klubnik la Texas 26 a fost incompletă cu puțin peste un minut rămas.
Texas: Longhorns s-au speriat de accidentări care ar putea fi îngrijorătoare cu mai multe jocuri înainte. Wisner, atacul ofensiv de start Cam Williams și centrul Jake Majors au părăsit terenul în două meciuri în al doilea sfert. Wisner a șchiopătat, dar a reușit să se întoarcă pentru o mână de porturi în a doua repriză. Williams avea nevoie de ajutor pentru a ieși de pe teren, iar el și Majors nu s-au întors.
Mai departe
Clemson va încerca să-și apere titlul ACC sezonul viitor și să câștige a opta poziție în playoff.
Texasul va înfrunta statul Arizona în runda următoare. Longhorns au părăsit Big 12 înainte ca Arizona State să se alăture acestei ligi în acest sezon.
Când fundasul texan Quinn Ewers și fundasul Clemson Cade Klubnik se întâlnesc sâmbătă în playoff-ul de fotbal colegial, nu va fi prima dată. În funcție de cine vorbești, s-ar putea să nu fie nici cel mai important moment.
Prima dată când acești doi jucători s-au întâlnit a fost pe 15 ianuarie 2021, în meciul din campionatul de stat Texas Clasa 6A-Divizia I pentru sezonul 2020. Ambele sunt puteri tradiționale în zonele bogate. Austin Westlake de la Klubnik a fost campion de stat în titlu și neînvins cu 13-0. Southlake Carroll de la Ewers a avut scorul de 12-1, depășind o înfrângere de la începutul sezonului și a obținut 11 victorii consecutive pentru a ajunge la meciul pentru titlu, învingând programele casnice precum Duncanville și Permian — ale lui Buzz Bissinger. Lumini de vineri seara faimă — pentru a ajunge la Jerry World.
Într-un stat plin de programe de campionat, Westlake și Carroll sunt la fel de bune. Westlake este casa lui Drew Brees, Nick Foles și Sam Ehlinger. Carroll a deținut anii 2000 cu campionate de stat sub Chase Daniel, Riley Dodge și Kenny Hill. Adăugând la dramă, legendarul antrenor Carroll Todd Dodge s-a mutat pe marginea Westlake. Pe marginea lui Carroll? Fiul său, Riley, un antrenor vedetă în devenire. A fost numit „Dodge Bowl”.
„Din perspectiva poveștii, a fost la fel de fotbal din liceu din Texas”, a spus Mike Roach, un reporter de recrutare din Texas pentru 247Sports.
Începând cu jocul, totuși, a existat sentimentul că meciul de fundaș a fost unul care va fi amintit mult timp. Când praful s-a așezat, Ewers și Klubnik au apărut ca fundași de cinci stele la nivel național în clasa 2021 și 2022, o jenă de bogăție pentru un meci de fotbal din liceu.
La acea vreme, atât Klubnik, cât și Ewers erau membri ai clasei 2022, deși Ewers s-ar fi clasificat ulterior în 2021, astfel încât să se poată înscrie devreme la Ohio State și să beneficieze de noile reguli NIL. Chiar și atunci, Ewers era copilul de aur.
Roach își amintește că l-a văzut pe Ewers aruncând în timpul unui eveniment 7 la 7, când Ewers era în clasa a opta și știa că este un potențial jucător numărul 1. A fost clar devreme că Ewers, cu eliberarea lui rapidă și săgețile cu mișcarea mâinii, a avut șansa de a fi special. În momentul în care a fost eligibil pentru clasament, a fost clasat pe primul loc cu un rating perfect de 100 în Top247. El a fost declarat, într-un articol de 247Sports care a dezvăluit lista, drept „cel mai bun prospect juniori QB de la Trevor Lawrence”.
În două sezoane la Carroll, Ewers a aruncat pentru 6.445 de metri, 73 de aterizări și doar opt interceptări.
„El a fost cel mai bun aruncător al mingii la nivel de liceu pe care l-am văzut și, până în ziua de azi, este cel mai bun aruncător pur din liceu pe care l-am văzut vreodată”, a spus analistul național de cercetători 247Sports, Gabe Brooks. Brooks locuiește în Texas și i-a cercetat pe Patrick Mahomes și Kyler Murray printre litania de arme pe care statul o produce anual.
„Este ceva în felul în care a aruncat, când îl vezi în direct acolo, la nivel de câmp, este aproape ca și cum în jumătatea din spate a aruncărilor, viteza creștea. E ca și cum ar fi avut viața târzie la aruncări, cam în același mod în care tu. S-ar putea spune că un ulcior are o viață târzie pe teren. A fost atât de ușor.
Dimpotrivă, Klubnik era în umbra lui Ewers. Nu este corect să-i spui că a înflorit târziu. A avut atletism în Divizia I pentru a juca orice poziție și a fost evaluat cu patru stele înainte de a prelua titularul cu normă întreagă la Westlake. Cu toate acestea, el nu a preluat funcția de fundaș titular până în anul său de junior și l-a susținut pe Kirkland Michaux, acum Illinois, la prima echipă de titlu de stat a lui Westlake din 1996.
Cu Ewers angajat inițial în clasa 2022, personalul lui Tom Herman din Texas nu i-a acordat prea multă atenție lui Klubnik. De ce ar face-o? L-au blocat pe jucătorul numărul 1 din clasă. Când Ewers s-a dezafectat și a reclasificat, personalul a încercat să se mute pe Klubnik. Săptămâni mai târziu, personalul a fost concediat. Dezangajarea Ewers nu a fost o parte mică.
Dar între timp, Klubnik a continuat să se îmbunătățească. Și-a reînnoit mecanismele de trecere după sezonul de juniori și a impresionat în tabere, inclusiv în finala Elite 11, unde a fost MVP-ul 247Sports. Klubnik a câștigat două campionate de stat în doi ani și a înregistrat un record de 30-0. El a aruncat doar șapte interceptări în 687 de pase în carieră.
Ewers și Klubnik la finala Elite 11 în 2021.
247Sporturi
Pe 26 ianuarie 2022, la o lună după ce a semnat cu Clemson — care, pentru cât merită, l-a vizat inițial pe Ty Simpson ca echipă preferată de QB în clasă — el a devenit în cele din urmă jucătorul numărul 13 și numărul 2. quarterback în Top247, mai sus decât oricine, în afară de Drew Allar de la Penn State. Simpson a semnat cu Alabama.
„El a continuat într-un fel o ascensiune graduală”, a spus Brooks. „A fost grozav în săptămâna Bowl-ului All-American. A avut o ascensiune ca fiecare pas, a bifat o realizare după alta.”
Și asta ne duce înapoi la Jerry World, unde au jucat. A fost copil de aur vs parvenit. Dallas vs Austin, Dodge vs Dodge. Klubnik este o majoretă ieșită — Andrew Ivins de la 247Sports l-a descris ca fiind un golden retriever sau un iepuraș energizant. Ewers este mai rezervat. Într-o bătălie a contrariilor, campionul în vigoare Westlake a ieșit cu ceva de dovedit.
Klubnik a fost un manager de joc perfect pentru Chaps, conectându-se la 18 din 20 de pase pentru 220 de metri, grăbindu-se pentru 97 de metri și adăugând trei touchdown-uri. Ca de obicei, a fost în liniște excelent și a rămas fără greșeli. În timp ce fanii au venit pentru o luptă cu fundași și au obținut o mulțime de puncte într-o decizie de 52-34, apărarea a fost cu adevărat cea care a stăpânit ziua.
Într-o poveste care a devenit, din păcate, familiară fanilor de fotbal din colegiu, Ewers a ratat o mare parte din sezonul său de juniori cu o accidentare de bază. Îndreptându-se spre săptămâna jocului, Ewers a fost îndoielnic să joace din cauza cât de supărat era. Mergând împotriva lui Westlake, daunele s-au arătat.
Ewers și-a luptat cu inima în ceea ce a devenit ultimul său meci de fotbal din liceu. A aruncat pentru 350 de metri și trei touchdown-uri. Totuși, a întors mingea de trei ori cu două interceptări și un balon. În mod hilar, toate cele trei turnover-uri au fost cauzate de viitorii coechipieri din Texas. În ciuda greșelilor, Ewers încă părea în fiecare parte parte a unui recrut de fundaș generațional cu efortul său singular. Doar că nu a fost de ajuns.
Defensive end Ethan Burke l-a demis pe Ewers în finalul jocului pentru a încheia în cele din urmă o victorie. Siguranța Michael Taaffe a fost inima și sufletul apărării Westlake, în ciuda faptului că nu s-a lăudat cu nicio ofertă FBS. În al treilea sfert, Taaffe a făcut o interceptare cu o singură mână de la Ewers, care mai târziu a fost punctul culminant nr. 1 pe SportsCenter. A fost una dintre cele două interceptări pe care le-a avut în ziua respectivă.
După liceu, Taaffe a continuat în Texas, unde a devenit coechipier cu Ewers. Săptămâna aceasta, a fost numit AP All-American.
De când s-au mutat la nivel colegial, atât Ewers, cât și Klubnik și-au respectat facturarea la nivel colegial. Ewers are scor 25-8 ca titular și a condus Texasul la primul său campionat de conferință în 15 ani și la apariții consecutive în playoff-ul de fotbal colegial. Klubnik l-a condus pe Clemson la două campionate ACC și a dus programul înapoi la CFP pentru prima dată de la Trevor Lawrence, deși cu un teren de 12 echipe.
Ani mai târziu, colegii din Texas îi amintesc încă lui Ewers de joc. Șapte jucători din lista Texasului au mers la Westlake, inclusiv Taaffe și Burke. Safety Clemson RJ Mickens a fost coechipier cu Ewers la Carroll și acum joacă cu Klubnik, deși a absolvit cu un an înainte de faimosul „Dodge Bowl”.
SMU tight end RJ Maryland (Carroll), Notre Dame Jaden Greathouse (Westlake) și Air Force Runnerul Owen Allen (Carroll) se numără, de asemenea, printre cei care vor juca în acest meci legendar și vor ajunge la un succes major în fotbalul universitar.
Sâmbătă, Ewers este favorizat la cel mai bun Klubnik în revanșă. De data aceasta, are apărarea numărul 1 în spate. Fostii Chaparrals joacă un rol nu mic. Klubnik a fost jucătorul care a trebuit să meargă într-o cursă individuală incredibilă, inclusiv patru touchdown-uri în meciul de campionat ACC împotriva nr. 10 SMU, pentru a o duce. Există o mică întrebare pe care amândoi își amintesc ultima dată.
Apropo, iartă-i pe fanii lui Carroll și Westlake dacă nu se prezintă sâmbătă la Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Ambele programe joacă pentru campionatele de stat 6A exact în aceeași zi, Carroll în 6A-Divizia II și Westlake în 6A-Divizia I. Meciul Dragonilor împotriva lui Austin Vandegriff începe în același timp cu Texas.
Chiar și atunci când îndrăgiții Longhorns joacă, fotbalul din liceul din Texas nu doarme niciodată.
MAI MULT:Clasamentul de sfârșit de an al primilor 150 de jucători din fotbalul universitar
Penn State’s Beaver Stadium has been hosting college football games since it first opened in 1960. However, subfreezing mid-December temperatures presented challenges that required a multimillion-dollar winterization of Happy Valley’s massive football cathedral as it prepares to host the first-ever on-campus College Football Playoff game.
“We spent $4.5 million for this moment,” Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft said in a conversation with CBS Sports.
Such is life for three of the four sites north of the Mason-Dixon Line hosting first-round games in the College Football Playoff this week. Cold weather and potential snow are forecast in State College, Pennsylvania, where the university usually shuts down the stadium in December, turning off the water and applying electrical heat tape to pipes to prevent breaks and leaks in the offseason.
“If not [for the changes], there would have been a lot of flushing toilets to keep the water running,” Kraft said with a laugh. “It would have been someone’s job to run around the building flushing toilets.”
Penn State, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Texas have spent the better part of 18 months preparing to host the first round of on-campus games in playoff history. The logistical challenges have been massive. Most fans tuning into the games this weekend will never realize how much preparation was needed for this moment.
“I don’t want to jinx anything, but we’ve been very impressed with how ready, willing and able the campuses have been,” said Brett Daniels, the CFP’s senior director of communications and branding. “We thought there might be more concerns, questions, pushback on things, but we spent the last year working closely with the schools and the conferences to build a general plan that made sense.”
College Football Playoff payouts
$3 million to cover expenses for each team in each round
$4 million for each of the 12 teams that makes the College Football Playoff
$4 million for each of the 8 teams that makes the College Football Playoff quarterfinals
$6 million for each of the 4 teams that makes the College Football Playoff semifinals
$6 million for each of the 2 teams that makes the College Football Playoff National Championship Game
Casting a wide net
During the four-team playoff’s history, the CFP worked and consulted on six bowl games that rotated as semifinal hosts, but this wasn’t as substantial as advising and planning 11 games in the new 12-team playoff.
First-round games on campuses presented a more daunting challenge. After all, any of the 134 teams in the FBS could reach the new 12-team field, meaning any school could also host an on-campus game. Eighteen months ago, the CFP held meetings and hired consultants to make a plan for a potential playoff game on all 134 campuses.
They met every two to three weeks, developing plans for team charters, buses and hotel space. Campuses unfamiliar with big games had to determine how to host massive TV compounds for ESPN. Visitor locker rooms, already small by design, had to be prepared to host full rosters of 120 or more players, which meant auxiliary spaces had to be secured for overflowing coaching staffs and players.
No detail was overlooked, Daniels said. They also discussed whether to present trophies to winners in the first round, but that idea was quickly nixed.
The CFP circulated hosting manuals to schools in the summer. In the spring, they sent surveys to all 134 schools, with a due date of Sept. 1. Every campus was required to develop a “snow and ice plan” and provide locker room space with heating and air. The CFP used those surveys to build a database.
Kansas and Northwestern could not host on-campus games because of ongoing stadium projects. At one time, Miami faced a scheduling issue with a soccer match at Hard Rock Stadium and the NFL’s Miami Dolphins hosting the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. But the soccer event was canceled, alleviating concerns.
Graduation ceremonies also complicated hotel situations, as thousands descended on small college towns, eating up hotel rooms and clogging roads. Penn State rescheduled its graduation ceremonies at the nearby Bryce Jordan Center from Saturday to Sunday and many universities made similar changes a year ago in preparation.
“It’s (a) learning and building the plane as you fly type of thing in many ways,” said Kerry Kenny, chief operating officer at the Big Ten, which will host two playoff games this weekend. “But credit to the CFP for doing the due diligence on the front end.”
The CFP hired Collegiate Sports Travel, a widely used agency that determines the best hotel spaces for visiting teams in all 134 college towns. They signed contracts with hotels in or near each of the 134 sites and started releasing rooms as early as September and October as teams were eliminated from playoff contention.
Home teams are charged with booking hotel space for their tea, while the CFP arranges it for visiting teams and staff.
“We certainly didn’t want to hold rooms in places we weren’t going, because we may need to go back there in a year or two, and we want to make sure we stay on good terms with everybody,” Daniels said.
The process was long and tedious.
Thankfully, the first CFP Rankings in early November helped narrow the logistical team’s focus. Daniels said their meetings shrank to roughly 30 teams, then 25, following the second batch of rankings on Nov. 12.
There was one small fly in the ointment: Boise State.
“That was one of our bigger challenges,” Daniels said.
For a short window of time, it appeared possible Boise State could host a first-round game. That presented scheduling issues with the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, hosted by Boise State, on Dec. 23. The CFP, ESPN and Boise State discussed contingencies for hotel space and the possibility of rescheduling the Dec. 23 bowl game. Hosting a playoff game two or three days before another bowl game was impractical. Hotel space was difficult to secure, and Boise State’s facilities were booked, which are required to allow participating teams in the Potato Bowl access for three practices before their game.
“There weren’t a lot of [rescheduling] options and [Christmas Eve] was looking like it would be the most practical,” said Danielle Brazil, executive director of the Potato Bowl.
Ultimately, Boise State received a first-round bye and the bowl game remained on Dec. 23. No. 3 Boise State will play the winner of SMU-Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
On-campus College Football Playoff games
Date & time (ET)
Teams
Stadium
Year opened
Capacity
Broadcast channel
Friday, Dec. 20, 8 p.m.
Indiana at Notre Dame
Notre Dame Stadium
1930
77,622
ABC/ESPN
Saturday, Dec. 21, noon
SMU at Penn State
Beaver Stadium
1960
106,572
TNT/Max
Saturday, Dec. 21, 4 p.m.
Clemson at Texas
DKR–Texas Memorial Stadium
1924
100,119
TNT/Max
Saturday, Dec. 21, 8 p.m.
Tennessee at Ohio State
Ohio Stadium
1922
102,780
ABC/ESPN
The mad dash
Administrators at the 12 playoff schools have racked up frequent flyer miles this week, visiting first-round sites and potential bowl locations for the second and third rounds.
For Clemson, that means visiting Texas, the Peach Bowl and the Cotton Bowl to help plan travel and get ahead of potential logistical challenges for game days in those facilities. There’s also coordinating ticket opportunities for fans through the CFP, which runs ticketing for all playoff games.
It’s a mad dash for something that may never happen.
“We have to win and keep going, but we also have to plan for that game at the moment and then pass the preparations ahead,” Clemson athletic director Graham Neff said. “It’s been hard to manage the demand we have had and how we’ve worked to be really comprehensive with that, with students and our donors.”
Neff sighs and smiles.
“But happy to be there.”
The CFP controlling prices means double or triple the amount season-ticket holders usually pay at sites like Texas. The 12,000 students provided access to tickets were charged an additional $25, said Drew Martin, Texas’ executive senior associate athletics director in charge of external affairs.
Home playoff teams garner $4 million in payments from the CFP to their conferences. Schools run and retain concession sales.
Visiting teams are allotted only 3,500 tickets, including band and cheer teams. That has forced many traveling fans to seek tickets elswhere.
Rabid Tennessee fans discovered a pre-sale code for their first-round game against the Buckeyes on Ticketmaster, the official ticketing partner of the CFP. They gobbled up tickets, prompting Ohio State athletics director Ross Bjork to challenge Buckeyes fans during a radio appearance last week.
“Don’t sell your tickets,” the AD said. “Tennessee fans, they’re rabid fans. They are going to invade The ‘Shoe. So let’s make sure we don’t have as much orange in there as people think.”
The secondary market has been flooded with buyers from Tennessee, who were responsible for 41% of tickets sold compared to 24% sold to buyers from Ohio, according to numbers provided Tuesday night to CBS Sports by ticket reseller SeatGeek. Tennessee purchasers have outpaced Ohio buyers at 37% compared to 34% on StubHub.
Tennessee-Ohio State is also the best-selling playoff game on the secondary market, according to StubHub, with tickets selling at an average of $395. That ranks behind Indiana-Notre Dame at an incredible $800 per ticket on average.
At Texas, season-ticket holders had until Dec. 10 to request tickets for the first round and potential games in the quarterfinals (Peach Bowl), semifinals (Cotton Bowl) and the national championship (Atlanta).
“Right now, there’s more demand for the semifinal game in Arlington than there is for the quarterfinal game in Atlanta,” Martin told Horns247 in an interview about the logistics for Texas’ CFP run.
Penn State could travel across the country to the Fiesta Bowl for the quarterfinals and then to the Orange Bowl in Miami.
“Our fans are fired up, but we’ll see at the end of this,” Kraft said. “My question is, are people going to travel? If we’re fortunate enough to continue to win, how much are our fans going to be able to travel on a week’s notice? I’m anxious to see that.”
There is no shortage of unexpected challenges in the new 12-team CFP. For example, Notre Dame’s cozy broadcasting relationship with NBC — which dates back to 1991 — has made the logistics of televising home games a ho-hum routine for the school and network.
That changed this week when ESPN’s massive television trucks, dozens of crew and on-air talent arrived in South Bend, Indiana. ESPN hasn’t broadcast from Notre Dame Stadium since 1990, when the No. 1 Irish lost 24-21 to No. 18 Penn State on Nov. 17.
Nothing will look all that different to the casual viewer, save for ESPN’s on-screen graphics and a different commentary team (Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Molly McGrath and Katie George). Behind the scenes, the event planning among first-time partners started on the ground floor. For starters, where does ESPN park its TV trucks?
Stadium operations are also different on the four campuses. The campuses run operations as a regular home game, but it’s also a CFP event, which means sponsorship signs have been removed from the stadium.
Ticketing is digital to streamline the process, but Penn State uses paper tickets for parking. Fans needed overnighted tickets via mail this week, which meant a quick turnaround for Penn State’s printers.
All home teams are required to broadcast a pregame intro video for the visiting team, much like at a neutral-site postseason game, which will surely elicit boos from the home crowds. The CFP will emblazon its interlocking football logo with “First Round” text between the hashmarks on the 25-yard lines. CFP banners will be visible along the walls at field level and at the base of field goal uprights. Ribbon boards will flash CFP insignia. Players’ jerseys will include a “First Round” patch.
Adding lettering and logos to the field is a historical event for bare-bone fields such as Notre Dame. Not since an ACC logo appeared on the field during the pandemic season in 2020 has a marker been placed there.
Smartly, the end zones on campuses will not be altered.
“We decided to leave those alone,” Daniels said. “We know there’s a lot of tradition at a lot of these campuses.”
TNT sublicensed two games from Saturday’s first-round matchups: No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State and No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas. ESPN crews will staff the event, and on-air personalities will commentate from the booth, making for what will essentially be an ESPN broadcast on TNT and Max.
Like a duck paddling ferociously underneath the surface of a pond, those watching from home may not notice just how much work was required to make everything run and look like a normal game day.
“It’s just another home game for us,” shrugged Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte. “Nothing’s really changed.”
Fiecare echipă de playoff de fotbal universitar vrea să se concentreze doar pe câștigarea unui titlu național, dar antrenorul principal al Penn State, James Franklin, a abordat o problemă în altă parte a sportului.
Portalul de transferuri de fotbal din colegiu este deschis, iar momentul nu ar putea fi mai rău pentru antrenori precum Franklin, care au văzut deja intrând un jucător de rezervă cheie.
Dar Franklin și-a apărat fundașul de rezervă, Beau Pribula, care a luat decizia de a intra pe portal după ce titularul Drew Allar și-a declarat deja intenția de a reveni la Nittany Lions în 2025.
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Quarterbackul Penn State Nittany Lions, Beau Pribula, se grăbește pe 16 noiembrie 2024, în timpul jocului Purdue Boilermakers de pe stadionul Ross-Ade din West Lafayette, Indiana.(IMAGINĂ)
„Cronologia suprapusă a playoff-ului și a portalului de transferuri CFB m-a forțat să iau o decizie imposibilă”, a scris Pribula pe rețelele de socializare duminică.
„Avem probleme în fotbalul universitar și vă pot da cuvântul meu Beau Pribula nu a vrut să părăsească programul nostru și nu a vrut să părăsească programul nostru până la sfârșitul sezonului”, a spus Franklin, prin ESPN, luni. în apărarea deciziei lui Pribula de a intra pe portal. „Dar felul în care este portalul și momentul în care se desfășoară și felul în care echipa noastră joacă, și când joci poziția de fundaș și există un singur loc și acele locuri se umplu, el a simțit că a fost pus într-un nu- situația câștigătoare și sunt de acord cu ei”.
Pribula a vorbit cu Franklin despre decizia sa înainte de a o face publică.
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Acum, din cauza deciziei, adevăratul boboc Ethan Grunkemeyer, care nu a aruncat o pasă, va fi suplimentul Penn State pe parcursul playoff-ului de fotbal colegial, care începe sâmbătă pentru Nittany Lions împotriva SMU nr. 11 de pe Beaver Stadium.
„Nu. 1, urăsc pentru asta, cel mai important pentru Beau Pribula”, a adăugat Franklin. „Nu cred că este în interesul studentului-atlet, nu cred că este în interesul fotbalului universitar”.
Quarterbackul Penn State Nittany Lions, Beau Pribula, se grăbește împotriva Oregon Ducks duminică, 8 decembrie 2024, în timpul meciului Big Ten Championship de pe stadionul Lucas Oil din Indianapolis.(IMAGINE)
Franklin a adăugat că Pribula a fost un „coechipier fenomenal” și a jucat un rol important în a-și ajuta echipa să ajungă în playoff, în ciuda faptului că a fost folosit doar cu moderație în acest sezon.
Cu toate acestea, viteza lui Pribula este ceva de care Nittany Lions au beneficiat în acest sezon, deoarece este la egalitate pe locul al doilea cu șase touchdown-uri de la fugă și al treilea la yarzi de urgență (242). De asemenea, a aruncat pentru cinci touchdown-uri la 25 de încercări pentru 275 de metri în acest sezon.
Din păcate, însă, el nu este singurul jucător care a intrat pe portal în ciuda succesului echipei lor.
Fostul backup al echipei Texas Longhorns, Maalik Murphy, a intrat pe portal sezonul trecut, în ciuda meciului viitor al echipei sale împotriva Washington Huskies pentru un loc în campionatul național.
În cele din urmă, se va transfera la Duke, unde a început sezonul 2024. Murphy este din nou în portal în căutarea următoarei echipe.
Antrenorul principal al Penn State Nittany Lions, James Franklin, reacționează după un touchdown împotriva Oregon Ducks în meciul Big Ten Championship din 2024 de pe stadionul Lucas Oil.(Robert Goddin-Imagini Imagini)
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Și adversarul lui Nittany Lions, sâmbătă, l-a văzut și pe fundașul de rezervă al lui Mustang, Preston Stone, intrând pe portal.
Acesta este primul an al playoff-ului extins, dar portalul de transferuri, o zonă de controversă în fotbalul universitar, în funcție de cine vorbiți, rămâne o problemă și mai mare cu mai multe echipe care se pregătesc pentru o rundă de speranță pentru titlul național.
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Scott Thompson este un scriitor sportiv pentru Fox News Digital.
