There have been 1,648 FBS college football games played so far this season. Why does the end of the campaign next week in Indianapolis seem a lot like the beginning?
Alabama and Georgia were ranked No. 1 and No. 3 in the Preseason AP Top 25, and that’s exactly where they sat in the final College Football Playoff Rankings. What’s changed now that they’ve both reached another CFP National Championship against one another?
At first glance, not much. The teams will meet 37 days apart in yet another rematch — the fourth overall within a 12-month span in the last decade for the BCS/CFP.
What national title game lacks in viewing diversity with two SEC behemoths battling, it makes up in drama. Will Georgia finally break through? Will Alabama continue to apply its chokehold not only on the Bulldogs but all of college football?
Bama has now been involved in more than half of all CFP games played (13 of 24). Georgia is attempting to become only the second national champion in the BCS era (since 1998) to not win its conference championship.
How much would that matter if the Dawgs won their first national title in 41 years? Two words: Not. Much.
Any TV executive can tell you that brand names sell. These traditional powers will draw eyeballs. These teams are so aligned, they could call each other’s plays.
“I want to get focused on Alabama,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said immediately following Friday’s Orange Bowl semifinal win over No. 2 Michigan. “They got a five, six-hour head start [after beating Cincinnati]. To be honest with you guys, I’m not interested in celebrating.”
So much so that Smart emphatically avoided a Gatorade bath. You know, unfinished business and all that.
Regardless, the BCS/CFP era to this point is largely known for…
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