5 best teams of the 4-team playoff

December 28, 2023 College Football

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The four-team College Football Playoff era comes to a close this season — one season after it should have ended. It was far from perfect and left us with plenty of controversy over the years, but it’s safe to say it was a better postseason format than the BCS that preceded it.

While there’s an expanded 12-team field to look forward to next season, let’s first look back at the best games of the four-team playoff era.

[More from this series: Best games of the 4-team playoff era]

5. 2014 Ohio State (14-1)

The Buckeyes were the first team to win a College Football Playoff and, unless Alabama wins the title in January, one of just two schools to win as a No. 4 seed.

Ohio State went 11-1 in the 2014 regular season. The Buckeyes’ lone loss came in Week 2 at home to Virginia Tech as the Hokies jumped out to a 21-7 halftime lead. Ohio State reeled off 10 consecutive wins to end the season after that loss, including a 42-28 win over Michigan.

Starting QB J.T. Barrett suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the win over the Wolverines. Barrett had been thrust into the starting lineup at the start of the season after Braxton Miller suffered a torn labrum in August.

With Barrett out, Ohio State was forced to turn to No. 3 QB Cardale Jones for the Big Ten title game (sound familiar, Florida State fans?). The Buckeyes didn’t miss a beat with Jones at QB, as they blitzed Wisconsin 59-0 in the conference title game. The win was enough to move Ohio State up from No. 5 over TCU.

The Buckeyes entered the Sugar Bowl against Alabama as an 8-point underdog but scored 28 straight points over the second and third quarters to take control of the game after Alabama took a 21-6 lead.

Ezekiel Elliott was unstoppable. He rushed 20 times for 230 yards and two scores, while Jones found Devin Smith for two long passes.

Eleven days later, Ohio State…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/end-of-an-era-5-best-teams-of-the-4-team-playoff-145533914.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-12-28 14:55:33

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