And then there were two. The No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs and No. 5 Texas Longhorns hold the banner for the Southeastern Conference heading into the CFB Playoff Quarterfinals. It doesn’t just mean more SEC teams for this year’s playoff. The Big Ten has three representatives left among the remaining teams (Thanks, Rocky Top). While we won’t take a shot at the committee for leaving out Alabama, Ole Miss, and/or South Carolina, Lane covered us with this one. We will use Festivus (the day this article was written) to reflect on the First Round of the College Football Playoff.
First Round CFB Playoff: Festivus Edition
Let us begin with the airing of grievances. No, we will not be talking about the average margin of victory (19.25) for the First Round games. It wasn’t Ohio State’s fault that they scored early and often against Tennessee. Plus, the average margin of victory for the semifinal games in the four-team playoff era was 17.3. That means our quarterfinal matchups should be around 18 points or so for the margin of victory. This is not a math article, so please do not hold us to it. (Also talking to my editors here.) With that, here are three things we saw this weekend that we could see being updated in 2025.
What Channel is TNT?
Why would ESPN put two of the four games this weekend on TNT? They had only four games this weekend. Sure, they had contracts and agreements with the FCS (Go Bison) and Division 2 (Go Bulldogs) to air their games. But, you are telling me those games couldn’t have gone on ESPN2 and ESPNU. It was bad enough that the big bad NFL had to schedule two games on Saturday, even though they usually play ON SUNDAY!!! Looking at the ratings, we can say that the mothership may have lost ratings by moving the games from ESPN to TNT.
| Game | Network | Ratings |
| Tennessee vs. Ohio State (Saturday Night) | ESPN | 14.3 |
| Notre Dame vs. Indiana (Friday Night ) | ESPN | 13.4 |
| Clemson vs. Texas (Saturday Afternoon) | TNT | 8.6 |
| SMU vs. Penn State (Saturday at Noon) | TNT | 6.4 |
The two night games were the second and third most-watched games of the college football season. Sure, outside of the Hoosiers these were traditional brands with big fan bases. The opportunities were missed in the other two games. Sure, ESPN can spin how the other two games were the most-watched games on TNT/CW or whatever channels they were tracking, but come on! If that game is on ESPN and you are close to Penn State, one would have to think you hit double digits for Texas-Clemson. This was a miss by ESPN, and we hope it gets fixed in the future.
Who Gets a Bye?
Conference champions were the only teams eligible for byes according to the CFB Playoff by-laws. Sure, we get the argument that conference championships have to matter. While you will not hear an argument that conference championship games do not matter, especially our beloved game in Atlanta, this weekend’s results make us wonder if they should correlate with an automatic bye. Arizona (Big 12) and Boise State (Mountain West) both won their conference championships and earned byes. But taking a look at the final CFB Playoff rankings we see that the Broncos earned a #9 ranking by the committee, and the Sun Devils were even further down at #12.
While we can all debate the number of automatic conference qualifiers, especially after the ACC’s poor performance this weekend, there is a strong argument that conference champions should earn a bid but not necessarily a bye. Here is what the matchups would have looked like if we used that logic. We have the home location in Parathenese.
| Byes | First Round Matchups |
| No. 1 Oregon | No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 12 Clemson (South Bend) |
| No. 2 Georgia | No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 11 Arizona State (Columbus) |
| No. 3 Texas | No. 7 Tennessee vs. No. 10 SMU (Knoxville) |
| No. 4 Penn State | No. 8 Indiana vs. No. 9 Boise State (Bloomington) |
While we don’t know for certain, these matchups may have brought us better matchups and possibly more ratings and eyeballs. Tennessee could have even found their way into a quarterfinal matchup given this scenario, but let’s not get Vols fans hopes up too much. This also helps incentivize the regular season, an argument we have heard from many within and outside SEC country.
Bring on the Home Games
Speaking of rewards? How much fun was it seeing the home playoff games this weekend? Sure there was snow, did you hear about the snow? The home environments were rocking. You have to think that Oregon, Georgia, Arizona State, and Boise State wouldn’t mind staying at home for their CFB Playoff Quarterfinals matchups rather than hitting the road. Think about it.
The Ducks would surely trade the sunset over the San Gabriel Mountains over a rocking home crowd at Autzen. The Dawgs surely would like to see at least one more Black Out between the hedges. How would mid-game James and Penn State handle the blue turf? Could the ghost of Jake “The Snake” Plummer lead Kenny Dillingham and the Devils over the Buckeyes?
We don’t know the answer to these hypotheticals, but the games would be a helluva lot more fun. So, let’s move on from the cheesy bowl game invitations and save the San Gabriel Mountains and sunsets for the National Championship game.
SEC Betting Lines: CFB Playoff Quarterfinals Edition
Your CFB Playoff Quarterfinals betting lines and game totals are courtesy of FanDuel. Check the links for insights from your favorite Last Word on College Football writers and the Minister of Culture. Happy Holidays, may your (SEC) teams win, and the Big Ten teams lose. Just kidding, sort of.
| Matchup | Date | Time | TV | Line | Total |
| SEC CFB Playoff Quarterfinal Games | |||||
| No. 5 Texas vs. No. 4 Arizona State | Jan. 1 | 1:00 PM | ESPN | #HookEm -14 | 41.5 |
| No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Georgia | Jan. 1 | 8:45 PM | ESPN | #GoDawgs -2 | 44.5 |
| Other CFB Playoff Quarterfinal Action | |||||
| No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 3 Boise State | 12/31 | 7:30 PM | ESPN | #WeAre -10.5 | 52.5 |
| No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 1 Oregon | Jan. 1 | 5:00 PM | ESPN | #GoBucks -2 | 54.5 |
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