The College Football Playoff is upon us and for the first time in recent history there were some unfamiliar teams competing which made many fans happy, however the games did not live up to the hype. 

In the Cotton Bowl, the number 1 seed Alabama Crimson Tide took on the first ever non power 5 team to make the playoffs, the 4 seed Cincinnati Bearcats. Alabama dominated, winning 27-6 and will move on to the National Championship. 

In the Orange Bowl, the 2 seed Georgia Bulldogs took on the 3 seed Michigan Wolverines. Georgia was too much to handle and cruised to 34-11 victory and will face off against the Tide in a star studded CFP Final. 

Senior Jacob Hanley was disappointed after watching the semi final games. “I was hoping there would be upsets and that Cincinnati and Michigan would face off in the Championship, but that obviously was not the case as the favorites easily won,” he said.

The two powerhouses will face off in the National Championship which will be played at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 10 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Alabama is the usual favorite to be crowned champions of the CFB playoff but fans are hoping an upset is an order. The Crimson Tide have been in 5 of the last 6 College Football Playoffs.

Hanley is an avid football fan and watched all the games. “I believe the committee got the top 4 right because I feel there isn’t another team that deserves to be in over the current contenders,” Hanley said. “I wanted Michigan to win because I feel like they were a deserving team that isnt always in the CFP and they had a good underdog story as well.”

In the other bowl game that GHS students cared about, the Wisconsin Badgers faced off against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 31 and they won 20-13. 

Senior Brandon Labeau was rooting for the Badgers and was happy that they won.

“I thought the Badgers played really well defensively and I’m really excited to watch Braleon Allen run the Big 10 next year,” Labeau said. 

In other college football news, the NCAA recently decided to ban the fake slide after Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett took off running out of the pocket and did a fake slide earlier this season which completely confused defenders, allowing him to run into the endzone untouched. The rule was created to protect the quarterback in future situations and allow the defense to steer clear of targeting calls. 

“I think the slide rule is the right thing to do because defenders don’t know if they are fully able to commit to a tackle on the quarterback,”  Labeau said. “The fake slide is not something that is common within the sport so it shouldn’t have a huge impact, but it’s good the NCAA cares about the safety of the players.”