Another college football season is winding down as we are in the midst of the bowl games. Clemson, Ohio State, LSU, and Oklahoma will battle it out for the National Championship. And next season you are more likely than not to see Clemson and Ohio State back in the mix again. You see, this will be the 6th year of the playoff and you keep seeing the same teams. Clemson has been 5 times, Ohio State 3 times, Oklahoma 4 times. When you add in Alabama who has been there 5 times. You keep seeing the same teams over and over. It seems as though 3 teams are the only ones who can compete year in and year out.
It has turned college football into a tier system. At the very top, you have Clemson, Ohio State, and Alabama. The reason why I believe these three have separated themselves is that these are national programs. Clemson went into Southern California and was able to grab the top QB recruit in the nation. Alabama also went into Southern California and grabbed a QB. Ohio State went into Texas and grabbed a 4 star WR. These teams have the clout to get kids that are not in their recruiting footprint and very few teams can compete.
Just a step below these 3 teams are the ones that can win given that they have that transformational talent at QB. They have the history and the recruiting base. With the proper coach, they can land these talents that can lead them to the promised land. These teams include Florida, LSU, Auburn, Florida State, Oklahoma, Georgia, and USC. Florida had it with Tim Tebow, Auburn had it with Cam Newton, Florida State had it with Jamies Winston. Oklahoma has made it to the CFP 4 times, however because of their defense they have never really been a threat. Even with 2 Heisman trophy winners and another finalist this season they haven’t be able to win a semi-final game. USC with the right coach, being in recruiting territory of a talent-rich state can get there. We all remember those mid 00’s USC teams that were some of the most talented teams of all time. Georgia had that generational talent in Justin Fields who transferred to Ohio State. However, Georgia seems to need a change in offensive philosphy to take that next step to make it to that top tier.
The third tier are teams like Notre Dame, Oregon, Penn State and Michigan. Teams, who can go 10-2 or 11-1 which are great seasons. And every once in awhile they can make the CFP given the perfect season and the right set of circumstances. They may even win a game in the CFP. However, they just don’t have that next level talent that the teams above have. Notre Dame was an example of that last season. Oregon made it that inaugural CFP just to be run off the field by Ohio State.
The last tier is everyone else. Those teams that should consider a NY 6 Bowl game to be a successful season. However, no other team has a real shot at being a consistent CFP contender. Now, we will see what USC does with its coach (I don’t believe that Clay Helton is the right coach and it shows in their recruiting class which is 78th according to 24/7). We will see if Ryan Day can keep up getting kids outside of Ohio State’s footprint as Urban Meyer did. We will see what happens with Alabama after Nick Saban finally decides to retire. Remember, before Saban, Alabama had coaches like, Mike Shula, Mike Price, Dennis Franchione, and Mike DuBose. Clemson is in the same boat as Alabama, however, Dabo Swinney is a lot younger than Saban. And we need to remember that Swinney played at Alabama and would be on the shortlist to take over for Saban. Before Dabo, Clemson’s head coaching list isn’t much better than Alabama. Tommy Bowden, Tommy West, and Ken Hatfield didn’t take Clemson where Dabo has.
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