Florida relinquished control of its hopes for the College Football Playoff in a 37-34 loss to LSU at The Swamp. Gators’ chances of making the CFP have always depended on beating Alabama, but before Saturday night simply beating Crimson Tide was enough. Now Florida will need help.
However, the loss does not change the pot drop, which is based on the Alabama loss. The Gators are still expected to play the Peach Bowl against Cincinnati, but Florida may end up being the lowest ranked team in that game.
With schedule changes and matches canceled this week, matches between the top teams have been few and far between. The only match on the schedule between the teams ranked in the top 20 was the fight on the possible Orange Bowl dock that includes North Carolina in Miami.
Tar Heels ran over 700 yards on the Hurricanes in a 62-26 win. North Carolina should now be the highest-rated team from ACC available to the Orange Bowl if both Notre Dame and Clemson participate in the College Football Playoff. This is what I still expected. The replacement of the United Nations leadership for Miami is the only change in this week’s six New Year forecasts.
Interval College Football
|
January 11 |
International tournament |
Title game | Semi-final winners |
|
January 1 |
Flower pot |
The semifinals |
(2) Clemson Opposite (3) Ohio State |
|
January 1 |
Sugary |
The semifinals |
Six Cup Games for the New Year
Each team in the top eight in the CFP Rankings is set to start next week in the Conference Championship matches.
USC will also play in a convention championship match next week. The Trojans are the last undefeated team in Pac-12 after their 43-38 victory from behind over UCLA. The USC is set to play Washington, who clinched the title when the COVID-19 problem with Huskies canceled its game with Oregon. That game was going to decide Pac-12 North. The ducks could still end up in that game if Washington were not allowed to play.
In recent weeks, we’ve seen 10 bowl games canceled and one added. We can get to the mayhem of 2020. Another new thing in 2020 is the selection of teams to participate in ball games. This week, Boston College and Pittsburgh, both of ACC, decided to halt Bowl’s season. Either way, this was driven by the players, who have largely been cut off from their families for several months to be able to play this season. Don’t be surprised to see more of this. Many players may prefer to spend their holidays with their families rather than a bowl game.
The full Jerry Palm Pot 2020 forecast will be released on Sunday afternoon.
