Big Ten, SEC headline college football bowl season’s winners and losers

With one team sent packing from the College Football Playoff in the opening round, another knocked out in the quarterfinals and a series of head-to-head losses to the Big Ten, this bowl season has left egg on the face of the SEC.

The conference can still claim the national championship should Texas beat Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl and then beat one of Notre Dame or Penn State in the championship game.

To this point, however, how the SEC has fared in both the playoff and the traditional bowl slate has put a huge dent into the league’s aura of invincibility. With two teams left in the playoff and wins in bowl matchups against the SEC, the Big Ten has made an unimpeachable case for being seen as the Bowl Subdivision’s most powerful conference.

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) catches a touchdown pass as Tennessee defensive back Rickey Gibson III (1) defends during the first half of their College Football Playoff game at Ohio Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024 in Columbus, Ohio.

While the postseason continues this week with the national semifinals, the non-playoff bowl slate wrapped up on Saturday with Buffalo beating Liberty in the Bahamas Bowl.

Here are the biggest winners and losers from this year’s postseason cycle:

Winners

The final four

No team has been more impressive than Ohio State, which ran all over Tennessee in the opening round of the playoff and then avenged a regular-season loss to Oregon by routing the Ducks 41-21 in the Rose Bowl. Heading into the semifinals, the Buckeyes are the obvious team to beat for the national championship. Texas was only lightly tested by Clemson but needed double overtime to escape Arizona State in the Peach Bowl with a 39-31 win. Penn State’s defense has gotten things done through two games, bottling up SMU in a 38-10 victory and then containing Boise State’s…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/big-ten-sec-headline-college-110947213.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2025-01-06 11:09:00

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