Power ranking the 8 remaining CFP teams after the first round

And then there were eight… Even though the first round playoff games at home were optically successful, none of those games were even remotely close. Chalk won the first round of the expanded team of 12 College Football Playoffs with No. 5 Texas, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 8 Ohio State all advancing to the national quarterfinals. There is a chance for all four to advance to the semi-finals.

Heading into the new year, we will have four neutral site matches in the national quarterfinals. No. 3 Boise State will face No. 6 Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Day, No. 4 Arizona State will face No. 5 Texas at the Peach Bowl, No. 1 Oregon will face No. 8 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and No. 2 Georgia will meet No. 7 Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.

From there, we will be left with four teams to play in the Cotton and Orange Bowls with a national championship game in Atlanta at the end of January. Now that number 12 ClemsonNo. 11 SMU, No. 10 Indiana and No. 9 Tennessee are out of the College Football Playoff roster, I’ll do my best to rank the remaining eight teams still in contention or a chance at a national championship.

Let’s start with the final dark horse of the only remaining team whose mascot is actually a horse.

Look. I don’t want to be mean, but I have to. There are seven teams left in the College Football Playoff that compete at the Power Four level, and Boise State is not one of them… While the Broncos have arguably the best player remaining in the postseason in Doak Walker winner And Heisman Trophy Second Ashton Jeanty, depth will be what prevails at the end of the playoffs. Boise State doesn’t have one.

While there’s a chance Penn State overlooks the Broncos in the Fiesta Bowl, I’m taking James Franklin’s guys against Spencer Danielson’s guys every day and twice on New Year’s Eve. It’ll take a perfect game to as Boise State gets past a red-hot Penn State team. If Maddux Madsen emulates Jared Zabransky on the goal line with a trip to the Statue of Liberty to pay dirt, we’ll all eat crow.

Boise State may want to upset Penn State, but they’re not winning three playoff games.

I go back and forth on how serious the threat to Arizona State’s national championship really is. They may be playing the best football of any team remaining in the playoffs right now. Kenny Dillingham has his alma mater playing with as much enthusiasm as the Big 12 champions. Arizona State is well rested, which will give the Sun Devils a chance to beat Texas in the Peach Bowl, but will that be- is it enough?

Arizona State has plenty of offensive pieces to keep pace with Texas in the form of running back Cam Skattebo and quarterback Sam Leavitt. However, I wonder if the offensive line will hold up against Texas’ vaunted pass rush. Simply put, Arizona State has the upward trajectory to potentially upset Texas, perhaps even winning the Cotton Bowl if it makes it that far. Unfortunately, this will be the end of the process.

We’ve already seen two other similarly constructed teams get blown out in the form of Indiana and SMU.

Right now, I think Notre Dame is the worst team that could possibly win a national championship. They have enough stars on both sides of the ball to keep it interesting, but the Fighting Irish’s path to winning a national championship is brutal. Not only do they have to beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, but they may have to beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl to get there.

Notre Dame is talented enough in the trenches to potentially upset teams like the Dawgs and Nittany Lions, but simply isn’t explosive enough outside of the numbers to keep pace with whoever comes out on the other side of the bracket. They might get the most out of Arizona State, but I’m convinced Oregon, Texas, and Ohio State all have more guys than them. Notre Dame can only win one way.

The defense of Riley Leonard, Jeremiah Love and Al Golden better be ready to play 12 more quarters.

Right now I’m thinking Ohio State can win a national championship. They have the depth and high-end players to make it happen. Although the Buckeyes are a little shakier than I’d like to see from a serious national title contender, you, I and everyone else saw what they just did in Tennessee. This was the best game Ohio State has played in the Ryan Day era. The Buckeyes left no stone unturned.

However, they have a tough road ahead with an Oregon rematch coming up in the Rose Bowl. After that, you’ll likely face Arizona State or Texas in the Cotton Bowl before taking out the best team on the Georgia side of the bracket in Atlanta between the Dawgs, Boise State, Penn State and Notre Dame. If Ohio State was a little more stable, I’d give them a better chance to win it all.

Ohio State’s highs are high, but their lows are concerning; they offer way too much variance for me.

I may be slightly biased because I saw my alma mater already beaten Texas twice this season, but this is absolutely a team that can win the College Football Playoff. The Longhorns were one of six teams I was most confident in heading into this season. As fate would have it, all six of them were in contention for the playoffs. My concern with Texas is the health and play of quarterback Quinn Ewers.

Simply put, he’s not healthy enough or consistent enough to beat teams like Arizona State, Oregon, and Georgia in succession. He needs help from backup Arch Manning to turn their red zone trips into seven points, instead of settling for occasional threes off Bert Auburn’s foot. This team is built to win a national championship, but I need to see more to be convinced.

There aren’t as many differences with Texas as there are with Ohio State, but how big are they?

We arrived at the top-seeded Oregon Ducks, the only team without a blemish on their resume. Oregon has three wins against playoff teams in Boise State, Ohio State and Penn State. They will face the Buckeyes in a brutal matchup in the national quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl. Ohio State is out for blood. Oregon has the horses to hook anyone with, but I haven’t seen the Ducks go full throttle yet.

The coaching is great under Dan Lanning. Once again, Oregon has exactly what it takes to win the playoffs. The problem is that their lack of adversity could make it difficult to overcome a major deficit at the hands of a team that has faced one before. More importantly, I wonder if Dillon Gabriel’s lack of size and left-handedness could be a problem against an elite pass rush or two.

Oregon could very well win the national championship, but the Ducks will have to earn their spot.

I’m all in on the Penn State Nittany Lions potentially winning it all. They have guys everywhere and are phenomenally coached. While James Franklin is good at winning games as a favorite, his team rarely shows up when they are the underdog. The reason I’m putting them ahead of two Big Ten teams that beat them previously in Ohio State and Oregon is because they have the easier path.

While Penn State would have to beat Georgia or Notre Dame to get to Atlanta, getting SMU and Boise State back-to-back is arguably the easiest route imaginable into the postseason. This allows players like Drew Allar to play with confidence and the Abdul Carters of the world to wreak havoc against lesser competition. Penn State needs to win four games to win it all, but its first two are pretty easy.

Whoever wins the national semi-final in Miami, on the Georgian side, will be my choice.

And of course, I arrived at my alma mater from Georgia at #1. This is not biased, but rather a statement of fact. There is no more physical team in the College Football Playoff than these Dawgs. More importantly, there isn’t a more proven team in the playoffs either. They have four wins against playoff teams and will be well-rested heading into the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame.

Although Gunner Stockton will get the start at least in the Sugar Bowl, that’s not necessarily a bad thing for the Georgia offense. Mike Bobo could simplify the scheme for his man to allow him to play in space with his arms and legs. More importantly, no head coach is better at halftime adjustments than Kirby Smart. He will have his team ready to take on anyone.

Georgia might have what it takes to win three straight and capture its third national title in four years.