It's national championship-or-bust for Ohio State and Ryan Day. That's what Day's career has come down to now that he's lost to Michigan four years in a row.
While the previous three losses -- all to Michigan teams that went on to play in the Big Ten Championship Game -- were understandable, if not frustrating, this latest defeat is inexcusable. There's no reality in which a top-two Ohio State team should lose to five-loss Michigan on its home turf.
But that's what happened. The Buckeyes didn't score in the second half, and they didn't even get a first down in the fourth quarter, as Michigan kicked a late field goal and then stopped Ohio State on fourth down to pull off a stunning 13-10 win.
That result cost Ohio State a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Buckeyes are still a virtual lock to make the College Football Playoff at this point, and could still host a first-round game, but whatever goodwill that Day had left with Ohio State's fanbase -- and it was already wearing quite thin given Ohio State's modern inability to get past Michigan -- has evaporated entirely.
Anything less than a College Football Playoff National Championship, at the very least, and Day's time in Columbus should be over. Winning just 10 regular-season games and sneaking into the playoff as an at-large team while fielding a $20 million roster absolutely loaded with future NFL talent is coaching malpractice.
It will take something special for Day to save himself.
Miami isn't College Football Playoff material
Miami coach Mario Cristobal is good for at least one baffling coaching decision per year. He saved his 2024 rendition for the worst moment possible. Down 42-35 in Saturday's crucial game against Syracuse, Cristobal decided to kick a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 10-yard line with 3:24 left on the fourth-quarter clock. In the process, he put the game in the hands of his defense -- a unit that hadn't forced Syracuse to punt since the second quarter amid a 42-10 scoring barrage for the Orange.
Predictably, Syracuse was able to ground out a couple of first downs -- one of which was gifted via a Miami offsides penalty on second-and-4 -- to finish the 42-38 upset.
With that, Miami was knocked out of the ACC Championship Game. The Hurricanes' College Football Playoff fate is now entirely up to the selection committee.
The committee would be wise to keep the Hurricanes out. Miami certainly hasn't left a strong impression down the stretch. Following its blazing hot 9-0 stretch, Cristobal's squad lost two of its last three games, both against unranked opponents.
Miami still has zero wins against ranked opponents. Even during its winning streak, it failed to look impressive against teams like California and Virginia Tech. Miami isn't a playoff team, even if the committee needs to stretch to include 12 games.
Fran Brown is Coach of the Year material
It's too late in the postseason awards process to make much of a difference, but it's criminal that Syracuse coach Fran Brown never made any sort of watchlist. What he's done in his first year at Syracuse -- in his first year as a head coach at the collegiate level -- has been incredible.
He inherited a Syracuse team that had four losing seasons in five years leading up to his hire and immediately led the Orange to a 9-3 record. It's their first nine-win season since 2018, and it's the first time that a Syracuse coach has won nine games in his inaugural season since 1991.
Syracuse also executed the largest comeback win in program history (21 points) against Miami to get to that ninth win. By downing the 'Canes, Syracuse got its first top-10 win in seven years and won four games in the month of November for the first time since 1997.
Under Brown's tutelage, Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord became the first 4,000-yard passer in program history by finishing the regular season with 4,326 yards. Given Brown's ability to recruit, Syracuse's future is incredibly bright. But he deserves recognition for the work he is doing now.
LaNorris Sellers will be a Heisman finalist one day
And he may very well win the award. He has all the makings of a special player with the ability to stuff the stat sheet in multiple areas of the game. South Carolina's 17-14 win against in-state rival Clemson in Week 14 was his magnum opus.
Sellers finished the game with 16 carries for 166 yards and two touchdowns. He single-handedly won the game for the Gamecocks with his 20-yard rushing touchdown on third-and-16 with just over a minute to play.
HIM. https://t.co/qlOMWeM5ZU pic.twitter.com/paMeuyV7Jt
— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) November 30, 2024
Clemson's defense, which is full of elite athletes, had a lot of trouble bringing Sellers down. He ran through plenty of tackles while extending plays and moving the chains with his legs.
He may not have had a prolific passing game against the Tigers, but Sellers does have a very big arm. He had 2,274 yards and 17 touchdowns through the air in the regular season, and that aspect of his game will only grow as he gets more experience.
Arizona State should be in the playoff no matter what
Arizona State has a chance to assure itself a College Football Playoff bid by winning the Big 12 Championship Game. Even if the Sun Devils lose in Arlington, Texas, they more than deserve to make a 12-team field.
Kenny Dillingham has built a competitor in Tempe. Arizona State has its faults, but it has largely taken care of business this year. If the selection committee puts so much stock into a team's quarterback situation, one of Arizona State's losses this year -- on Oct. 19 against Cincinnati -- came when starting signal caller Sam Leavitt was injured.
Leavitt returned and the Sun Devils ripped off five straight wins to get to 10-2. A 10-win Power Four team should not be dinged for losing in a championship game, especially if its competitors for an at-large spot are 9-3 SEC teams that didn't make it anywhere close to the SEC Championship Game, or a 10-2 Miami team that suffered two losses against unranked teams down the stretch to plummet out of its conference race.
Arizona State has already done enough to stamp its spot.
