New Stars Emerge for College Football Playoffs

 

This year, college football has had its share of remarkable moments. There have been several upsets and new programs emerging to stardom over the past several weeks. As the season is starting to come to an end, the pressure to claim the top 4 spots to be granted a berth into the playoffs is starting to rise. What is clear, though, is that the playoffs may be occupied by some unfamiliar faces. Since its inception in 2014, there have always been at least one of these two teams always in: Alabama and Clemson. However, with recent upsets this past week, their chances of making the playoffs quickly slipped from their grasps. New teams have recently climbed to the top in hopes of taking their place. Let's take a look at the fall of these dynasties and the rise of the new ones.

The Turn of the Tide

Any casual fan of the sport is no stranger to the dominance of the Alabama Crimson Tide, winning six national championships since 2009. Year in and year out, the Tide are constantly in contention to bring home another trophy, regardless of the roster.

However, this year marks just their second time since 2015 that they potentially won't make the playoffs. This comes as a shock since they have returned their reigning Heisman trophy winner in quarterback, Bryce Young.

The Tide looked to have a slow start to the season, almost coming up short to the Texas Longhorns in Austin. As well, it took a terrible goal-line play call at the last second for them to survive a mightily struggling program in Texas A&M. 

Though they won both of those games, it seemed their luck ran out last weekend against the LSU Tigers. The Tide and Tigers went back and forth all game, eventually leading to a tie in regulation. In overtime, the Tide quickly scored on their first possession. However, on the very first play from scrimmage, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels scrambled into the endzone for a touchdown. 

Instead of going for a field goal to tie it, first-year head coach, Brian Kelly decided to go for the two-point conversion to win the game. On a beautiful play call, Daniels found his tight end right at the goal line for the win.

This loss is the second for the Tide, after falling to Tennesse the week before, and would almost certainly put them out of contention for the playoffs. 

Tigers Finally Exposed

The Clemson Tigers have had a rocky start for the second season in a row. Last year was only the second time the Tigers had missed the playoffs. This season, though starting undefeated, definitely did not show their best performance. 

The first sign of digression came in a struggling comeback win against Syracuse a few weeks prior. After finding themselves in a large deficit quickly, the Tigers had to resort to their backup quarterback in hopes of finding a way to win. 

After a few mishaps by Syracuse, the Clemson Tigers found a way to eventually get the victory, though it wasn't pretty. 

This past week really showed the Tigers true colors when they faced the unranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. After getting shutout for three straight quarters, the Tigers fell heavily to Notre Dame 35-14. This loss, plus the scare at Syracuse makes their chances of making the playoffs very slim, given their weak schedule.

All Hail Hypnotoad

The TCU Horned Frogs are college football's newest rising star. Under first-year head coach, Sonny Dykes, the Horned Frogs are 9-0 and currently ranked #4 in the country heading into Austin this weekend to face the Texas Longhorns.

Their rise to the top has not been clean, however. Though undefeated, they have had to overcome several double-digit deficits in the second half of their games. 

A lot of credit can be given to starting quarterback, Max Duggan, who's lighting up the scoreboard throwing for 2,407 yards on the season and 24 touchdowns. As well, the team is averaging 43 points a game and over 500 yards of offense. 

Their next big test comes this week against the #18 ranked Texas Longhorns in Austin. Second-year head coach, Steve Sarkisian hopes to knock of a top-5 team in the country in Austin for the first time since 1999.

Though, if the Horned Frogs continue their undefeated streak, they may quickly solidify their position for the playoffs. Many fans see this as their revenge-tour for their 2015 season when they were left out of the playoffs, despite their 11-1 record and Big 12 Championship Title.