The College Football Playoff commences today at 2:30 PM CT with the Goodyear Cotton Bowl featuring the No.1 Alabama Crimson Tide squaring off with No.4 Cincinnati. The first semifinal will be followed by the Capital One Orange Bowl pitting the No.2 Michigan Wolverines versus No.3 Georgia. Will be a terrific afternoon/evening of college football.

The narrative in Alabama-Cincinnati is David versus Goliath and in Georgia-Michigan, can a 7 1/2 point underdog Michigan team upset a Georgia team that was reeling after being blasted by the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game.

It’s a must see College Football Day today. Here are Previews and Predictions for today’s spectacular slate.

Bowls So Far

Straight up, 7-5, Overall Season, 228-104, 69%

ATS, 8-4, 171-158, 52%

The Goodyear Cotton Bowl

No.1 Alabama (12-1) vs. No.4 Cincinnati (13-0)

AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX, 80,000

2:30 PM CT

ESPN

Sean, Todd, Molly, Laura

Whistles, PAC-12, Steve Strimling

Bama by 13 1/2

Bryce Young is a spectacular quarterback and also a spectacular young guy. His poise is like a 10 year NFL veteran. He’s more like Tom Brady than he is a sophomore in college. The Heisman Trophy winner has completed 314-of-462 passes, 68%, for 4,322 yards, 43 TDs against only 4 ints. He single handedly defeated Auburn in 4 OTs, and dominated what was considered an impenetrable Georgia defense in the SEC Championship Game. But he has good talent around him despite the fact that superb wide receiver John Metchie III is out for the season after injuring his leg in the Georgia game. Jameson Williams is lightning in a bottle. Willams has caught 68 passes for 1,445 yards and 15 TDs. He’s also taken two kicks back to the house, one for 100 yards. Williams is a house call waiting to happen every time he touches the ball. The great Brian Robinson Jr. has rushed for 1,114 yards and 14 TDs. The trifecta of Young, Williams and Robinson is quite lethal. With Metchie out, guys like Slade Bolden, 32-133, 2 TDs, tight end Cameron Latu, 20-299, 6 TDs, and tight end Jahleel Billingsley, 16-244, 3, will need to step up. I look for guys like Traeshon Holden, 15-211, 1, and JoJo Earle, a game time decision with injury, 12-148, Ja’Corey Brooks, 5-79 1 TD, with that touchdown maybe being the biggest one of the year against Auburn late in the last minute of the game which tied it at 10 and sent the game into overtime in which the Crimson Tide won 24-22 in overtimes, are key players as well, so Bryce can spread the wealth and keep the Bearcats on their heels. Javon Baker is another, 7-101, 1. I watched all these guys back in the spring game and was extremely impressed with this arsenal. They are more than capable. The offensive line, led by 6’7”, 350 pound left tackle Evan Neal, dominated the vaunted Jordan Davis and the Georgia defensive front in the SEC title game. It was a statement game for the Bama O Line. They are primed and ready. On defense, Will Anderson was the Bronco Nagurski Award winner and had a phenomenal season leading the country in tackles for loss with 32 1/2 for -136 yards and sacks with 15 1/2 for -96 yards. Why Will wasn’t in New York for the Heisman is a mystery. He should be there next season with a repeat performance. He’s such a focused guy too. He said this week that the team, taking precautions against COVID, stayed in the team hotel and just went down to the players’ lounge and played cards, watched sports and played video games. Kirby Smart said he wanted his Georgia players to get out in Miami. He didn’t want them just staying inside. S’s response to that was classic. He said players aren’t going to remember 3 weeks, 3 months or 3 years from now what they did on a Tuesday Night in the Dallas or Miami. They’ll remember how they fared in the game, and if they win it all, they’ll remember that for a lifetime.

Linebacker Henry To’o To’o has quietly led the teams in tackles with 101, added 8 tackles for loss of -39 and 4 sacks for -29 yards. He’s prolific. Big defensive end Phid Mathis, 6’4”, 312, has racked up 10 tackles for loss of 49 yards and 8 sacks for -46 yards. Dallas Turner is a super freshman who stepped in at linebacker due to injuries and has performed superbly posting 7 TFLs for -42 yards and 5 1/2 sacks for -36 yards. Strong Safety Jordan Battle leads the secondary with 3 ints for 111 yards including 2 house calls, one huge one against Georgia. Free Safety DeMarcco Hellams leads the secondary with 74 tackles and Battle added 73. Senior corner Josh Jobe is out with injury so stellar freshman Kool-Aid McKinstry will get the start there.

Will Reichard has connected on 16-of-20 field goals with a long of 52. He can connect from 58 if needed. Punter James Burnip is averaging 39 yards per punt.

So this team has come into its own. It’s tuned up for the Playoff.

Cincinnati is led by quarterback Desmond Ritter, who has completed 234-of-355 passes, 66%, for 3,190 yards with 30 TDs and 8 ints. Ritter also rushed for 361 yards and 6 TDs. Running back Jerome Ford, an Alabama transfer, has rushed for 1,242 yards and 19 TDs. Ridder’s leading receivers are Alex Pierce, 50-867, 8 TDs, Tyler Scott, 26-477, 5, and Josh Whyle, 25, 320, 6. On defense, Cincy is undersized on the defensive front, which could be a problem against the Crimson Tide O line, but they have good players nonetheless. Defensive tackle Curtis Brooks, 6’2”, 285, recorded 12 1/2 tackles for loss of 59 yards and 7 1/2 sacks for -46 yards, both stats led the team. Linebacker Joel Dublanko led the team in tackles with 106, has 11 TFLs for -43 yards and 5 1/2 sacks. Everybody likes Cincy’s cornerbacks, Ahmad “Sauce?’ Gardner. 3 ints, and Coby Bryant, 3 ints, both have taken an int back to the house. They’re considered prolific, so we’ll see how they fare against Williams and company.

Decision

I don’t see how the Bearcats can hang with the Tide. They’ve had a very good season, but the competition hasn’t been that fierce. I like Young and his offensive teammates to do well and the Bama defense to shut down Cincy for most of the game. Give me the Crimson Tide to advance to Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium on Monday January 10th, 2022, at 7 PM CT on ESPN to play for their 7th National Championship under the great Nick Saban.

Alabama 31, Cincinnati 14

Semifinal 2, The Capital One Orange Bowl

No.2 Michigan (12-1) vs. No.3 Georgia (12-1)

Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, 75,000

6:30 PM CT

ESPN

Chris, Kirk, Holly, Marty

Stripes, Big 12, Scott Campbell

Georgia by 7 1/2

The big question for Georgia is how will Stetson Bennett play. He’s completed 148-of-231 passes, 64% for 2,325 yards, 24 TDs against 7 ints, but he threw 2 picks against Alabama, one Jordan Battle took back to the house. He’s a big question mark. How well he and Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara (199-of-308, 64%, 15 TDs, 4 ints) play could determine the outcome of this game. Brock Bowers is another X factor in this game for the Bulldogs. The stellar freshman tight end has caught 47 passes for 791 yards and 11 TDs. Wide receiver Ladd McConkey has added 28 passes for 430 yards and 5 TDs. Jermaine Burton posted 23 receptions and for 4 TDs. I like 6’7”, 250 pound tight end Darnell Washington to be more of a factor for the Bulldogs tonight. He’s a total weapon. And the great George Pickens is back after having come back from a torn ACL last season in the Peach Bowl versus Cincinnati and played in the last 2 games of the season. He could very well be more of a factor tonight. Zamir White and James Cook are an excellent one-two punch on the ground for the Bulldogs. White has rushed for 718 yards and 10 TDs and the stellar Cook has rushed for 619 yards and 7 TDs and is a weapon catching the ball out of the backfield with 21 receptions for 157 yards and 3 TDs.

The Georgia defense has big Jordan Davis up front, all 6’6″, 360 pounds of him, but he was controlled by the Crimson Tide O line and Michigan has an allegedly stellar O line. I like linebacker Nakobe Dean, who has posted 8 1/2 tackles for loss of 51 yards and 5 sacks for 39 yards. He’s their leader. Their secondary was torched by Bryce Young and Jameson Williams, so they’ll have to step it up against the Michigan offense.

Michigan has a very nice running back tandem of Hassan Haskins, 1,288 yards, 20 TDs, he’s awesome, and Blake Corum, 939 yards and 11 TDs. They’ll have to run against what is considered a pretty stout Georgia run defense, but the Wolverines offensive line has a solid resume. Cornelius Johnson is the Wolverines’ leading receiver with 38 receptions for 609 yards and 3 TDs. Tight end Erick All is a weapon with 34 receptions for 374 yards and 2 TDs. He could be another X factor in this game.

On defense, the Wolverines are led by defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who posted 15 1/2 tackles for loss of 75 yards and 14 sacks for -73 yards. Outside linebacker David Ojabo is another force as he’s posted 12 tackles for loss of 91 yards and 11 sacks for -88 yards. They are X factors in this game against the Georgia offensive line, which will be tasked with containing them when Bennett drops back to pass. If Georgia can run the ball effectively that would help their cause tremendously. The Georgia offensive line will be tested by these 2 players. Michigan has 8 ints on the season as a team and the Bulldogs have 12.

Decision

Michigan’s had a really good year and Jim Harbaugh, though a weird cat, has done an excellent with this team. But is the Big Ten that good? I like the Georgia offense to do well led by Bowers and company, and the defense to lock down the Wolverines for the most part. Give me the ‘Dawgs.

Georgia 31, Michigan 21