NCAA Football Report (Week 5)
There has been a great shift in the NCAA over the last few years as the College Football Playoff has brought parity to a league that rarely saw any.
For years the BCS saw the teams from the SEC dominate the league and the Alabama Crimson Tide took over near the end of the system.
They were easily the most dominant team in the league and near the end of the BCS system, the NCAA had become everyone versus Alabama.
It wasn’t the greatest thing for the league and as they began to take over the league looked to make some changes.
They established the College Football Playoff giving more teams a chance at winning the National Championship.
It also forced the Tide to take a game against a top team before they could even play for the National Championship.
The switch turned out to be a good one as it provided that playoff that fans had demanded and established a lot more parity.
In the first year, the Ohio State Buckeyes took the title with the Tide not even making the National Championship Game.
They fixed their issues pretty quickly though as they found their way back to the National title in the second year of the playoff.
They beat Clemson in that game taking another national title in the Nick Saban era but it was the second year and a second champion.
The third year proved to continue the parity in the country as the Clemson Tigers got their revenge beating Alabama in the third CFP National Championship.
That has given the country three different champions in the first three years of the new system and all have represented different conferences.
There has rarely been this much parity in the league but there is some cause for concern as this season continues.
The parity that the league is enjoying might end if the season continued the way it has so far this year.
The signs were already in place last season when the National Championship featured the same teams from the year before.
It wasn’t great for the playoff but at least the second year ended differently than the first year as a new champion was crowned.
It still left that feeling that there was parity but the reality was that the top two teams from the year before were right back in the same spot a year later.
Now things are looking a lot closer to the last two years as the top two teams in the league are the exact same as a year ago.
Both Clemson and Alabama are sitting as the #1 and #2 teams in the country and with undefeated records, they have gone through everyone in their way.
Clemson has had a bit of a tough road facing three ranked teams already this year but have only really been tested once by Auburn.
They easily got by the Louisville Cardinals with defending Heisman Trophy winner and this week got by the Virginia Tech Hokies with a big score.
The rest of the schedule for them isn’t necessarily full of killers as only one ranked team remains in NC State and they are nearing the end of that ranking.
There is a possibility that they go undefeated this year and that will surely put them right at the top of the rankings for another year.
The Tide are in the same situation as they haven’t really had a tough road only facing the then ranked #3 Florida State who is now out of the rankings altogether.
Nobody has even come close to beating them and with only one ranked team left the possibility of going undefeated seems pretty good.
The Iron Bowl will be a determining factor for Alabama as they are the only ranked team and it is never an easy game to win.
That leaves the two teams ranked at the top of the AP Poll as being the best teams in the country.
It doesn’t seem like they will be beat this year and although anything can happen in college football it seems like things are headed for the same results.
If Clemson and Alabama can make the National Championship for a third year in a row things won’t be looking so bright for the playoff.
It will be the first time that a team would win their second National Title in the new system.
That pairing seems more likely every week as these teams don’t seem like they are going to be stopped anytime soon.
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