The college football season is wrapping up next Monday night when Ohio State faces off against Notre Dame in the National Championship. With the new twelve-team playoff format this year for the very first time, we got more excitement than ever in the college football postseason and even got two higher seeds in the title game. With Notre Dame being a seven seed, and Ohio State, well, not looking like it, is the lower seed at number eight. After that head-scratching loss to Michigan to end the year, it dropped the Buckeyes not just out of the conference championship game but dropping them to the eighth seed and barely hanging on to that final spot to host a playoff game.
And that's all they needed, was a chance. Since that loss, they have swept the floor with their opponents and have been heavy favorites in those games. Before they were even in the national championship game, they were betting favorites to win it all at -140! Now, they are over an eight-point favorite in the matchup against the Irish.
The Irish have been impressive during their playoff run, knocking off household names like Georgia and Penn State, and can easily win this final game and claim their first championship in 37 years.
Hypothetical Scenario: The Wisconsin Badgers were in the College Football National Championship
The Badger's season has been over for a while now, and they have been heavy into not only the player transfer portal but have been busy finding new staff members and getting ready for workouts to ramp back up on campus. But it is always fun to think of hypothetical matchups and debate the outcomes of said games, so what if the Wisconsin Badgers were in the national championship? How would they fare? Would they be heavy underdogs?
I would love to say they would beat both of these teams and hoist that trophy in glory... but the computers think the opposite. Based on Vegas odds, if the Badgers played Ohio State in this game on a neutral site, they would be 14-point underdogs. That's a rough thought for the Badgers, but we have seen them play tough against top teams like Oregon this year, so never say never. But a two-touchdown spread is a ton in the national championship.
Now, against the Irish is a slightly different story. Vegas and the computers still give the edge to Notre Dame but only give them 6 points. They are basing this game as a low-scoring affair, which obviously plays well in the Badger's hands. I could see this scenario happening, with the defense playing well, the offense not turning the ball over and running the ball, they could not only cover those 6 points but win the game outright.
Again, this is hypothetical, and we would much rather be watching Wisconsin play on Monday than talk about it in imaginary matchups, but with the expanded playoff and seeing two "lower" seeded teams make it, all the Badgers need to do is get in. And the rest is history.