Ohio State
Going into the conference championship games Ohio State was sitting at the number 1 seed for the College Football Playoffs. However, after a lackluster performance against Wisconsin, they dropped to number 2. With this, Ohio State now has to take on Clemson rather than Oklahoma. While still undefeated, Ohio State has struggled some this year when facing good opponents. Clemson will undoubtedly be there biggest challenge yet and I believe it will prove to be too much for Ohio State. While Ryan Day may one day lead this team to a national championship, I don’t think that it will happen this year.
Clemson
Clemson comes into this game feeling like the committee did them wrong by ranking them 3rd in the Playoff rankings. To think that the defending National Champions who have won 28 consecutive games are not the best team in the country is kinda insane. However, having 3 undefeated teams in the College Football Playoffs creates a seeding issue. The main reason Clemson is ranked so low is due to there lack of competition. The only team they played that finished in the Top 25 was 24 Virginia, who they played in ACC Championship. This lack of competition is the main reason why Clemson has been undervalued the entire season. While many people continue to question Clemson, Vegas currently has them as a 2.5 point favorites in the Fiesta Bowl. I think that this will prove to be the driving factor that leads to Clemson’s victory in this one. My pick for this game is Clemson -2.5
