The College Football Playoff quarterfinal round runs from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day and features four premier bowl games.
In what some might argue is the most anticipated game, ESPN’s Booger McFarland seemed comfortable predicting a Rose Bowl rematch contest winner between the No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes and No. 1 Oregon Ducks.
Noting that “we’ve been disrespecting [Oregon] all year long,” McFarland does not say whether he’s speaking about the media in general or ESPN.
However, he believes Ohio State “played to their ceiling” last week against Tennessee and will do it again to advance to the CFP semifinals over the undefeated Ducks.
“Ohio State finally played to their ceiling,” McFarland commented. “I think they’ll do it again two weeks in a row. The Buckeyes keep moving.”
The Buckeyes played extremely well in a dominant win over the Volunteers in the CFP first round, 42-17. Tennessee was limited to 256 yards on offense, with just 104 passing yards.
Ohio State’s defense is having an excellent year. The Buckeyes are giving up 11.4 points per game, the fewest in FBS and 242.2 yards allowed per game, also the fewest in college football.