CFB National Championship

Alex Wallingford, Sports Editor

Last night, the Alabama Roll Tide faced off against the Georgia Bulldogs for the biggest game in college football, the National Championship. The game itself began with a very slow start. On the their first drive the Bulldogs threw an interception. Alabama came down with a strong first possession, until they were called for a false start which led them into a missed field goal. The Bulldogs gained some momentum on their next drive then got stopped on a three and out. After that possession the first half was all Georgia.

 The Georgia defense tightened up on what had been, so far, a slow Alabama offense. The Bulldogs made two field goals in the first half and scored a touchdown. The Roll Tide were down 13-0 at half time on the biggest stage they had been on this season. Luckily for Alabama they have head coach Nick Saban, a five time National Championship winner. Saban made the adjustments at halftime, even subbing out starting quarterback Jalen Hurts for a five-star true freshman Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa took over the game.

Tua led, the scoreless Roll Tide as of half time, into a 10 point third quarter. The Alabama defense stepped up as well by holding the Bulldogs to only seven, and for the first time in the game Alabama had a sign of life.

Again scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter and holding Georgia scoreless, the game was heading into overtime. With all of the momentum behind them Alabama was ready to win the National Championship. The Roll Tide held the Bulldogs to a field goal and came back with with a touchdown pass and a win.

The game could have gone in a very different way. Alabama only lost one game this season, but the way college football is set up, they almost didn’t even make it into the CFB Playoff. Just because they lost a game late in the season, the now 2017-18 National College Football champions, almost didn’t even get the opportunity to play for it.

College football has been on what is virtually a final four system. The four teams with the best records and hardest schedules make it into the playoff which is ridiculous. The NCAA has been talking about moving to more of an elite eight system, which in my opinion, is a must happen in the world of college football. Look at UCF, they went a perfect 13-0 this season but didn’t make it into the playoffs because they didn’t have a “hard” schedule, despite the fact they beat Auburn who beat both Alabama and Georgia this season. The NCAA needs to move to this elite eight system in order to prevent the same problem in seasons to come.

In order for this this to happen many things would need to occur. The season would need to be extended by a couple of weeks in order to fully distinguish between teams talents. This would allow the NCAA to make a more accurate decision on who should play in the CFB playoff.