There was certainly a lot of excitement in the playoff over the new year holiday, with a couple of explosive matchups to come in the semi-final. It was disappointing to see the Buckeyes knocked out, but please allow me to extinguish the flames amongst the fan base about blame. I have already seen and heard the Ryan Day hate club out and about, let me be clear: it doesn’t matter what plays are being called when the other team is dominating you on both sides of the ball at the line of scrimmage. We got beat, physically, on the field, spend the offseason cursing the kicker’s name if you have to.

Prediction 1: Sometimes you learn something from taking a beating, that should be the hope. What I learned in Ohio State’s loss to Indiana last week is that there are two contenders left, the two that are the best at the line of scrimmage, 300 pound man on 300 pound man. #10 Miami showed they have that in spades last week, and could get 3 yards whenever they needed to. The monsters on their defensive line are no slouch either, with #6 Ole Miss in their sights, may the last SEC pillar fall. Miami covers -3.5.

Prediction 2: I have to give major props to Heisman trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, who in his first breath during the postgame interview praised, “the hoggies.” With 50 rushes for 215 yards through stars-and-bars territory, that offensive line from #1 Indiana made Alabama look like a directional school, in the playoff. #5 Oregon in my lifetime has always been flash and finesse over strength, and that doesn’t match up well here. If Indiana gets four yards per carry again, this one wont be that competitive. Indiana Hoggies cover -3.5.

I appreciate that the committee, or whatever overcompensated corporate entity involved, decided to put the Big Ten game on Friday night so I can watch it. This playoff has seen some new faces, new colors, new stars, and the hope is that this will be the last week of SEC football until the fall. I haven’t decided who I am rooting for in the final four yet, but I like Oregon’s uniforms the most so I’ll go with them. I think the highest probability is a low scoring Indiana-Miami slog that I won’t be able to stay awake for.

Summary:

#10 Miami covers -3.5

#1 Indiana covers -3.5

Record: 35-19-2