The predictions are in.
How old are we, dear friends?
Old enough to have lived to see Indiana favored against Alabama in a football game.
We’ve had a couple of years to let this out-of-nowhere, Curt Cignetti-led Hoosiers rise sink in, and the same amount of time to witness the subtle, yet unmistakable, decline of the post-Nick Saban Crimson Tide from ultimate superpower to College Football Playoff bubble dweller.
basketball school no longer?
Bama — nothing extra-special?
Answer among yourselves. And while you’re doing that, ask yourselves if you can point to a time when Miami began to fall — hard — from superpower status while Ohio State started to ascend toward its football peak.
I was at the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona, when the seemingly invincible 2002 Hurricanes — who rode in on a 34-game winning streak — were upset by the double-digit-underdog Buckeyes in double overtime for the national title. There haven’t been many nights like it.
Miami finished the following season ranked fifth in the country but hasn’t ended up in the top 10 or with fewer than three losses since. OSU, meanwhile, is working on what would be its 16th top-five finish over the same period — if it successfully gets past the Canes.
The playoff quarterfinals are here, with Texas Tech-Oregon and Georgia-Ole Miss as the other matchups. Let’s get to some predictions:Cotton: No. 2 Ohio State (12-1) vs. No. 10 Miami (11-2)
Time, TV, location: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN, Arlington, Texas.
Line: Ohio State -9½.
Winner gets: Georgia or Ole Miss.
Last we saw the Buckeyes, they were losing 13-10 to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game. So much for going 16-0. Instead, it’s the Hoosiers who have a chance to achieve that FBS first.
