I’m fine with it, even though Georgia is a better team, Ohio State won a better league and the Sooners play defense like their shoes are on backward.<\/b>
\nNotre Dame just sat there. The Fighting Irish \u2014 what a bunch of layabouts.
As the rest of college football\u2019s national-championship contenders fought for their very playoff lives Saturday, the unbeaten Irish kicked back with their feet up. Good for them, all kidding aside. They\u2019ve played their way into the final four, and all they had to do as playoff implications churned elsewhere was sip cream soda through a straw and wait for their assignment.
To Arlington, Texas, the No. 3 Irish shall go. They\u2019ll face No. 2 Clemson on Dec. 29 at 3 p.m. in the Cotton Bowl. That\u2019s \u201cin\u201d the Cotton Bowl, not \u201cat\u201d the Cotton Bowl. Cotton Bowl Stadium \u2014 site of the annual Oklahoma-Texas game \u2014 is in Dallas. The bowl game, in this case a national semifinal, is at the massive joint where the Cowboys play.
But you probably knew all that already.
Alabama stuff-armed Georgia right out of the playoff mix. (Kevin C. Cox\/Getty Images)
On to the rest of the \u201cBig 10\u201d (where 10 actually means 10):
Really, I\u2019m fine with it.
That\u2019s not real money I\u2019m offering. You\u2019re on your own, pal.
Maybe this will help you deal with it in the meantime: You know those big games Saturday featuring Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Oklahoma and Ohio State? Not to mention the Ohio State-Michigan matchup the week before? None of them would\u2019ve meant squat if there were an eight-team playoff. Regardless of outcome, all those teams would\u2019ve made the field.
L-A-M-E.
OK, it\u2019s still kind of funny.
That was Georgia coach Kirby Smart after a 35-28 loss to Alabama. Smart called for a fake punt on fourth-and-11 from the 50-yard line with the game tied and 3:04 left to play. It worked about as well as a paper airplane in a rainstorm. The Tide drove for the winning touchdown, cementing Smart\u2019s decision in worst-of-all-time lore. But, hey, at least it wasn\u2019t a tie.<\/p>\n