For the third straight year, Mark Podolski, sports editor of The News-Herald, joins Tom and Travis for a marathon rundown of college football’s New Year’s Six bowl games, including Ohio State-USC in the Cotton Bowl, as well as the College Football Playoff semifinals between Oklahoma and Georgia (Rose Bowl), and Clemson and Alabama (Sugar). Plus: Quarterbacks Sam Darnold of USC and Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma, as well as Penn State running back Saquon Barkley (playing in the Fiesta Bowl vs. Washington), could figure prominently into the Browns’ draft plans in April. How much of an impact, if at all, will their bowl game performances have on where they land on draft day?
The College Football Playoff pairings were released on Sunday, and despite winning the Big Ten championship, the Ohio State Buckeyes were left out of the national title picture. Instead, they’re headed to the Cotton Bowl to face USC. The guys welcome Josh Poloha of Waiting For Next Year to figure out how Alabama moved up into the fourth playoff spot without playing in a conference title game, whether OSU ever had a realistic chance at getting in after all, and whether factors that weren’t supposed to matter – the potential for Clemson-Alabama III vs. a rematch of last year’s Clemson-Ohio State blowout, the Big Ten’s recent playoff history – actually played a role in determining this year’s field.
