“The quarterback is ready to snap the ball. He receives the snap… and takes a knee! Brandeis wins the 2018 College Football Playoff Championship-”
Despite not losing a game since 1960, the Brandeis football team, unfortunately, won’t be hoisting the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy. Rather than white and blue confetti raining down on the field at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium after the final whistle of the championship game, it seems likely that the stadium will bleed crimson and white on January 8th.
Led by the reigning Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year Jalen Hurts, the Alabama Crimson Tide seems primed to avenge last season’s championship game loss to Clemson. Assuming Hurts continues on his current trajectory as he approaches 700 career passing attempts, his completion percentage of 64.75 percent would rank 65th all time among FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) quarterbacks who have reached the 700 career passing attempts mark, and 29th among “power five” (including the ACC, Big 10, Pac 12, Big 12, and SEC) conference signal callers. Regarded by Barrett Sallee of Bleacher Report as a player with “the feel of youth with the mindset of a seasoned veteran,” Hurts’ nearly unparalleled composure and confidence allow him to excel in a leadership position.
The Tide once again are favored to bring the trophy back home to Tuscaloosa. As of Aug. 31, the Crimson Tide have been presented as the 5-2 favorite to win the championship in 2018 (Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook) and were ranked as the number one team in the nation by sportingnews.com and the Associated Press in their respective preseason polls.
Since the inauguration of the current College Football Playoff format in the 2014-2015 season, no team has been granted a position in the field of four when losing more than one game. With a 62.5 percent chance of finishing with one loss or fewer, according to Sports Blog Nation (SB Nation), Alabama is the only school with a probability above fifty percent. Following in second place, Oklahoma University’s percentage trails by 25.9 percentage points, sitting at 36.6 percent.
In the three seasons in which the College Football Playoff system has taken effect, any undefeated team in one of the commonly regarded power five conferences have made the prestigious postseason tournament (third-seeded Florida State in the 2014-2015 postseason, top-seeded Clemson in the 2015-2016 playoff, and number one ranked Alabama last year). Given a 24 percent chance to finish the regular season undefeated, even in the notoriously tough Southeastern Conference, Alabama is the only team in the nation to be given greater than a 10 percent chance to finish the regular season with a zero in the loss column (SB Nation).
Alabama has already cruised to victory in arguably its most losable game of the regular season (against preseason number three seed Florida State, 24-7), and strolled past Fresno State 41-10 a week later. With the team’s exceptional early-season performance, along with the top-rated recruiting class in the nation, it is safe to say that Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide are in high contention for another championship win.
