The Sportsletter - Chaos Comes! 🏈

BY JEFF YODER

DEC. 4, 2023 | SUBSCRIBE | WEB VIEW

Welcome Back 👋

Five straight weeks of CFB Playoff Rankings led us into a final weekend where anything could happen. Anything did happen. The #7 and #8 teams from last week’s rankings are in. The #1 and #4 teams are out. And there’s a good chance someone you know is really upset about it. Chaos comes!

It's #1 Michigan, #2 Washington, #3 Texas and #4 Alabama in the College Football Playoff. Who you got?

Letter Rip!

CFB PLAYOFF

Chaos Comes!

Photo: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images

#8 Alabama Upsets #1 Georgia & #7 Texas Leaps #4 Florida State to Bounce Seminoles From CFB Playoff

Chaos comes! A wild range of potential College Football Playoff scenarios were possible entering the weekend, and the result was nothing short of tomfoolery. After 29 straight wins, #1 Georgia won’t be dancing in the CFB Playoff thanks to #8 Alabama’s win in the SEC Championship. #2 Michigan was a blowout winner over #16 Iowa. #3 Washington held off #5 Oregon for a second time. But the chaos came when #7 Texas blew the doors off #18 Oklahoma State, and #4 Florida State limped to the finish line of an unbeaten regular season with a third-string quarterback who threw for less than 100 yards.

When the dust settled, the committee nixed unbeaten Florida State in favor of one-loss teams in Texas and Alabama, plus undefeated Michigan and Washington.

Conference Championships

SEC: #8 Alabama def. #1 Georgia (27-24)

Big Ten: #2 Michigan def. #16 Iowa (26-0)

Pac-12: #3 Washington def. #5 Oregon (34-31)

ACC: #4 Florida State def. #14 Louisville (16-6)

Big 12: #7 Texas def. #18 Oklahoma State (49-21)

The CFB Playoff (Top-4)

1. Michigan (13-0)

2. Washington (13-0)

3. Texas (12-1)

4. Alabama (12-1)

___________________

5. Florida State (13-0)

6. Georgia (12-1)

7. Ohio State (11-1)

8. Oregon (11-2)

9. Missouri (10-2)

10. Penn State (10-2)

11. Ole Miss (10-2)

12. Oklahoma (10-2)

*Teams ranked 1-8 only lost to teams in the top-12 all season long.

The Florida State Controversy: For those wondering how FSU missed out despite their 13-0 undefeated season, two words — Jordan Travis. The Seminoles lost their star quarterback in November, and even though they kept winning, they looked like a shell of themselves on offense. FSU also failed to play a team that ended up in the top-12, and they were the only top-12 team to not face another top-12 team.

Inside the Committee’s Why-Factor

Let’s rewind: Michigan and Washington are unbeaten with massive wins against quality opponents, including two top-10 finishers, each. They’re obvious selections for #1 and #2 after the dust settles. The next three or four teams are where it gets interesting. Alabama earns the nod at #4 because they dethroned Georgia, and I think that’s warranted. The Texas vs. Florida State debate comes down to the eye test. The Longhorns are healthy and they’ve won their last two in blowout fashion. The Seminoles’ unbeaten record gives them every right to claim that fourth spot, but their offense looked well below CFB Playoff quality in the last two weeks.

Fun Fact: It's the first time in the history of the CFB Playoff that any time jumped into the top-4 from outside the top-6 in the final weekend, and it happened twice (#7 Texas & #8 Alabama).

This is tough if you’re a Florida State fan. All the more reason why a 12-team playoff is in the future. You can get a glimpse of how awesome that would’ve been this season by looking at the top-12 teams above. For now, it’s one team from four majors conferences — Michigan (Big Ten), Washington (Pac-12), Alabama (SEC) and Texas (Big 12). Next stop? The Heisman Trophy ceremony (Sat. Dec. 8).

New Year’s Six Bowl Games

#9 Missouri vs. #7 Ohio State (Fri. Dec. 29)

#11 Ole Miss vs. #10 Penn State (Sat. Dec. 30)

#6 Georgia vs. #5 Florida State (Sat. Dec. 30)

#23 Liberty vs. #8 Oregon (Mon. Jan. 1)

CFB Semifinals

#4 Alabama vs. #1 Michigan (Mon, Jan. 1)

#3 Texas vs. #2 Washington( Mon. Jan. 1)

CFP Championship Game (Mon. Jan. 8)

CBS Sports: Nick Saban Empathizes With Florida State Snub After ‘Bama Sneaks Into Playoff
ESPN: CFB Playoff Preview: Michigan vs. Alabama & Washington vs. Texas

NFL

Week 13 Highlight Reel 🎥

Photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images

49ers Smash Eagles (42-19), Send Message to Rest of NFL Coming Down the Stretch

Revenge in Philly! The 49ers marched into Lincoln Financial Field in Week 13 with fresh memories of last year’s NFC Championship Game, and they did something to the Birds that no team has done yet. The Eagles held San Fran to minus-six yards in their first two drives, but it was six consecutive touchdown drives after that for a 42-19 romp. This game was as chippy as ever with ugly no-calls and a sideline spat that saw 49ers LB Dre Greenlaw and Eagles chief of security Dom DiSandro get ejected. Deebo Samuel carved up Philly with 3 TDs. That was the game of the week on Sunday, and it’ll have implications for the No. 1 spot in this week’s upcoming power rankings.

Fun Fact: The 49ers’ 23-point win over the Eagles was the largest victory against a team with the outright-best record in the NFL since the 1970 merger. Wow.

Elsewhere in the NFL, the Packers upset the Chiefs thanks to two back-breaking missed pass interference calls on the final drive. The Dolphins had another track meet featuring WR Tyreek Hill. The Cardinals shocked the Steelers. And the Rams, Colts and Texans are currently in the playoff picture (what?!). Let’s recap with some top performers and a Week 13 scoreboard before tonight’s big AFC clash.

Week 13 Top Performers

QB B. Purdy (SF): 19/27, 314 yards, 4 TDs

QB M. Stafford (LAR): 22/37, 279 yards, 3 TDs

QB J. Hurts (PHI): 26/45, 318 total yards, 2 TDs

RB D. Henry (TEN): 22 touches, 120 yards, 2 TDs

RB J. Conner (ARI): 25 touches, 105 yards, 2 TDs

RB C. McCaffrey (SF): 20 touches, 133 yards, 1 TD

WR D. Samuel (SF): 7 touches, 138 yards, 3 TDs

WR T. Hill (MIA): 5 receptions, 157 yards, 2 TDs

WR N. Collins (HOU): 9 receptions, 190 yards, 1 TD

WR M. Evans (TB): 7 receptions, 162 yards, 1 TD

TE S. LaPorta (DET): 9 receptions, 140 yards, 1 TD

NFL Week 13 Scores & Highlights

Cowboys def. Seahawks (41-35)

Colts def. Titans (31-28, OT)

Chargers def. Patriots (6-0)

Lions def. Saints (33-28)

Falcons def. Jets (13-8)

Cardinals def. Steelers (24-10)

Dolphins def. Commanders (45-15)

Texans def. Broncos (22-17)

Buccaneers def. Panthers (21-18)

Rams def. Browns (36-19)

49ers def. Eagles (42-19)

Packers def. Chiefs (27-19)

Monday Night Football

Bengals at Jaguars (8:15 pm ET, ESPN)

NBC Sports: What We Learned as 49ers Exact Revenge in Dazzling Win Over Eagles

CBS Sports: Week 13 Grades: 49ers Earn ‘A’ for Blowing Out Eagles, Steelers Get ‘F’ for Upset Loss to Cardinals

MLS PLAYOFFS

MLS Cup Semifinals: Crew Go Through

Photo: Jeff Dean / Getty Images

Christian Ramirez’s Extra-Time Goal Sends Columbus Crew Past FC Cincinnati (3-2) & Into Cup Final Against LAFC

The MLS Cup final is set! And it won’t be featuring the Supporters’ Shield winners. The Columbus Crew shocked the 1-seed FC Cincinnati on Saturday in the Eastern Conference Finals of the MLS Cup Playoffs (3-2) thanks to Christian Ramirez’s put-back winner. Just 110 miles separated the two clubs in the Ohio derby. Cincy took a 2-0 lead into halftime, but the visitors from Columbus had a miracle second half. Ramirez and Diego Rossi leveled the score in the final 20 minutes to force extra-time before Ramirez’s moment of magic. The Eastern Conference final was the best MLS games I’ve seen all season.

On the west coast, the dominating form of LAFC continued unfazed as they peppered Houston all night long in a rainy L.A. semifinal. Ryan Hollingshead smashed a loose ball in just before halftime, and L.A. added a late insurance goal to earn their second straight trip to the MLS Cup Final. The defending champs should be the favorites heading into their match with Columbus this weekend. One more!

MLS Cup Conference Finals

Columbus Crew def. FC Cincinnati (3-2)

LAFC def. Houston Dynamo (2-0)

MLS Cup Final (Saturday)

LAFC vs. Columbus Crew (Sat. 4:00 pm ET)

Yahoo! Sports: Columbus Crew Stun Cincinnati With Wild Comeback in Eastern Conference Final

NCAA

College Hoops Upset Alerts 🚨

Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images

#1 Purdue, #3 Marquette, #7 Duke & #12 Kentucky All Fall to Unranked Opponents

We’re less than a week into December and the college basketball pollsters are having a rough go of things. Another weekend, and another list of top teams hit the dust. No. 1-ranked Purdue was the latest victim. After the Boilers took down two top-10 teams in Maui the week before, Purdue fell on the road at Northwestern (92-88, OT) in their Big Ten Conference opener. It doesn’t help that the Boilers have Iowa, #23 Alabama and #2 Arizona as their next three matchups on the schedule. But they weren’t the only top dawgs to get hunted down — #3 Marquette, #7 Duke and #12 Kentucky were all victims of upsets to unranked opponents. Here’s a scoreboard of the college hoops weekend:

NCAA Men’s Basketball

Northwestern def. #1 Purdue (92-88, OT)

Wisconsin def. #3 Marquette (75-64)

#5 Kansas def. #4 UConn (69-65)

Georgia Tech def. #7 Duke (72-68)

UNC Wilmington def. #12 Kentucky (80-73)

NCAA Women’s Basketball

#1 South Carolina def. Duke (77-61)

Gonzaga def. #3 Stanford (96-78)

#4 Iowa def. Bowling Green (99-65)

#10 Texas def. #11 UConn (80-68)

HIGHLIGHTS 🎥