By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
There is always so much going on in the playoffs that the Content Team can’t cover it all. So, I am writing this article as a catch-all for some of the best storylines to keep an eye on this playoff season. Let’s dive in!
No Three-Peat
USC lost its first-round game to Ohio State, ending the Trojans’ run for the three-peat. The CFSL has not seen a three-peat in league history, and many thought this could be the season. However, Ohio State defeated its conference rival to kill the USC dream.
This was also the first season that USC won their conference championship in the Jacob Cobb era. Perhaps winning the conference championship is cursed?
The Conference Championship Curse
No team has won their conference title and the league title in the same season since Oklahoma State did it in Season 17. Back then it was rare to see a champion that didn’t win the conference title. In the 16 seasons between Season 2 and Season 17, there were only four teams to win a National Championship without securing a conference title (Season 1 was omitted because there were no conferences then). Here are those four teams:
| Season | National Champion | Who Won Their Conference |
| 6 | Auburn | Texas |
| 7 | USC | Notre Dame |
| 10 | Ohio State | USC |
| 13 | Notre Dame | Wisconsin |
This means that we have had as many teams win the Natty without winning their conference in the last four seasons as we did in the previous 16 seasons! This is a shocking development, that I think can be explained (at least partially) by league parity.
In the opening round, we saw two of the Season 22 conference champions go down. ACC Champion Virginia Tech lost to Texas and Big10 Champ USC lost to Ohio State. That means we have two remaining conference champs looking to prove the curse wrong. SEC Champion Alabama will host Colorado and Big XII Champion Texas A&M will have Florida State.
Even if both were to win, they would have to play each other in the semi-finals, making it impossible for both to reach the title game. Time will tell if Season 22 makes the fifth straight season of a non-conference-winning National Champion.
Conference Breakdown
There is always a lot of talk about which conference is the best in the CFSL. At the end of the regular season, it was hard to argue against the ACC. They put five teams into the playoffs (most of any conference) and had some dangerous-looking teams.
However, they are not the conference with the best record in the postseason so far. That honor belongs to the Big XII. Here are the standings as they stand right now:
| Conference | Season 22 Playoff Record |
| Big XII | 3-1 |
| ACC | 3-2 |
| SEC | 1-2 |
| Big10 | 1-3 |
To be fair to the Big10, I will note that they are the only conference that had an interconference meeting in the opening week of the playoffs. That means the best they could do was 2-1 since either Ohio State or USC had to lose that game.
Both the SEC and Big10 only have a single team left in the running while the Big XII and ACC both have three. The playoffs blessed us with no interconference meetings in the Quarterfinal round, so these numbers could change a lot by Wednesday morning.
There will be two games between the ACC and Big XII this week. North Carolina will host Texas and Texas A&M welcomes Florida State. These games will largely decide which conference holds or takes over the top spot in the conference playoff race.
ADs Getting Their First Playoff Wins
The first round of the playoffs had many ADs getting the first playoff win of their careers. Four of the eight teams that advanced this week got their ADs their first playoff win of their careers.
The first was AD Skyler Shearer and his Colorado Buffaloes. Colorado made the postseason last year for the first time in program history. However, they lost to Alabama in the first round. Shearer also made the postseason three times with Oregon way back in the pre-playoff era. However, Oregon lost all three bowl games. On Monday Night Shearer and the Buffaloes upset Auburn to win the first playoff game in school history and the first postseason victory of Shearer’s career. Congrats to Shearer and the Buffs.
Next was North Carolina and AD Daniel Gunn. Gunn and the Tarheels have been no stranger to the playoffs. This is their sixth trip in his eight seasons as AD. However, in the five previous trips, North Carolina was sent home in the opening round. This time North Carolina dominated Michigan State to move on to the next round. Congrats to Gunn and the Tar Heels.
The next was Texas AD Ryan Moreland. Moreland took over Texas in Season 20 and has led them to the playoffs in both previous seasons. However, this time Moreland and his Longhorns got over the first-round hump with a trouncing win over Virginia Tech. Congrats to Moreland and his Longhorns.
Last, but certainly not least, is Ohio State and their leader, Zach Davis. Much like Shearer, Davis led the Buckeyes to the playoffs for the first time (in his era) last season. However, they were bounced in the first round by Georgia. Davis and his Buckeyes came back this time and upset USC to win the first playoff game of Davis’ career. Congrats Davis and the Buckeyes.
It is worth noting that all four of these ADs and their teams have something in common. They were all underdogs in the sportsbook. All of them except for Colorado, which also drafted teams.
This week Daniel Gunn will face Ryan Moreland in the second round, so we are guaranteed to have at least one of these four ADs in the next round.
Playoff Experience
We already talked about the four ADs that won their first playoff meeting. Now, let’s talk about the four ADs who had playoff wins under their belt before last week.
Texas A&M AD Kade Padgett notched his first playoff win last season when he led the Aggies to the Championship game. They would ultimately fall short, but he showed Texas A&M was going to be a force in the league again. He improved his playoff record to 4-1 and the Texas A&M playoff record now stands at 6-2.
George Yost led the Miami Hurricanes to the Semifinals in his first season with the team in Season 19. He did the same last season before losing to the eventual champion USC Trojans. With their win over Florida this past week Yost bumped his playoff record to 5-2. The Miami all-time playoff record is now 15-9.
Alabama AD David Ware has done two stints with Alabama that total six seasons now. In those six seasons, Ware has led the Crimson Tide to the playoffs every time. He led #1 Seed Alabama over Clemson this week to improve his playoff record to 4-5. Alabama’s all-time playoff record is 9-13.
The last name is the only AD left in the playoffs who has ever won a CFSL title before. Tom Pence of Florida State is in his 16th season as the AD of Florida State. Pence has led the Seminoles to 12 playoff trips (including the last nine straight). His playoff record is 9-10, the same as Florida State’s.
A Tale of Two Sides
I have one last interesting tidbit I would like to throw in before we part. Go pull up the Season 22 Playoff Bracket. You can find it in user content thanks to the hard work of JohnnyV76V (Big shoutout). You will notice that all the games on the left side of the bracket have been won by the lower seed. Now, look at the right side. They have all been one by the lower seed. This is just a wild coincidence, but one worth noting.
