By: Charlie Moon

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

This season has been the most incredible and exciting season of my lifetime and I pride myself on NOT being Mr. “Recency Bias.”

Here’s how I see the inaugural College Football Playoff running its course.

Opening Round 12/20-12/21 (Home Sites)

Notre Dame (-8.5) v. Indiana: As much as people have hated on the Irish in the past, getting special exclusions and entrance into the BCS, the pundits have been right.

They’ve had a long history of getting smashed in these games. But this time will be different. Honestly, I think Notre Dame is one of the top 4 squads.

And let’s be real. If they weren’t so stuck on themselves, they’d be ACC Champs and none of this discussion of Indiana, SMU, Bama and South Carolina would be relevant.

The Pick: Notre Dame by 14.

Penn St (-8.5) v. SMU: Another blowout. As evidenced by the Vegas spreads, the real experts know the deal.

Sure, they get it wrong sometimes, but here we’re just talking about outright winners.

Penn St showed me a lot in their loss to Oregon. They only played two top 25 teams, a fading Illinois and a home loss to Ohio St.

But I was wrong, thinking they had no business in the playoff.

The Pick: Penn St by 17.

Ohio St (-7) v. Tennessee: This should be the only close one of the four 1st round games.

Simple…. Nico Iamaleava has shown much improvement in the last 3 games. Without that, this would be a blowout.

But as long as he keeps trending up, the Buckeyes will have trouble stopping Dylan Sampson on the ground. In the end, Ohio St’s home field wins out.

The Pick: Ohio St. by 3.

Texas (-11.5) v. Clemson: Look, some friends of mine from my home state won’t be happy, but this isn’t guys sitting around a campfire.

I have to give my honest opinion. And there’s a reason why the Tigers are double-digit dog. They deserve all the respect in the world for what they’ve done in the past. But I believe the Horns might hook ‘em hard.

The Pick: Texas by 14.

2nd Round Bowl Games (12/31 – 1/1): Peach Bowl Arizona St v. Texas

As much as I love the Sun Devil turn-around from a 2023 3-win season, this will come down to Texas #1 rush defense versus Cam Scattebo.

The Pick: Texas by 3

Rose Bowl Oregon v. Ohio St: In this rematch, Oregon won’t allow Ohio St to beat them on the ground like the Buckeyes did for over 200 yards in October.

The Pick: Oregon by 7.

Fiesta Bowl: Boise St v. Penn St: This won’t be quite the Vegas spread mismatch of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl when Boise shocked Oklahoma and the college football world with the hook-n-ladder, a Statue of Liberty and Ian Johnson getting engaged.

But….Penn St will be about a 4-point favorite.

The Pick: Penn St. by 3.

Sugar Bowl UGA v. Notre Dame: I think we saw why Kirby has been hesitant to give Gunner Stockton a shot, as much as Beck has struggled this year. Although he played with guts and tenacity of a Dawg, he’s limited.

That 2nd half in the SEC Title game, there were only 3 pass plays more than 10 yards, and one was nearly a game-costing Pick-6. That said, Etienne is healthy and Stockton still brings mobility back there.

The Pick: UGA by 6.

Semi-finals: Oregon beats Texas. UGA beats Penn St.

Championship game UGA v. Oregon:

Look, I know everyone will call me a homer, but it is what it is.

There is no team in America that has shown as much resiliency as the Dawgs. They are NOT the most dominant Dawgs squad ever, but the portal has changed the college game.

It’s so hard to make a real prediction with UGA’s QB situation, but I just can’t get past this team’s resiliency.

For a while, I just thought the Dawgs were getting exposed every week. But by season’s end, they proved that resiliency and being true Dawgs on the field gets it done.

The Pick: UGA by 3.

Larry Munson gets to smoke another Heavenly cigar.