By Jordan Hansen
This weekend, college football will be full of triumph and heartbreak, amazing stories and those that were almost so.
Conference champions, tickets punched to the College Football Playoffs, and opportunities that may not come again for another 50 years.
There will be people quietly weeping on the sidelines, and players so overcome with emotion they collapse on the field as the clock ticks to zero. Reporters trying their damnedest to ignore the tears of stinging disappointment creeping out of a distraught player’s eyes and hardly being disappointed they only get a few words in response.
There will be passion, and blood, and glory. Superlatives, and narratives, and incredible feats of athleticism that say “to hell with what you thought before the game.”
There will be coaches holding their children on the 50-yard line as they do quick video interviews, their voices cracking. Heroes will be made and names etched into the history books, both good and bad. And, of course, Gatorade baths to go along with the confetti showers.
Schools that “weren’t supposed to be there” (hello, Colorado) really are there. Programs having a run of success that will never be replicated (how you doing, Western Michigan of the glorious Mid-American Conference?) get to put the cap on something special.
Of course, there will also be the shoo-ins, the Alabamas of the world, that crush the opponents’ spirit before the physical toll of the game even begins to register. Who manage to have the mental game half-won before the opponent even steps on the field.
But those are not, thankfully, the majority. There’s a school fighting for its self-respect back (looking at you, Penn State), that faces a Wisconsin team simply trying to see if it can continue its strong run of success.
Do not forget these games have a tremendous impact on how the playoffs will work out. Penn State and Wisconsin both hope they can crash the party, while Michigan is hoping for Colorado to beat Washington in the Pac-12 Championship. Fans of a team rooting for a school they’ve hardly heard of, just for the chance to even be considered among the final four teams.
Meanwhile, Clemson is just looking for a shot at redemption (you there, Dabo Swinney and Deshaun Watson?) and perhaps the chance to once and for all beat the stigma that lives around the program. A feisty Virginia Tech team stands in its way, a huge upset on its mind.
Meanwhile, deep in the American West, San Diego State and Wyoming will face each other in the aptly named Mountain West championship game. This game “doesn’t matter” on the big stage. But for those two teams, it’s a chance for a bit of glory. It’ll also probably be one of the best games of the weekend.
We get Bedlam in Norman this year, of course, which this year has one team that’s literally not counting one of its losses (Howdy, Oklahoma State). Both the Cowboys and its in-state cousin, Oklahoma, are trying to stay in the playoff picture, which seems less and less likely.
Once the dust clears, however, we’ll know for sure. But until it’s done and settled, sit back and take in the weekend. It only happens once a year.
