Everybody’s mad

The GIST: The final College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings are out, the second-ever 12-team bracket is officially set, and some fans are big mad. There’s a lot to cover before you play The GIST’s College Football Bracket Challenge, so let’s dive right in.

👊 Conference championship weekend’s impact: Most of the title games went as expected on Saturday, including a No. 1 vs. No. 2 Big Ten barnburner and dominant wins for No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Texas Tech in the SEC and Big 12, respectively.

• But there was one major exception: Duke, an underdog with a 7-5 record heading into the game, stunned No. 19 Virginia in overtime to win the ACC title and box Virginia out of the CFP, ultimately creating chaos in the bracket.

🤯 The controversy: Especially with the convoluted selection process, there’s always going to be a bubble team that just misses the CFP, and this year, it was No. 11 Notre Dame. The committee awarded at-large bids to No. 9 Alabama and No. 10 Miami over the Fighting Irish, a move some are calling an unjustified snub. Heather Dinich is all of us.

• Notre Dame would have been eligible for the most prestigious non–CFP bowl games, but instead, the Irish opted out altogether. Whether motivated by protest, injury prevention, or sore loser status, the future impact on non–CFP bowl games could be huge.

⏩ What’s next: You have 11 days to argue about the Irish’s exclusion and lock in your bracket picks before the CFP’s first round kicks off on December 19th — and in the meantime, fans, coaches, and athletic departments will continue to argue about the postseason format. Hey, it’s not college football if you’re not fighting about something.

The GIST: Upsets are rolling in, playoff spots are changing hands like it’s a game of hot potato, and the weather forecast wreaked havoc on pivotal showdowns. Rain, shine, or snow, here are the storylines that shaped Week 14.

🐴 Indianapolis Colts quarterback (QB) Daniel Jones suffers torn Achilles: Unfortunately, the signal caller will require surgery after exiting the team’s tilt with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first quarter. To add insult to literal injury, the Colts fell 36–19 (their 11th straight loss in Florida), bumping them to second in a competitive AFC South…and leaving them without their starting QB. Oof.

💥 Two new division leaders in the North: The high-stakes divisional showdowns didn’t end there. First, the AFC North put on a show as the Pittsburgh Steelers dropped the Baltimore Ravens to 6-7 with yesterday’s (controversial) 27–22 dub. The hard-fought win gives the Steelers sole possession of the division with just four weeks remaining in the regular season.

• Then in the NFC North, a thrilling back-and-forth affair between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears ended in the Pack’s 28–21 victory thanks to a game-sealing red zone interception by cornerback Keisean Nixon. Straight cheesin’ at the top of the division.

👀 Buffalo Bills, QB Josh Allen orchestrate fourth-quarter comeback: Turns out Superman’s alter ego isn’t Clark Kent — it’s Allen, who threw for four touchdowns, including two on fourth down, to lift the Bills to a 39–34 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Down by double-digits for much of the game, the Bills picked off Bengals QB Joe Burrow twice in the fourth quarter to fuel their comeback.

• The Bengals’ postseason probability plummeted to just one percent with the loss, a reality the Kansas City Chiefs are starting to relate to: QB Patrick Mahomes threw an uncharacteristic three interceptions in last night’s 20–10 L to the Houston Texans and their NFL–best defense.

🎟️ This holiday season, we’re feeling extra generous. We have a few extra tickets for the Invisalign® Bay Area Women’s Classic lying around, and if anyone deserves to be at this NCAA women’s basketball doubleheader, it’s a GISTer and their guest. 

• Enter this contest now for your chance at free tickets for the December 21st showdown featuring stacked squads Stanford, Oregon, Cal, and USC. Hoop dreams, here you come.