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Postseason

College football has had America's most absurd postseason for well over a century now. Unless you're a non-FBS fan, in which case it pretty much makes perfect sense.

The last time Ohio State and Alabama played matters a lot more now

The 2015 Sugar Bowl changed things, and not just in ‘The Heart of the South.’

The Legend of JFBOOFD

The not-so-secret weapon the Buckeyes will need to beat Alabama

Bama Football and the death of the field position battle

Punting won’t save you!

Seven years in, has the Playoff improved on the BCS?

Let’s see if the Playoff has fixed the flaws of its much-derided predecessor.

A Guide to One-Loss Playoff Stress

Take a deep breath, and remember everything’s going to be okay. (Probably.)

Get ready for a very weird 2020 bowl system

Not enough teams! Canceled conference tie-ins! Money weirdness!

The College Football Playoff Committee is about to have a very bad time

Good luck with that system you built for normal seasons, voters!

24 Questions about the Duke’s Mayo Bowl

These are all very important!

Bad Idea Time: a Playoff spot in exchange for a vaccine

Here’s an idea that wouldn’t backfire: tying postseason eligibility to a school’s medical research success.

1920 Cal: the most pleasant fan experience in CFB history

A century ago, Cal showed everyone else how to have a stress-free good time.

The many national titles altered by old Big Ten bowl rules

The Big Ten’s skepticism about bowl games shifted a ton of history.

How to claim a national championship

Hoops is used to having a definitive champ. In 2020, it doesn’t. The college football internet can be of assistance on this.

All the ways one Oklahoma punt might’ve changed history

Oklahoma punted on a chance to beat Georgia in the Rose Bowl. Let’s consider how the world might’ve been different.

LSU, follow your championship with Football Mardi Gras

The football can’t get better than it was in 2019, but think bigger.

CFB’s 14 worst defending national champs, categorized

Juggernauts rarely nose-dive the next year. Here’s how it’s happened in the most extreme cases.

How 1947 Michigan helped the Chiefs win the Super Bowl

And more about Fritz Crisler, one of the most important football coaches ever.

The path to beating Bama was always simple (but not easy)

Nick Saban’s losses don’t have many common traits. Here’s one.

Every time, LSU and New Orleans title games are inseparable

And the voodoo trend all the way back to the 1930s, kind of.

BIG CAT EYES

LSU learned to mold and channel its natural chaos, and then unleashed it on the way to a national title.

THE definitive national champ for each season, 1869-2019

Or the closest thing to it, based on historical consensus. We’ll also do a final count at the end.

Every bowl’s weirdest game ever: A living calendar of oddity

Below are bowl/playoff scores and schedules, sure. More importantly, we have 44 pieces of wacky college football history throughout.

National Championship should always be on Saturday and on campus

Stop trying to be the NFL.

Yup, Alabama lives in our heads rent-free

Given all the Crimson Tide have accomplished under Nick Saban, it’d be absurd to pretend they shouldn’t.

How Clemson saves QB runs for when they’re needed most

Clemson’s careful about when they ask the quarterback to run, but it’s still a powerful card in their deck.

A short history of bowl relocation

Bowl are like people: sometimes they need to move to a new town and change their name!

2019 bowl season’s 50 finest moments, ranked by The Top Whatever

Each week or so, The Top Whatever ranks all the college football things that must be ranked. This edition ranks the entire 2019 season’s postseason.

Who bowl sponsors think I am

A day in the life of the perfect bowl advertising target

The weird Granddaddy: How the Rose set six strange standards

Why are bowl games called "bowl games?" The answer to that and several other questions go back to the Rose Bowl.

Four hours is all we need

Most of the time, the Rose Bowl is a cog in the machine it created. And then one afternoon each year, it’s a dream made real.

Replacing the worst BIG BOWL teams of the BCS/NY6 era

Antiquated rules have meant some forgettable teams ascending to the biggest bowls.

THIS DECADE IN SCHADENFREUDE: Ohio State fans vs. ESPN

Your periodic journey through the most infuriated sectors of the college football internet visits an old friend.

The first Rose Bowl was one of the worst games ever

Fittingly for this sport, the 1902 Rose Bowl was ugly as hell, made a lot of money, and spawned a tradition that lasted generations.