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B1G lands 2 teams in ESPN Playoff Predictor’s Top 5

Mark Schipper

By Mark Schipper

Published:

Is the College Football Playoff stuck in a Groundhog Day cycle? It appears there are two teams good enough to make it every year and a pair of wild card slots kept free to give a pair of other schools the opportunity to challenge the kings of college football.

The good news for B1G fans is that ESPN is predicting both openings could go to league teams, with Ohio State and Wisconsin leading the field, giving the conference half of the sport’s championship final four tournament. 

Surprising exactly no one, ESPN Stats & Info is allowing both Alabama and Clemson great odds to make the cut, with the Crimson Tide at an eighty-seven percent chance of making their fifth appearance in seven opportunities which, believe it or not, is tied with the Tigers of Clemson University for the most. 

Exciting for B1G fans, however, is that the Buckeyes are tied with Alabama at a thirty-percent chance of winning the national championship. Clemson follows at twenty-one percent with Wisconsin at fourth at ten-percent. The University of Georgia sits fifth with a three-percent chance despite being blasted by Alabama in Tuscaloosa two weeks ago.

This could all change quickly, however, as the Badgers scintillating new quarterback, Graham Mertz, reportedly tested positive for Covid-19 over the weekend and is awaiting results of a confirmation test. If the positive test is confirmed, Mertz will be out a minimum of three weeks per the league’s strictest-in-country protocols. 

Mark Schipper

Mark Schipper is a reporter, sportswriter, and aspiring novelist living in Chicago, Illinois.