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Redemption Playoff: For Ryan Day and others, there’s extra on the road than simply profitable

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A dozen groups enter the Faculty Soccer Playoff with the identical objective — win the nationwide title.

But for some applications and people, there may be extra on the road right here — a narrative-changing alternative in what could possibly be known as the Redemption Playoff.

Put this manner: It doesn’t matter what occurs, Georgia will nonetheless be a powerhouse beneath a revered coach (Kirby Good). Or, take into account, for instance, that Tennessee and Arizona State shall be fast-rising applications with tons of potential within the seasons to return irrespective of the outcomes.

For others although, fortunes and reputations can swing, dramatically.

Right here the 5 largest questions, in descending order.

For at the very least three many years the Combating Irish have lived in a world the place good however not nice has served as a ceiling for this system. They might put collectively sturdy common seasons, however whether or not it was beneath Brian Kelly or to a lesser extent Charlie Weis, there have been limits.

The BCS and four-team playoff had been significantly jarring — they went 0-3 by a non-competitive mixed rating of 103-31. Kelly bounced to LSU, primarily acknowledging that he couldn’t win a nationwide title in South Bend.

What now although? Marcus Freeman’s group has been rolling exterior of a no-show in opposition to Northern Illinois again in September. At 11-1, is that this a brand new period of Notre Dame, the place the switch portal and NIL permits this system to fill the expertise gaps that may lastly make them aggressive with the sports activities elite?

Or will it’s the identical previous story, simply in a brand new system.

Indiana visits on Friday, Dec. 20, providing this system an opportunity to point out off its campus and setting. That stuff has by no means been in query although. A win — after which an actual problem in opposition to No. 2 Georgia within the quarterfinals — is what everybody needs to see. Notre Dame is gifted little question, however nationwide respect nonetheless must be seized.

ATLANTA, GA  DECEMBER 07:  Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) throws a pass during the SEC Championship game between the Texas Longhorns and the Georgia Bulldogs on December 7th, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.  (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Does the NFL view Quinn Ewers as a future franchise quarterback? How he performs within the playoff will go a great distance in displaying what he is able to. (Photograph by Wealthy von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Photos)

The Texas quarterback was anticipated to steer the Longhorns to the playoff (once more) and maybe win a nationwide title earlier than skipping off to the NFL as a first-round draft choose. He would then go away the job in Austin to Arch Manning.

The primary half has been achieved — Texas is the 5 seed regardless of not defeating a single at present ranked group. The NFL half is extra sophisticated.

This 12 months his completion proportion is down (from 69.0 to 66.7) whereas his interceptions are up (from 6 to 9). The mock drafts have him anyplace from the top of the primary to a third-day choice. Contemplating the NFL’s endlessly want for QBs, the previous is extra probably.

His two-pick efficiency in a SEC title recreation loss to Georgia did not assist although. His play can greatest be described as uneven and there are many Texas followers who pine for Manning to get his likelihood.

So simply how good is Ewers? Properly, the postseason gives an opportunity to soar up draft boards and grow to be a Longhorn legend. Or it might trigger him to tumble again to varsity — staying in Austin or hitting the switch portal. No different particular person participant has as a lot on the road, even when profitable as a group stays an important factor.

The numbers are virtually a part of the Penn State coach’s title at this level — 3-19 in opposition to top-10 opponents and 4-17 in opposition to Large Ten heavyweights Ohio State and Michigan. The Nittany Lions win typically beneath Franklin, together with this 12 months’s 11-2 mark, however not within the large video games.

Each playoff recreation is an enormous recreation, although, and because the sixth seed, Penn State obtained a dream of a break within the bracket. It can host Eleventh-seeded SMU on Dec. 21, with the winner to satisfy third-seeded (however ninth-ranked) Boise State within the Fiesta Bowl.

Clearly the Mustangs and Broncos are able to beating Penn State, however this isn’t a murderers’ row that Franklin is dealing with. If he can get previous these two to cost into the semifinals, this system will obtain a jolt. Fall quick, although, and the howls about how excessive he can elevate the Nittany Lions will solely develop louder.

The Faculty Soccer Playoff was constructed for applications similar to Penn State, who in any other case battle to beat the very best of the very best and attain the four-team discipline. That is Franklin’s alternative to vary a variety of perceptions about his teaching skill.

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In an period the place the switch portal is an integral, if not prevalent, manner for applications to inventory their rosters, simply 4 colleges didn’t add a single switch final offseason: Military, Navy, Air Drive and … Clemson.

Swinney has received two nationwide titles at Clemson and constructed his program right into a nationwide powerhouse, each of which appeared unlikely earlier than he took over because the interim coach in 2008. He’s all the time achieved it his manner and that hasn’t modified whilst outcomes have diminished — no playoff appearances since 2020.

The Tigers took a winding path to the playoff — three losses earlier than profitable the ACC’s computerized bid on a 56-yard, time-expiring discipline objective. They’re in, although, and Swinney has the possibility to silence, or at the very least decrease the amount, on the numerous critics of his old-school system who’ve labeled him as a cussed, behind-the-times coach.

Upset Texas within the first spherical to start out a playoff run and there stays a proof of idea for a way he does issues — i.e. remaining loyal to highschool recruits by means of the developmental course of. It’s an idealistic system and it could be good if it labored.

Right here’s Dabo’s likelihood to show it nonetheless can.

COLUMBUS, OHIO - NOVEMBER 30: Head coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes lines up to take the field prior to a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Ohio Stadium on November 30, 2024 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images)COLUMBUS, OHIO - NOVEMBER 30: Head coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes lines up to take the field prior to a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Ohio Stadium on November 30, 2024 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images)

No coach has extra strain on him coming into this playoff than Ohio State’s Ryan Day. (Photograph by Ben Jackson/Getty Photos)

Nobody enters the playoff with extra strain than the Ohio State coach. He’s 66-10 main the Buckeyes, however 0-4 over the past 4 seasons in opposition to Michigan. It’s left him beneath vital strain from an impatient fan base. Now he enters the playoff because the eight seed however with arguably essentially the most gifted roster within the discipline courtesy of a reported $20 million in NIL payouts.

The excellent news? Michigan isn’t within the playoff. The unhealthy information? The highway to the championship that might probably cool the hypothesis round him is arduous: a go to by Tennessee with the winner dealing with No. 1 Oregon within the Rose Bowl.

Day has a historical past of beating the groups he’s purported to beat, however falling to the very best within the sport — and freezing up in opposition to the Wolverines. The gang inside Ohio Stadium for the Vols recreation shall be intense, particularly if Ohio State begins sluggish.

Two years in the past, the same situation performed out and Ohio State performed an excellent recreation after a Michigan loss, practically defeating eventual nationwide champion Georgia within the semifinals. Can that very same degree be discovered once more? It might need to or Day received’t simply be dealing with requires his job, however coping with a degree of discomfort that may make persevering with unimaginable.

This is not only a season on the road for Day, it’s a profession arc. He may not have to win all of it, nevertheless it certain wouldn’t damage.

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