ESPN’s Bill Connelly has put together his list of the 10 best College Football Playoff games, and the one sitting at No. 1 didn’t decide a national title.
That distinction belongs to the 2017 Rose Bowl semifinal between Georgia and Oklahoma, a wild SEC-Big 12 showdown that Connelly said unfolded in three distinct stretches.
“This game basically featured three acts,” Connelly wrote. “First, Oklahoma turned the game into a big-play track meet and seemed in control.
Then, Georgia stormed back, grabbing three extra points before halftime and then dominating the third quarter. And then, in the third act, all hell broke loose.”
The Sooners and Bulldogs turned that semifinal into one of the defining shootouts of the playoff era, with Georgia eventually pulling out a 54-48 win in double overtime on Sony Michel’s 27-yard touchdown run. Michel and Nick Chubb did their damage on the ground, piling up 326 yards and five touchdowns on only 25 carries, while Oklahoma got a massive effort from Rodney Anderson, who rushed for 201 yards in Baker Mayfield’s final college game.
Connelly’s list included four national championship games, but none of them topped Georgia and Oklahoma’s semifinal. Georgia’s later loss to Alabama in the title game checked in at No. 2, while both of Alabama’s championship wins over Clemson also made the cut. Georgia’s semifinal win over Ohio State was another top-10 entry.
Georgia and Oklahoma will meet for the second time ever on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. E.T. on ESPN.
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