College Football Playoff Semifinals Recap

The title game approaches, but first let's see how I did with my predictions for the semifinal round:

1. Clemson knocks off Oklahoma to stay undefeated

It was close at halftime, as the Sooners went to the locker room with a 1-point lead.  But the Tigers came out strong in the second half, shutting down Baker Mayfield and going on to score 21 unanswered points.  Deshaun Watson had a brilliant performance, as I expected, as Clemson won 37 - 17 and punched their ticket to the national championship game.

2. Michigan State triumphs over Alabama

Yeah... not quite.  The Spartans looked over-matched from start to finish.  They just couldn't seem to get anything going against a very good Alabama defense.  They had an opportunity to score before halftime before the game got out of hand, but an interception ended the drive and gave the momentum back to the Tide.  It was all downhill for MSU after that, and Alabama ended up winning 38 - 0 to setup a title game clash with Clemson.

3. CFP semifinal winners score at least 30 points fewer than last year's Ducks and Bucks

This one looked pretty good early on, as Clemson and Oklahoma were locked in a 17 - 16 battle after the first half of the Orange Bowl.  Even after the Tigers ended up winning with a score of 37 points, the prediction still had a pretty good shot with a 10 - 0 Alabama halftime lead in the Cotton Bowl .  But the Tide's four touchdowns in the second half of their victory was just enough to ruin this prediction, as Alabama and Clemson combined for 75 points in their wins, just 26 fewer than the semifinal winners of 2014.

4. Spartans hold Heisman winner Derrick Henry under 100 rushing yards

The one bright spot for Michigan State is that they were able to contain Henry even after Alabama built up a big lead.  However, their suspect secondary was torched all night by Tide QB Jake Coker.  While it didn't end up impacting the final outcome of the game, this prediction's success does lend credence to the popular notion that maybe Christian McCaffrey deserved the Heisman over Henry.

5. Orange Bowl announcers don't mention last year's 40 - 6 Russell Athletic Bowl blowout

They brought it up, if only to remind us that these weren't the same teams from a year ago.  The outcome was slightly better for Oklahoma this year, though the result was still a loss, and possibly a more painful one as it kept the Sooners from playing for a national title.

Playoff semifinals record: 2 -3
Overall record: 23.5 - 51.5