As the new 12-team College Football Playoff turned five games old amid the calendar flipping to 2025, the new format has yet to deliver an epic postseason contest.
Sixth-seeded Penn State (13–2) beat No. 3 seed Boise State (12–2) decisively, 31–14, in the Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday in Glendale, Arizona. The Nittany Lions haven’t horsed around in the postseason amid a blowout win (38–10) over No. 11 SMU (11–3) first round on Dec. 21 and now another convincing win.
That’s the way it’s been for every advancing team thus far as every game has been decided by 10 or more points. The closest thing to an outlier came in South Bend, Indiana, when No. 7 Notre Dame (12–1) held off No. 10 Indiana (11–2) in a 27–17 victory, but the Irish led 27–3 in the fourth quarter before the Hoosiers tacked on two touchdowns in the final 1:27 of the game.
Fifth-seeded Texas (12–2) beat No. 12 Clemson (10–4) convincingly, 38–24, on Dec. 21 at home. The nightcap that day didn’t provide as much playoff drama when No. 8 Ohio State (11–2) pounded No. 9 Tennessee (10–3) in a 42–17 rout in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes jumped out to a 21–0 first quarter lead, and the Volunteers never recovered.
Penn State looked ready to blowout Boise State at times in the desert on New Year’s Eve. The Nittany Lions took a 14–0 lead on two touchdown passes by junior quarterback Drew Allar in the first quarter, and Big Ten runner-up pushed it back to double figures in each quarter despites the Broncos’ efforts.
Boise State missed opportunities along the way amid two missed field goals, a fumble, and three interceptions. Penn State put a final exclamation point on the game with a 58-yard touchdown run by junior running back Nicholas Singleton.
The Nittany Lions now await the winner of the Notre Dame-Georgia game on Thursday, which will cap a New Year’s Day tripleheader of quarterfinal action in traditional bowl games. Whether or not any of those games will deliver a postseason classic remains in question based on the early returns of the new College Football Playoff.
Only No. 1 Oregon (13–0) and Ohio State have met before this season, and the Ducks prevailed in a 32–31 classic at home on Oct. 12. The other two matchups provide much more unknowns for competitiveness.
Fourth-seeded Arizona State (11–2) hasn’t seen a team like the Longhorns this season, and that will change early on New Year’s Day when the two collide in the Peach Bowl. The Sun Devils won the Big 12 but didn’t beat any teams ranked higher than No. 14 at the time, but Texas has been playing top-10 caliber teams all season in the SEC.
Notre Dame has similar questions to answer when facing Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. The Irish hadn’t beaten any top-10 teams until Indiana, but the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs (11–2) have done it repeatedly amid an SEC championship.
Before the clock strikes midnight to conclude the first day of 2025, there most likely will be a decisive picture on how competitive the first two rounds of the 12-team playoff format looked in the first go-around.
