Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I'll keep saying it - playoffs only make sense when 2 separate entities play it out on the field, a la the World Series in baseball (pre-interleague play) and the NFL-AFL Super Bowls.

Beyond that, it's putting entertainment ahead of competition, on that sliding scale.  It's putting the small sample size (short series or 1-and-done) over the much bigger, much more valid sample size (regular season).
I've always argued that sports should lean towards the competition side and away from the cash-grabby entertainment end BECAUSE THE GAMES THEMSELVES ARE ENTERTAINMENT ENOUGH.
Hello!?!?  That's why they're called GAMES!

But here we are, trying to extract $12 from someone who once got lost and wandered into a college football game 9 years ago, and calling it progress.

The game is great.  It's enough entertainment.  The pageantry, the number of teams, the fact that many of us actually went to these schools, etc......you pass that on, generationally, and it grows organically.  Fuck the layperson tee-hee dipshit fly-by fans that bring 0.3% more profits in.  

As for the game, ND is 14-1.  Their road to get here was against a team that's never been good before, a team w/o it's QB, and a team who's allergic to big game wins.
Their best running play vs big-boy teams is their QB not finding a WR and scrambling.
I've been looking for a comp for Leonard, and it's Vince Young before things clicked for him.  'Great scrambler' shouldn't be the first compliment you give a QB.  A 66% comp rate with a 137 pass rating is brutal. 
But they have a defense.  Great pass D.  Okay run D.  Nowadays having a strong pass D is more important, but OSU has 2 dudes at RB.  They'd be smart to make ND show they can consistently stop the run before they start tossing it around to their great WRs.
This could easily be a game that's 28-3 at half.  I hope not, but ND is like Penn St - they literally disappear when faced with equal or lesser talent.  You might be thinking BUT WHAT ABOUT GEORGIA, but this wasn't the previous few years' UGA team.  23rd in scoring D.  QB with a fondness of INTs, but they faced the backup.  Hell, their RB, Etienne, averaged 5.9 ypc at Florida and only 5.0 for the Dawgs this year, so their line wasn't up to standard, either. 
Those Dawgs ain't bonafide.
If ND wins, and they may win, it'll be a huge upset.  ND is probably the big bully for 90% of the country, with all the advantages, talent, etc on their side.  But against an OSU, against the teams I listed previously, where the Irish were absolutely curb-stomped, they fall short.

Great drive by ND, getting on the board first.  We'll see how they do now that they're off their initial script.

In the long run, it's not a good thing that your best play is a QB scramble on a called pass play.

agreed. unless your QB has Vick or Lamar like 4.25-4.3 speed and can house call it anytime the ball is in his hands. that shit used to work like a charm in madden with Vick at least.

Congrats Ohio State; might as well say it before the Buckeyes start running away with it. Currently up 14-7 with all the momentum and open receivers downfield.

First 2 drives are a perfect microcosm.

How many times have we seen this before, where the overmatched team is able to take an early lead based on a well designed opening drive? A drive that cannot be replicated later, once the opponent's defense has felt things out and can dictate tempo be forcing the offense off-script.

That OSU TD pass to Smith was a sick play design.  
I'd love for them to do it again, but with a TE slipping up the seam after briefly blocking down, behind the defender jumping out wide to cover Smith.

Ah yes. This is the Notre Dame we all know and love. 

the chili turned out good
not great, but that's OK, it was just a couple bowls for me, not a competition

beer was plenty chilled in the garage - brought it inside

expected low of -15, could freeze in the garage

Damn.
30s at night here in Phoenix.