Caveat: I no longer watch Purdue.
I knew going into the bowl game that Purdue would be slaughtered. I knew this before Brohm left, before the opt-outs, before any of that. Because I looked at this:
https://247sports.com/Season/2022-Football/CollegeTeamTalentComposite/LSU was 8th in the country in roster talent. Purdue was
53rd.
This mirrored the year that Purdue faced Auburn in the Music City Bowl. Purdue, top to bottom, didn't have ANYWHERE near the players Auburn did.
This is what happens when one program overachieves their talent level while another underachieves.
That Music City Bowl probably had better coaching on the Purdue side of the ball, but the Auburn team had a bunch of defenders who are collecting paychecks in the NFL now. That would have been true facing LSU even if Brohm and the opt-outs had still been around.
----------------
So, looking at the CFP title game. Georgia, on an aggregate talent basis, was #2 in the country. TCU?
32nd.
TCU was a feel-goods story of overachieving. And when they faced a program that far outclassed them in talent, and in coaching (i.e.
@Mdot21 and his Harbaugh hate is probably legitimate), they didn't stand a damn chance.
Because the difference in talent between TCU and Georgia is about the same as the difference in talent between Minnesota and a MAC team. On VERY rare occasions the underdog puts it all together and wins, but usually it's a beatdown of "paycheck game" proportions.
