With the College Football Playoff championship set, questions linger

The GIST: With a 28–14 win over No. 5 Texas in Friday’s Cotton Bowl, No. 8 Ohio State punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff (CFP) championship game, where they’ll face No. 7 Notre Dame. But questions about the college football landscape still linger ahead of January 20th’s title game. Let’s dig in.

🤠 What’s next for Texas and its quarterbacks? For the second straight season, the Longhorns came up short in the CFP semis with redshirt junior Quinn Ewers at quarterback. Following the loss to Ohio State, Ewers was cagey about his next move, sparking speculation that he might declare for the NFL Draft or hit the ever-popular transfer portal.

• With Ewers out of Texas’ picture, it’s time to say “howdy” to Arch Manning — yes, the nephew of NFL legends Peyton and Eli Manning — who’s set to take the reins next season. Welcome to the Manning Era.

❓ Did the new playoff format work? The first year of the 12-team expanded CFP has received mixed reviews. While total viewership increased thanks to more games, average viewership (through the quarters) is down. Evidently, driving appointment viewing for an entire month is much more difficult than driving it for one week.

• Conversely, the dip in average viewership could be a direct result of inconsistent game quality. The first round, for example, provided serious duds — like No. 6 Penn State’s 38–10 shellacking of No. 11 SMU.

• While the on-field product improved in the second round, all four top seeds who received byes were eliminated. But remember — this is only the first attempt at a brand-new format, so don’t be surprised if the committee considers updating the way the bye works.

• Notably, if this season operated with the four-team CFP format of years past, championship contenders Ohio State and Notre Dame — who both suffered early-season losses — wouldn’t be playing in the natty. And wouldn’t that be a shame?