It’s bowl season for college football, and this year at SGO we’re doing a little something special; we’re going to try and predict the outcome of the playoffs by simulating the games with NCAA Football 14 using the latest updated rosters. For the past week we’ve been simulating the bowls leading up to the big games, but now it’s New Year’s Eve and that means it’s time for the College Football Playoff.
The first game for today is the Orange Bowl in Miami, at 4 PM Eastern, between the Oklahoma Sooners and the undefeated Clemson Tigers. It’s set to be a good match, but how is it going to play out, according to NCAA Football 14?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmsxz_40q58
After a special teams breakdown Oklahoma tries their hardest to keep up with Clemson, but gets down by 13 points by the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Oklahoma plays catch up, and closes the gap a bit more but goes into halftime 23-14 in favor of the Tigers.
In the third quarter, not a single point is scored on either side despite both teams best efforts, but Clemson keeps the pressure on Oklahoma ending the game with a final score of 31 to 14. Despite Baker Mayfield passing for nearly 300yds his two INTs were a big factor in the loss. How accurate will our simulation be? There’s only one way to find out, and that’s by watching the game today at 4 PM.
For the second game of the semifinals, Michigan State is taking on Alabama in the Cotton Bowl at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Both teams have had a very strong season, with an exact equal score of 12-1 on both sides making for an interesting matchup.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LBuzqgp6vo
Alabama starts off the first quarter by scoring 14 points, but MSU is able to start catching up with 7 points of their own going into the second. The Spartans play as hard as they can, but ultimately manage to stay behind as Alabama picks up another 10 points as they move into halftime.
The third quarter brings things a bit closer as Michigan scores 21 unanswered, leaving a mere 3 point difference late in the fourth quarter making this anyone’s game. Despite MSU’s best efforts Alabama’s power running game, led by Heisman winner Derrick Henry, allow them to grind out the remaining minutes ending the game with a final score of 31 to 28. Pretty close! But how close will it be to the real game? We’ll know soon enough.
Who are you rooting for? Do you think the results are accurate? Let us know in the comments or on social media, and be sure to check out the playlist on YouTube if you want to take a look at the predictions for some of the earlier bowls.
Simulating The 2015 College Football Semifinals in EA Sports NCAA Football
No comments:
Post a Comment