December 6, 2021 7:22a

A few inches is all that separated chaos from happening in college football on Saturday and Sunday. If Oklahoma State running back Dezmon Jackson is not stopped by Baylor's Jairon McVea on fourth down just inches shy of the goal line it's potentially a different rest of Saturday and Sunday decision by the playoff committee.

If Jackson scores and Oklahoma State wins the vibe in Cincinnati is different from the start of their AAC title game against Houston. It's not that the Bearcats would not have won the game but the post-game celebration is very different. No one would know if Cincinnati was playoff bound because the Cowboys resume would feature two wins over Baylor and a win over Oklahoma and the case would have been made to get in over Cincinnati.

Only the committee knows what they would have done if Oklahoma State had scored but they didn't and by the end of Michigan's rout over Iowa in the Big Ten title game, it was apparent who the playoff four was going to be. And it all came down to an incredible defensive play on fourth down just inches from the goal line...

How did we go from Georgia having one of the best defenses in the last twenty years to "who did they really beat all season" and "Kirby can't win the big one" and "who starts at quarterback in the playoff game"? The answer is Alabama. Bryce Young made it hard for Heisman voters to pick anyone else after carving up the Bulldogs' defense for 421 yards passing. Alabama survived against Auburn but destroyed Georgia to nail the top seed in the playoff. And count me among those who believe the committee avoided a semifinal rematch by placing Georgia third...

Jim Harbaugh bet on himself after agreeing to about a 50% pay cut this past off-season. Harbaugh delivered this season with a Big Ten championship and a spot in the playoffs. His contract incentives bring his total a lot closer to what he made last season. But Harbaugh and his wife have committed to donating all those bonuses to campus workers who were furloughed during the pandemic. Look for Harbaugh to get a new deal at Ann Arbor after the success of this season and likely be in line with Mel Tucker, Brian Kelly and others getting new deals...

One more note on the playoff and those saying "can we stop the narrative about the G5 not getting into the playoff since Cincinnati is in the playoffs"- No we can't. Although all this talk will become mute in an expanded playoff, it took four years of Cincinnati building its brand and going 44-6 to get to the point of being in the mix and if Oklahoma State scores, they still may be outside of the final four. I've said for weeks, I don't want Cincinnati in the playoffs because they are a G5 team and one of those schools should eventually make it. I wanted Cincinnati in the playoffs because they earned it with a resume as good as anyone being considered...

Promise, one final college football playoff note- memo to the conference commissioners to figure it all out and settle on a model to expand the playoffs and do it in time for the 2023 season. Not 2024, 2023. Why? 2023 is the expected season where those changing conferences are expected to move. You have hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. Your conference is looking at a huge cash flood and all your schools would prefer to get that cash now, not later. Figure it out and get your media deal done and do it in time for the 2023 season...

The Gasparilla Bowl featuring UCF and Florida might be one of the highest attended bowl games outside of the New Year's Six games and playoff games. The two fan bases have had fun in recent years flooding social media platforms about playing a game or getting a series signed. The debate over 2-for-1s or home-and-home has gone on for years and give a tip of the cap to ESPN for making the game happen. They own the Gasparilla Bowl and play a role in creating the matchups. The game will draw a great crowd and has TV appeal for ratings. UCF's Gus Malzahn has done an amazing job to get 8 wins out of a team decimated by injuries all season. A win over the Gators jump starts the excitement for 2022 and gives Knight fans something to brag about. It will be interesting to see how Florida approaches a bowl game with Billy Napier now officially their head coach. Will the Gators be motivated after a 6-6 season? Either way, it will be a fun two-plus weeks for fans and lead to what should be a full stadium in Tampa...

At the time I am writing this, Miami is still waiting on Mario Cristobal to accept the position of head coach. Manny Diaz is still Miami's coach and was out recruiting yesterday. It's an awkward situation but nothing is normal these days in college football. Is it unfair to Diaz? Sure. But Miami has been operating without an AD and a president who only recently chose to engage in the happenings of its athletic department. The Canes seem to have a large circle of people wanting to be decision makers and a few in that circle that are the decision makers. If Miami lands Cristobal and Clemson AD Dan Radakovich no one will care how they treated Manny Diaz in the final days. If Cristobal says no and stays at Oregon, then the weird begins with Diaz staying. But this is college football today and after last week's coaching moves, nothing should surprise us...

Reports are that Cristobal has been offered a deal averaging $8M per season. That is a huge jump and commitment for Miami and he's expected to get a large pool to pay assistants. In two weeks, the pay scale for college coaches has skyrocketed. One could say it's a free market and that market establishes the pay for high profile coaches. True. But this has become more about image for schools. ADs still offer one sided deals that favor coaches but believe offering these $80-100M deals says "we are serious" about winning national titles. That all sounds good until that second straight 10-2 season makes a few of those wanna-be GMs-also known as boosters- ask what are they paying for? If Nick Saban wins another title what does agent Jimmy Sexton ask Alabama for when it comes to Saban's raise? My guess is if Nick wins another one, Alabama will adjust his yearly pay to $12-15M. It won't be because they have to. Saban basically has a lifetime deal but it will be about image that the greatest coach the sport has seen can't have a coach who lost 56-7 after he got a $95M deal(Mel Tucker who lost to Ohio State) or a coach who finished 7-5 (James Franklin at Penn State) get $85M. It's always about the optics...

Final thought: According to the National Christmas Tree Association (it is a real thing) about 25-30M Christmas trees are sold each year...