Three-Point Stance: Saturday Shine & Shame; Playoff thoughts

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with Saturday Shine and Saturday Shame from the weekend - and his pick for the final playoff spot.

This is the final SHINE and SHAME of the season, with a small crop of games to choose from. I know you’re upset about it.

RELATED: Last week's Shine and Shame

QB Jake Fromm, Georgia – This is a true freshman we are watching look so poised and coming back from a tough outing the last time against Auburn to near perfection this time around. This kid could be very special.

Georgia defense – This was the swarming defense we saw all year, with multiple players arriving at the football and the blitzes up the gut that were perfectly timed and very effective.

WR Terry Godwin, Georgia – He had a touchdown taken away (and it shouldn’t have been), had another one that counted and a two-point conversion. He was a huge key to the offense.

QB Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma – He’s been on this almost every week and is far and away the best quarterback in college football. He can’t be stopped it seems.

Oklahoma defense – It is the weakness of the Sooners team, but the defense played well against a good TCU offense once again.

QB Kelly Bryant, Clemson – If you haven’t noticed his progression as a passer in the last few games you’d better start, because it could be the reason Clemson wins it all.

Clemson defense – Led by Christian Wilkins and many others, this is arguably the best defense in the country and it showed once again. The defensive line is sickeningly good.

RB J.K. Dobbins, Ohio State – A true freshman like Fromm, he plays like a senior and is so explosive when he has a crease. He was awesome in the win over Wisconsin.

DE Sam Hubbard, Ohio State – His stat line won’t show it, but he dominated this game. I counted at least eight quarterback hurries – eight. That’s amazing.

LB Jerome Baker, Ohio State – He’s not that filled out, can get overpowered at times and overrun plays as well but he was on point Saturday and seemed to be in on every tackle.

Scott Frost, UCF – Being loved by the team you’re leaving and the team you’re going home to at the same time says a lot about this guy. He did the impossible at UCF, and his players love him.

WR Anthony Miller, Memphis – Watch out for this kid in the NFL. He has that “it factor” I look for in a wide receiver.

WR Tre’Quan Smith, UCF – See Miller, Anthony. He’s bigger and more physically imposing than Miller, but not as polished. He could be great in the NFL as well.

QB Sam Darnold, USC – No turnovers and a dominant performance against a really solid and physical defense. We are starting to see the Sam Darnold we expected to see all season long.

RB Ronald Jones, USC – The USC offensive MVP for the season had another great game in the win over Stanford.

WR Michael Pittman Jr., USC – A huge game against Stanford. Pittman Jr. sometimes gets overlooked, but he’s darned good when he wants to be.

RB Bryce Love, Stanford – Everyone knows he’s getting fed and he still can’t be bottled up.

WR Cedrick Wilson, Boise State – In a somewhat boring offensive game, he was key for the Broncos.

Tennessee – How’s that coaching search going? The whole thing has been an absolute embarrassment and deserves top billing here.

Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M – The way he left FSU was lame. He held everyone hostage with his decision, he let recruiting die a slow death and he was finally forced into saying out loud what everyone knew a day before the final game. His players found out on social media, and he handled the entire thing poorly. I guess the filthy rich can do what they want

Jarrett Stidham, Auburn – When he’s on he’s amazing to watch, but when you figure out a weakness (inside blitz this time around) he falls apart. He looked off after the first drive and is clearly a quarterback who relies on confidence and rhythm and has a hard time bouncing back.

Auburn defense – The defense, even the defensive line, was gashed by Georgia this time around after dominating the Bulldogs a few weeks ago. This was not the defense we were used to seeing.

TCU defense – One of the best defenses in the Big 12 once again failed to come close to shutting down Mayfield and company. The Horned Frogs gave up more points this time than last time, and that’s hard to do when playing a team the second time.

Malik Rosier, Miami – He showed no signs of feeling the pressure until the last two games of the season where he was simply awful. I’m not sure what happened, but it wasn’t good - and Miami is still a year away as suspected.

Miami defense – The Hurricanes have been banged up - and it got worse during the game. But the defense hasn’t been as dominant in the last couple of games.

Alex Hornibrook, Wisconsin – When the Badgers fall behind they have no chance of coming back because of his weak arm and game management skills. Bottom line: He is not a very good quarterback. Sorry everyone.

Wisconsin offensive line – This unit was dominated by the Ohio State defensive line. Dominated.

Florida State – Why would the 'Noles be on the SHAME list after a win? Because they went out of their way to reschedule a game against Louisiana-Monroe just to make a lame bowl game and finish 6-6 and keep a bowl streak alive. That’s sad.

Ole Miss – I think they got off easy with the NCAA sanctions, honestly. So I’ll put them in SHAME here for cheating and not paying as big a price as they should have.

Let’s make this as clear as possible, the committee got it right. Alabama should be the final team in the college football playoff. And I say this as someone who believes a conference champ should get in over a non-conference champ. But after Ohio State was stuffed in last year over Penn State, all bets are off.

And the simple reason why the Tide should be in over the Buckeyes is because of a team named Iowa. Both Alabama and Ohio State lost to a Top 10 program this season: Alabama to Auburn in a game not as close as the score indicated, and Ohio State got blown out by Oklahoma early in the season, so let’s consider that a wash. But only one team lost to a 7-5 program by 31 points, and that’s Ohio State losing to Iowa.

The Buckeyes have two losses, Alabama has one, and every statistical measure (wins against ranked teams, wins against teams going to bowl games, etc.) is either a tie or goes to the Tide. And which team do you think would be favored to win on a neutral field? Alabama is the answer. I know the committee didn’t want to have two teams from the same conference, especially the SEC, while leaving out two Power Five conferences. But I’m sorry, this was a no brainer. The Tide can still win a national title because they are in as the No. 4 team. The problem? They have to get past Clemson in what could be yet another epic battle. But to Ohio State fans: You got your gift last year, and now Alabama gets theirs this year.