As the holiday season is in full effect, that means one thing for all college football fans: Bowl Season. Bowl games are games played at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of Division-I college football. It is the highest competition of college football in the United States.

College Football founded the FBS in 1978. Teams with a record of 6-6 or better get selected to play against each other relative to competition in hopes of having every game be as entertaining as possible.

There was one problem with the FBS when it first started: there was no national championship game. The Associated Press polls would crown a “national champion” each year. In 1998, that changed with the start of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).

The NCAA created the BCS to crown a national champion. Computer programs would create the rankings based on all sorts of statistics to pick the best two teams by the end of the year, who would then play in the national championship. In 2014, that would all change.

The NCAA made the College Football Playoff after years of fans wanting a playoff just like every other level of college football. It consists of four teams picked by a committee made up of former college football players and coaches, current athletic directors and a retired media member.

The four members of this year’s installment of the Playoff are, in order, the University of Georgia, the University of Michigan, Texas Christian University (TCU) and The Ohio State University.

Out of all four teams, this is TCU’s first College Football Playoff bid. This will also be the first time two teams from the Big 10 will be in the College Football Playoff.

The first game will be between the Michigan Wolverines versus the TCU Horned Frogs in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.

Michigan, who sits at 13-0, has looked great all season. They have wins against Ohio State and Penn State; both ranked in the top 15. They also won the Big 10 Championship game against Purdue.

Now, the Wolverines have looked shaky in some games. They had a seven-point win against an average Maryland team and a two-point win against an Illinois team that had no reason to be competing with Michigan.

Now in Michigan’s defense, their star running back Blake Corum suffered a season-ending injury during the game against Illinois.

Corum was one of the top running backs this year, rushing for 1,300 yards and 18 touchdowns. Michigan had a big hole to fill at running back, but it seems like they already found it with Donovan Edwards.

Edwards has had a big impact already at Michigan since taking over the starting running back job. Against Ohio State, Edwards had multiple big rushes that sealed the deal for Michigan.

Not only has the run game been a vital part of Michigan’s playoff run this season, but the defense has, too. The Wolverine defense is currently third in the nation in for least amount of total and rushing yards given up per game, and fifth in the nation in points allowed per game at 13.1.

TCU has Heisman finalist, Max Duggan. Duggan finished second in the voting while also winning the Davey O’Brien National QB Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, which both solidify him as the best quarterback in the nation.

Duggan threw for 3,321 yards and 30 touchdowns. He also had the second most rushes on the team for 404 yards and 6 touchdowns.

The Horned Frogs went 12-1, with their only loss in the Big 12 championship game against Kansas State in overtime. TCU also has five wins against the top 25 opponents, but 3 of them are no longer ranked. They also had 7 consecutive wins within 10 points, which shows that they can win close games.

TCU averaged 40.3 points per game, which was sixth in the nation. They did give up 25 points a game, which was the most out of the 4 teams.

By far, TCU has the worst defense, but the other defenses are elite, so it’s hard to dock them for it.

Now, Michigan is missing Corum, but Edwards fills his shoes great. Michigan is a run-heavy offense but TCU gives up fewer rushing yards than passing yards. Michigan is going to have to throw well against TCU to win, but they showed they can against Ohio State while still having success running the ball. I don’t think that Michigan will get slowed down, so I pick the Wolverines to defeat the Horned Frogs.

The second of two games will be the Georgia Bulldogs versus the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl.

Starting with Georgia, they are last year’s national champion, so if they win this year, they will be the first team to win back-to-back national championships in the College Football Playoff era.

The Bulldogs’ defense led them to a 13-0 record and a Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championship win. They have one of the best defenses in the country.

Jalen Carter is by far the star of this Georgia defense. The defensive lineman is a conscious top-five draft pick in this upcoming National Football League (NFL) Draft. Carter racked up 29 total tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles during the course of the season.

The Bulldog defense was excellent this season. They gave up the second-fewest points per game with 12.8 and the least amount of rushing yards a game with 77. They also allowed 292.1 total yards per game, which was the top ten fewest in the nation.

On offense, Georgia has 2 stars: Stetson Bennett at quarterback and Brock Bowers at tight end.

Bennett finished fourth in the Heisman voting. He passed for 3,425 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also had 184 rushing yards and 7 rushing touchdowns.

Bowers won the John Mackey Award for being the best tight end in the country. He had 52 catches for 726 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. On the rushing side, he had 6 rushes for 93 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Now, Georgia has looked almost flawless all season long. They beat Tennessee, who at the time, was the number-one-ranked team in the nation. Tennessee also has the highest points per game at 47.3, but Georgia held them to 13 points.

Georgia has had some struggles, though. They almost lost to both Missouri and Kentucky. They also didn’t defend Kent State’s screen-plays all too well earlier in the season. But besides that, Georgia has been unstoppable.

Ohio State has looked great all season long, except for 1 quarter against Michigan, which took a close game out of reach quickly and ended in a Buckeyes loss, no Big 10 Championship game appearance, and a less likely chance to make the playoffs. Luckily for them, Utah beat the University of Southern California (USC). USC was fourth in the College Football Playoff rankings, so Ohio State got in.

Ohio State has the 2 headed monsters of C.J. Stroud and Marvin Harrison, Jr.

Stroud, the Buckeyes starting quarterback, was a Heisman Finalist, finishing 3rd in the voting. Stroud passed for 3,340 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Harrison, Jr. was Stroud’s main receiver this year. Harrison, Jr. caught 72 passes for 1,157 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Tommy Eichenberg leads the Buckeye defense. The linebacker had 72 solo tackles, tied for third in the nation, and an interception which he returned for a touchdown.

The Buckeyes have one of the most high-powered offenses in the nation. They scored 44.5 points a game, but Georgia has shown that they can slow down high-power offenses. It seems like everyone is rooting for an Ohio State versus Michigan national championship due to their historic rivalry and hatred for each other, but Georgia is too dominant to not pick them. I’ll take the Bulldogs over the Buckeyes.

Georgia versus Michigan playing for a national championship at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The last time these two teams met was in last year’s Capital One Orange Bowl, where Georgia dominated Michigan and won 34-11.

Michigan will have to throw the ball a lot more if their run game gets stopped, which there is a likely chance that happens. Michigan isn’t built to throw the ball a lot, so I pick Georgia as the national champion.