In the sports world, the start of a new year means one thing: College Football Playoffs. As the four best teams in the country prepare to take the field on New Year’s Day with championship aspirations, fans can head over to ESPN+ for a behind-the-scenes look at their seasons with Inside the College Football Playoff.
The first episode, titled “The Championship Chase,” sums up this incredibly unique season for Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame. All four teams have participated in the playoffs before, but never have they gotten there quite like this.
The episode opens by recalling the beginning of the College Football season, at which time everyone was doubting that a season was every actually going to happen. Alabama quarterback Mac Jones talks about what the preparations were like in such a strange year. Head Coach Nick Saban explains how impressed he is with his group of players and their ability to adjust to this difficult time.
Jumping over to Clemson, Head Coach Dabo Swinney talks about the challenge as well and credits people in the program with stepping up to make this season happen.He also stresses that the players needed football this year. Quarterback and Heisman Trophy favorite Trevor Lawrence talks a bit about how all the players wanted was to play.
Things were a bit different for Ohio State, as the Big Ten Conference was the last to allow a season to happen. Quarterback Justin Fields played a big role in getting the season to happen and we hear a bit from him as he talks about what the experience was like for him and why he felt the need to lead the charge.
Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah talks about how their Head Coach Brian Kelly stressed that not only was hard work important this year, but also health and safety. Kelly joins in to talk about the commitment that players, coaches, staff and administrators put forth to get through this season. Ironically, it’s the Notre Dame fans that rushed the field after a win, breaking all protocols, as seen later in the episode.
As the episode works through a series of virtual interviews with Alabama players and Coach Saban, we get a recap of the team’s season. Saban talks about how the best players on his team are “the best people” on the team as well. We see a series of highlights, specifically focusing on Jones, wide receiver DeVonta Smith and running back Najee Harris, leading up to the SEC Championship game, which was loaded with highlights itself.
In one of the funniest moments of the episode. Harris is asked about his response to Saban talking about how much he loves the team. We see a clip of the team responding with a loud “awww” and Harris jokes that this was the moment he realized Saban had feelings.
Ohio State players and Head Coach Ryan Day talk about their experience in last year’s playoff, which ended with a loss to Clemson in a semifinal game. We get a highlight package of the Big Ten Championship game, in which running back Trey Sermon emerged as the hero.
Jumping to Notre Dame, the episode points out the significance of the fact that the team, which is typically independent of any conference, was allowed to compete for the ACC Championship this season. It then jumps back to their earlier game against Clemson, in which they knocked off the number one team in the country. It’s here that we see the field flooded with fans.
Notre Dame tight end Brock Wright had a camera crew following him for the week leading up to the ACC Championship game, so we get a lot of his insight in that timeframe. This allows us to see a lot of what the player experience was like for this unique season, including early morning COVID tests.
We then jump over to Clemson, which is the only team to make the playoffs in all six seasons since the concept was introduced. During a virtual interview, Lawrence is asked about his mustache, which prompts him to laugh and joke in response.
During the recap of the Clemson season, we get a focus on the time Lawrence missed after testing positive for COVID, which led to their loss to Notre Dame. That brings us to the ACC Championship game and Swinney makes it clear that his team was not looking for revenge, but rather a championship.
The episode comes to a close with a recap of the selection show, during which all four teams found ot they would be playing for a title and who would be standing in their way. It ends with narration explaining when we can see the games and where they will be played.
Inside the College Football Playoff is fun look at the season behind four teams who are now only looking ahead. In a very interesting year in sports, these kinds of series are very interesting to watch as every program has had to implement their own adjustments. It does wrap up in a way that feels more like an ad than anything else, but that doesn’t ruin the very interesting and entertaining previous 20 minutes. The show however, would probably benefit from a longer run time, allowing fans more of a look inside of these four locker rooms.
There will be three more episodes of Inside the College Football Playoff, with the next premiering on January 4, after the first round of the playoff. You can watch Inside the College Football Playoff exclusively on ESPN+.