The 2014 college football season marked the beginning of a new era, the College Football Playoff era.
For the first time, we actually got a tournament to decide who was college football's champion. The final game was not decided by the BCS. The teams actually settled the whole thing on the field.
Four teams. Three games. One champion.
In the end, Ohio State emerged victorious with a 42-20 win over Oregon in the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship Game. The Buckeyes defeated Alabama in one national semifinal, while the Ducks handled Florida State in the other.
The Playoff was unprecedented. But when it was all said and done, one of America's finest sports was actually made better. It was a breath of fresh air and the end of the BCS era.
But 2015 is another year. The four teams in this year's College Football Playoff will almost surely be different, but the drama will (hopefully) be the same.
Here are some potential teams to keep an eye on as College Football Playoff contenders as we get set to enter the 2015 season.
Alabama
We'll start with the Crimson Tide, who were one of the four playoff teams a year ago when they entered as the overall No. 1 seed before falling to the fourth-ranked Buckeyes, 42-35, in the Sugar Bowl.
Derrick Henry returns for Alabama
Alabama has quite a bit of talent to replace on offense. The Tide lost wide receiver Amari Cooper, running back T.J. Yeldon and quarterback Blake Sims. The quarterback position is the biggest question mark surrounding Alabama, as it will be a battle between Florida State transfer Jake Coker and freshmen Blake Barnett and David Cornwell.
On defense, the Crimson Tide lost a pair of safeties in Landon Collins and Nick Perry, as well as middle linebacker Trey DePriest. But Alabama should feature one of the nation's best defenses, especially with a Front 7 that features defensive lineman A'Shawn Robinson and linebackers Reggie Ragland and Reuben Foster.
The schedule is difficult and features a non-conference, Week 1 matchup with Wisconsin. It also features road SEC games at Georgia, Texas A&M and Auburn.
Auburn
After a disappointing 8-5 campaign in 2014, there's a lot of optimism surrounding this year's version of the Tigers.
Perhaps that's because Auburn is one of the few SEC teams that has its quarterback situation figured out. Jeremy Johnson will be the man in charge of running Gus Malzahn's high-powered offense and Johnson seems to be the perfect fit for that type of attack.
Auburn opens up the 2015 season against Louisville at the Georgia Dome and it must play at LSU and at Texas A&M this year, but the Tigers also get home games against both Georgia and Alabama.
Baylor
One team which found itself on the outside looking in a year ago on Selection Sunday was Baylor, which finished the year 11-1. But without a conference championship game to determine a true conference champion between the Bears and TCU, Baylor was left out of the four-team playoff.
The Bears lost their quarterback and one of the top signal callers in college football from a year ago, Bryce Petty. But the way Art Briles' offense operates it wouldn't be a surprise to see Seth Russell step in and have instant success, especially with a group of wide receivers which features K.D. Cannon and Corey Coleman — both of which went for over 1,000 yards a year ago.
Baylor's non-conference schedule is about as lackluster as it gets. The Bears also get both Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia at home in Big 12 play. The biggest challenge for Baylor, though, will be back-to-back road games in Weeks 10 and 11 against Oklahoma State and TCU.
Michigan State
With a lot of talk surrounding the defending champs, it seems Michigan State is again being left out of the national conversation. Truth is, the Spartans will be very good in 2015 yet again.
Connor Cook is one of the nation's top QBs
Michigan State will be able to compete with anybody in the country up front of both sides of the ball as the Spartans feature potentially dominant offensive and defensive lines. Michigan State is also set at quarterback, too, with Connor Cook opting to return for his senior season. Known year after year for a stout defense, the Spartans' only real question marks come at the skill positions on offense. Who replaces Jeremy Langford at running back and Tony Lippett at wide receiver?
Michigan State's big non-conference game comes in Week 2 when it hosts Oregon at Spartan Stadium. Should it get past the Ducks, Michigan State could easily be undefeated when it travels to Columbus for a date with the Buckeyes on Nov. 21 in what could be a de-facto Big Ten championship game.
Notre Dame
Many people feel Notre Dame is overrated just about every season, but this 2015 version of the Fighting Irish could be the best group Brian Kelly has had in his six years as head coach. Notre Dame returns 19 starters from its 8-5 team a year ago which defeated LSU in the Music City Bowl.
The Irish were set to have a quarterback competition between Everett Golson and Malik Zaire, but that competition ended abruptly when Golson opted to transfer to Florida State in May. The Irish now are fully behind Zaire to lead a team which is flooded with NFL talent.
Notre Dame features potential early-round NFL Draft choices in left tackle Ronnie Staley, defensive tackle Sheldon Day and do-everything linebacker Jaylon Smith, among others.
The biggest challenge for Notre Dame, however, remains its schedule. As as FBS independent, the Irish play a brutal slate of games which features home matchups with Texas, Georgia Tech and USC and road games against Clemson, Pittsburgh and Stanford.
Ohio State
The defending national champions are the heavy favorite to win it all again in 2015.
And why not? The Buckeyes are absolutely loaded — they return 16 starters from a national championship team — and have a more-than-manageable schedule.
OSU expects a big season from Ezekiel Elliott
Ohio State's biggest question during fall camp is at the quarterback spot. But the Buckeyes' battle between J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones isn't like most other quarterback competitions because each guy has proven himself on the biggest stage in college football.
Ohio State opens up the season Sept. 7 in Blacksburg, Va. against Virginia Tech — the only team to beat the Buckeyes one year ago. Ohio State will be without four players in that game — All-American defensive end Joey Bosa, H-backs Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson and wide receiver Corey Smith — but if it can get past the Hokies in Week 1, it will be a virtual cakewalk until Nov. 21 when Michigan State comes to town.
Clear those two hurdles and the Buckeyes should find themselves back in Indianapolis playing for another Big Ten title.
Oregon
The Ducks have their fair share of question marks, but right now, still may be the preseason favorite to come out of the Pac-12.
The biggest unknown surrounding the Ducks is at the quarterback position, where either Vernon Adams or Jeff Lockey will attempt to replace last season's Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota. Oregon also took a bit of a hit recently when the news broke they'd be without the services of running back Thomas Tyner for the season due to shoulder surgery.
Oregon must travel to Michigan State in Week 2 and its two biggest conference road games come Oct. 29 at Arizona State and Nov. 14 at Stanford, but the Ducks do get to play USC — perhaps the Pac-12's No. 2 team — at home.
TCU
Another team which found itself on the outside looking in last season was TCU. Like Baylor, the Horned Frogs were 11-1 in the regular season, but because there was no Big 12 championship game there was no true league champion. As a result, TCU and Baylor were both left out of the four-team playoff.
The Horned Frogs could be even better in 2015, however, and it all starts with their Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, Trevone Boykin. He's got a bevy of weapons around him, too, including wide receivers Josh Doctson and Kolby Listenbee, along with running back Aaron Green. There are questions on the defense — TCU must replace six starters — but there is little doubt the Horned Frogs won't put together a formidable unit.
TCU opens with a road game against Minnesota, but for a Golden Gophers team that may take a small step backward in 2015, it shouldn't be too much of a challenge for one of the top teams in the country. There are tricky road games against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, but everything should come down to that Nov. 27 showdown against Baylor.
