Stanford will face Iowa in Rose Bowl
To nobody’s surprise, Stanford wasn’t picked Sunday for the four-team College Football Playoff and will play in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day against Iowa.
The Cardinal (11-2) were ranked sixth in the CFP selection committee’s final rankings, one spot below the Hawkeyes (12-1), who lost the Big Ten title game to Michigan State.
The committee picked Clemson, Alabama, Michigan State and Oklahoma as the playoff participants.
The only question involving the Cardinal was who their opponent in Pasadena would be, and the panel ranked Iowa over No. 7 Ohio State (11-1), last year’s national champion.
The Cardinal beat USC 41-22 for the Pac-12 title Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium as Heisman Trophy candidate Christian McCaffrey staged a record-breaking performance.
Henry ran for 189 yards and a touchdown in the Crimson Tide’s 29-15 win over Florida in the SEC title game.
Watson had 420 total yards and five total touchdowns in the Tigers’ 45-37 victory over North Carolina in the ACC title game.
Stanford led USC 13-3 at halftime although it had just 16 passing yards in first half, and 11 of those came on McCaffrey’s touchdown pass to quarterback Kevin Hogan.
[...] Hogan finished with 144 passing yards and, like McCaffrey, passed, ran and caught a pass for touchdowns.
Defensive lineman Solomon Thomas returned a fumble by USC quarterback Cody Kessler 34 yards for a touchdown.
Tight end Austin Hooper blocked a PAT kick, and Stanford foiled a two-point conversion try when Thomas tackled USC tailback Tre Madden as he tried to pass. …