179 points, two epic playoff games and one great day of college football

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midnight was approaching on the East Coast as Noah Ruggles lined up to attempt the game-winning 50-yard field goal. Millions of people were waiting for the ball to drop and a new year to start.

Kirby Smart called a time out after Georgia led Ohio State by one point. A din of fear, loathing and anticipation filled Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the perfect emotional cocktail for a semifinal day the sport had waited almost a decade to unfold in.

The executive director of the College Football Playoff stood by the goal line. The victor had been decided. He was happy about the day for college football.

The first wire-to-wire riveting semifinal day was a success as the current system is about to end. It's the second-to-last year of the current four-team format, as too many blowouts in the previous eight seasons had led to the sport expanding to a 12-team playoff starting in the 20th century.

Two games that no one could have predicted came after the four-team system was too predictable.

He missed his field goal in the new year. One of the great days in the recent history of the sport was when Georgia took a knee at the end of the game. The drama wasn't quite right in one.

The missed field goal set off a wild Georgia celebration in the middle of the field, the final reminder of how fascinating and confusing college football can be.

One of the most bedeviling upsets in the recent history of the sport took place on the outskirts of Phoenix, when the Horned Frogs were a 7.5 point favorite. The Frogs scored 51 points on a defense that gave up an average of 13 points per game.

The game in Atlanta was decided in the final minute of the third quarter when Georgia's Javon Bullard knocked Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr. off the field. If Georgia is able to win back-to-back national titles, that hit could be the turning point.

Georgia is looking to become just the sport's first to win back-to-back titles in a decade, since Alabama did it in 2012 with a victory over Oklahoma.

They'll invite anyone to assume they're just SEC fodder as they search for their first national title since 1938. Ask Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. You couldn't because he bolted from his press conference after one question in the wake of the loss.

The Big Ten was left without a team in the national title game after a day of dreaming. The Big Ten's issues were brought to the forefront in a single minute.

There was a pall of missed opportunities over the Ohio State locker room. Gene Smith shook his head in disbelief after walking out of the locker room and hugging Ryan Day's wife. Staffers muttered about the hollow feeling that came about when Ohio State failed to win a game.

The players and coaching staff were focused on the little things. The interior of Ohio State's offensive line was criticized because it was not good enough.

They wondered what could have been different if Harrison wasn't there. The missed field goal could have been the difference in the game. Ohio State would have had a first-and-goal if the targeting call on the Harrison hit had been changed. After Georgia's offensive line was shut out in the third quarter, the defense collapsed.

Ryan Day said there were a lot of plays he would have liked to have been a part of. In a game like this, that happens.

The best coaching counter of the night was when Ohio State appeared to have executed a fake punt. Ohio State sneaked two offensive linemen onto its punt team for the first time this season on a fourth-and-1 on its own 34 yard line.

The tight end seemed to sprint toward a first down that would have given them the ball in the middle of the field. Kirby Smart called a timeout before the snap. It looked like a first down was going to be made. They did a great job.

In the second half of the Michigan game, Ohio State had a similar play called, but the long snapper missed the call and, with it, a wide open lane for a first down. Fleming shook his head as he saw the photos of the missed chance. He said that there was a different formation. I think it's the same scenario.

That's what happens when you play a game. The stakes get so high that they shift violently. The loser can only think about the things that could have been and not about the things that didn't happen. When it comes down to one play, it's a big loss.

The sport was close to speechless after a day of 179 total points, 2,016 total yards and infinite hairpin turns. UGA quarterback Stetson Bennett said that it was special.

The day of semifinal games had historically left viewers bored and dissatisfied. It had been a long time since the sport had a celebratory semifinal day.