Kyler Murray’s college football career could end where he hopes his Major League Baseball career will begin -- in the Bay.
Oklahoma made the cut when the four-team College Football Playoff field was announced Sunday, so Murray and the Sooners (12-1) will play Alabama (13-0) on Dec. 29 in the Orange Bowl in Miami.
Should they shock the top-ranked Crimson Tide, they’d advance to the national championship game Jan. 7 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.
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Murray signed a $4.66 million contract with the A’s last summer and has said he’ll join them after one season as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback. That season has gone better than many might have believed: Murray should be a Heisman Trophy finalist after passing for 4,053 yards and 40 touchdowns, and running for 892 yards and 11 more scores in 13 games.
“He is a very dynamic guy in terms of athletic ability, his quickness, his ability to make plays with his feet,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said on ESPN, “and he’s turned into a really, really efficient passer who has good skill guys to make good plays to go along with the rest of their weapons.”
Murray’s athleticism has been on display all season, showing everyone why the A’s spent the No. 9 overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft on him. He’s an outfielder in baseball, and his swing looked pretty sweet during a visit to the Coliseum in June.
Clemson (13-0) will meet Notre Dame (12-0) in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 29 in Arlington, Texas, in the other CFB semifinal.
Some believed Ohio State (12-1) and even Georgia (11-2) deserved to be in the CFP field over Oklahoma. But there are just four spots, the 13-member selection committee made its decision, and now it’s up to Murray and the Sooners to do the work.