Butterfly Effect: What if Joe Burrow never transferred from Ohio State to LSU?

Who wins the National Championship?

Burrow would lead Ohio State to the playoff and would be joined by Georgia, Oklahoma and Clemson to form the four-team field.

The reigning champion Clemson Tigers would be the No. 1 seed in this scenario. There is no super team at LSU and Ohio State is a notch below the Buckeyes and the Sooners continue on as the fourth seed.

That gives us a Clemson vs. Oklahoma and Georgia vs. Ohio State semifinal matchups.

Clemson would beat Oklahoma and Ohio State beats Georgia.

We already saw Clemson and Ohio State in the playoff when Trevor Lawrence and the Tigers beat the Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl. Buckeyes fans may think the referees had a little influence in that victory too.

This would be a great championship game matchup but I’d give the edge to Clemson and Lawrence and his cast of weapons to beat the Buckeyes defense. That’s what we saw in the Fiesta Bowl and I think that holds true in this mythical hypothetical scenario.

That gives Clemson a second-straight national title and third for Dabo Swinney overall. Lawrence would be on his way to becoming the greatest college football quarterback, and perhaps player, of all-time with two national titles in his first two years and a chance for a third before he is the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.