The Committee got it right. The NCAA continues getting it wrong.
Now that the College Football Playoff (CFP) has been set, the #1 question is whether the committee selected the right four teams–Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Alabama.
While this may have been the easiest year for the committee to make choices, still–like any year under any system– complaints pour in.
Courtesy: The Bleacher Report
The loudest complaint is directed at Alabama for getting in at the fourth spot. ‘Bama didn’t win the conference championship — it didn’t even get into the championship game.
I have questions, too–three of them:
1) Should Alabama have made the playoffs?
2) Should conference championships matter?
3) Did the committee get it right?
Should the Crimson Tide have made it in? Big Ten fans and Ohio State followers say NO! Why? weekend OSU beat undefeated and #4-ranked Wisconsin. That outcome, so the thinking goes, should have been sufficient to get the Buckeyes in.
But I don’t think it’s a valid argument. Yes, Ohio State beat the Badgers, but Ohio State was ranked #8 going in the game. And the Bucks didn’t blow out Wisconsin as they did a few years ago. So it’s understandable that Alabama would move up one spot (from five to four) and beat out an Ohio State team that needed to move up four spots (from eight to four). Besides, Alabama spent most of the season ranked in the Top 2 with its lone loss coming to #7 Auburn on the road. Ohio State had two losses this year, including a bad road loss to unranked Iowa.
Now, do conference championships matter? Many feel that winning a Power Five conference should bring with it an automatic bid to the Playoff. Even Nick Saban agrees. Last year he said that a team should at least compete in a conference championship game to make the Playoff. This year ‘Bama didn’t do that.
Courtesy: USAToday.com
But Power 5 conferences aren’t equal. The OSU problem is that went into championship week in the bottom tier of the Top 10. Besides, OSU was embarrassed by Clemson in the CFP last year. And two years ago, Michigan State made the Playoff only to be crushed, 38-0, by Alabama. That’s two bad performances from your conference representative.
So, all in all, did the committee get it right? I think the answer is yes. Why do I say that? The goal is to choose the four best teams and these are the best teams.
I know there’s “SEC fatigue” and a lot of fans don’t like Alabama. But likes and dislikes are inevitable in sports, especially in college football, which is (at its core) a regional sport.
The real travesty here has nothing to do with the CFP Committee. It’s how the NCAA allows students to participate in a mega-money playoff while offering no compensation or representation.
That’s wrong!
