The College Football Playoff is Set
The committee has spoken and the Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl are set but, did the committee make the right picks?
Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Notre Dame are the top four teams in the country and will all be competing for a National Title. The main question around the college football world is not who will win the national championship but, did the committee pick the correct four teams.
Alabama ended their regular season undefeated and won the SEC Championship 52-46 over the Florida Gators. Heading into the playoffs, they are the number one team in the country and are deserving of the ranking.
The other team that I felt was a lock for the playoffs was the Clemson Tigers after they thumped my Notre Dame Fighting Irish 34-10 in the ACC Championship game. They moved up to number two in the rankings and have fought and clawed for that spot.
The Tigers, in my opinion, are the most talented team in the country. Trevor Lawrence is a pro level quarterback and has been since he touched campus. On offense, they still have stud running back Travis Etienne and at the receiver position they have have Amari Rodgers who has performed at a high level this whole season.
Ohio State, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, and Cincinnati were gunning for those last two spots. These four squads had very different resumes and very different reasons to why they should and shouldn’t contend for a Nation Championship.
Cincinnati is 9-0 after narrowly beating Tulsa in the AAC title game. Their only downfall was that they play in a weak conference. They had also, only beaten one ranked opponent the whole year who was the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes.
For Texas A&M, they ended the season with one loss to Alabama. They passed the eye test with a stud quarterback like Kellen Mond and an experienced coach in Jimbo Fisher. What hurt the Aggies was that they got pounded by 28 by the Crimson Tide and didn’t play for the SEC Championship. If you don’t play for a conference championship, it’s hard for the committee to put you in the playoffs.
The Fighting Irish were undefeated heading into Charlotte for the ACC Championship game but, lost by 24 to the Clemson Tigers. I believe that being undefeated heading into your conference title game and losing to a team that also made the playoff is enough to nudge you into that number four spot.
Ryan Day’s Buckeyes finished the year 6-0 and won the Big Ten title game 22-10 over Northwestern. They beat two ranked opponents and won their conference championship but, is six games enough. The answer to that is no. Playing only six games while other squads have played eleven is an absolutely unfair advantage.
Teams that play less games are rested and healthier. Clemson and Notre Dame has been plagued with injuries and have had to put their bodies through a whole lot more than Ohio State. They played five more physical and hard hitting games and are at a disadvantage.
The committee should have put Texas A&M in over the fraudulent Ohio State Buckeyes and I will stand by that statement til the day I die. A team that has played five less games has no business being in the position to win a National Championship.