On December 3, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee released their final rankings of the season. The top four teams determined by the Committee were Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama. Deemed the best college football teams in the nation, these four schools will go head-to-head in the Playoffs to compete for the National Championship title.
On January 1, the number one seeded Clemson Tigers will face off against the fourth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in the Allstate Sugar Bowl while the second seed Oklahoma Sooners and third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs will battle in the Rose Bowl. The winners of each game will then compete in the College Football National Championship.
Three of the four teams in the Playoffs are the champions of their respective conferences. The Tigers were the ACC champions, the Bulldogs were the SEC champions and the Sooners were the Big 12 Conference champions. The odd team out is the Crimson Tide who failed to even make an appearance in the SEC championship game. So why did Alabama advance to the Playoffs?
Selection Committee chairman, Kirby Honeycutt, told USA Today, “As we looked over Alabama’s full body of work over the course of the season, we favored that body of work over Ohio State.” The Ohio State Buckeyes were the fifth-ranked team, just missing out on a Playoff berth. The Playoff Committee had to compare the résumés of Alabama and Ohio State in order to decide who deserved the fourth seed, but they made the wrong decision.
The Buckeyes had an 11-2 record and were the Big Ten Conference champions while Alabama had an 11-1 record. Ohio State may have had one more loss than the Crimson Tide, but they had more quality wins than Alabama, and they were their conference’s champion while Alabama sat at home watching the SEC Championship Game.
The Crimson Tide has a history of dominance within college football. They have consistently been ranked the top team in the nation and have been one of the four teams in the new College Football Playoff system all four years of its existence. The Crimson Tide made it into the playoffs because of their powerhouse reputation rather than their performance this season.
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee made a mistake in giving the Alabama Crimson Tide a Playoff appearance. The Ohio State Buckeyes had more wins over elite teams and were the Big Ten champions. Alabama is undoubtedly one of the best football programs in the country, but this season the Ohio State Buckeyes proved they should’ve been the fourth team competing in the College Football Playoffs instead of the Crimson Tide.
