No surprises, unless you were deluding yourself. The committee stuck to its guns, taking the four teams history suggested it would take. One of them is not like the others, but that was the nature of this situation, and Alabama was going to be a double-digit favorite against anyone the committee tossed its way.
We don’t know yet where exactly the committee landed on Cincinnati, or on Coastal Carolina, or on Florida or Iowa State. We’ll get New Year’s Six pairings later today, and they’ll be of interest. Those are big games. Those are fun games. Those rankings give us insight into the system. But we got the playoff we expected, even if it leaves something to be desired.
The debate will rage about how to change the College Football Playoff and whether it should be changed at all. People will make complicated things sound simple. Dumb arguments will be made. But yet again, we have the best teams in the country lined up for games a ton of people will watch. Some years, it’s the four best. Some years, it’s two. This year, it’s two or three, as once again, the committee did what it was designed to do, picking the four teams that could reasonably be labeled as “the best.” Did Cincinnati get screwed? A little, yeah. Did Texas A&M get screwed? Not at all. Did Coastal Carolina get screwed? Not yet, but they will in the next few hours when they don’t get the New Year’s Six bowl they deserve. But again, this is about the best teams, because that’s the purpose of the playoff: Getting the best team to win the last game so that everyone can say, “Yes, that team is the national champion,” and mean it. It’s flawed. It’s annoying. You may disagree that this should be its purpose. But it’s pretty good at achieving that purpose. As yet another exciting, albeit strange, season has proved, and will likely continue to prove (I’m excited for Clemson/Ohio State, and for Alabama/Whichever, and I hope Alabama/Notre Dame is surprising).
