Kendyll Ferrall
Christmas came a few weeks early for the College Football Playoff selection committee.
This last Sunday, the 12 members of the committee achieved what once seemed impossible in a sport famous for its debate and chaos come postseason play: agreement.
No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Michigan State and No. 4 Oklahoma were selected for the playoff’s four slots and for the first time in a very long time, everyone seemed to agree that these schools earned it. Meaning that this year, the drama and intrigue of the postseason will actually happen on the field and not during the selection process.
Unlike last year’s Selection Sunday that was in complete disarray as six teams legitimately earned positions in the playoff, which led to calls for an eight-team playoff. This year’s teams all, without a doubt, earned their bracket positions as the best teams in the country.
Even the losers agree with the committee’s selection this year.
No. 6-ranked Stanford head coach David Shaw, who might have seen a playoff berth had things gone a little differently in September against Northwestern, conceded that a slot in the Rose Bowl cushioned the blow of missing a shot at the 2016 championship. The four-team field means that each year a Power 5 league will be left out, but the PAC 12 champions seem OK with it this year.
For the most part, the committee’s only real job this year was seeding. Clemson was the obvious first choice as the only school with an undefeated regular-season record, facing off against fourth-seeded Big 12 Champion Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. The two schools will meet in a rematch after last December’s Russell Athletic Bowl where Clemson walked away with a 13-6 win.
The Sooners’ selection came after 2014’s selection that nearly sent the Big 12 into a full-on meltdown after TCU fell from No. 3 to No. 6 in the final ranking and a snub for one-loss Baylor, leaving the conference to question whether or not it should add another school for the sake of having a championship game. But patience proved to be a virtue for the Big 12, with Oklahoma making the cutoff, even with a pretty embarrassing loss to Texas.
The case could be made that it should be Michigan State in the No. 4 seed after its relatively sloppy Big 10 Championship win over then-undefeated Iowa and not Oklahoma. The Spartans’ 2015 resume includes wins over reigning champ Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon. Michigan State’s wins over top-ten schools were enough to edge out Oklahoma and proved that who you play matters. The last time a Big 10 team leap frogged over a Big 12 team, Ohio State went on to be crowned the national champion and the Baylor Bears watched the playoffs from home.
Much like the team’s back-to-back SEC championships, placing Alabama in the No. 2 surprised absolutely nobody. The Crimson Tide quickly bounced back from its early loss back in September to Ole Miss to roll over the Florida Gators in the SEC title game.
This year’s playoff selection is how it’s supposed to work. All four teams fought their way through the season and came out the definitive winners of their leagues. After scream-filled arguments under the Bowl Championship Series and the complete chaos of the CFP’s debut last year, it seems that for once, everything finally went right.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
