Did The CFP Committee Choose The Right Teams?

By Camden Joiner on December 9, 2014

For the final time in their inaugural season, the college football playoff committee released their rankings Monday night. Only the top four teams earn a spot in the 2014 college football playoff and controversy immediately ensued following the announcement.

Here are the commitee’s rankings.

Image via fansided.com

1. Alabama 12-1

This selection was a no-brainer as soon as the Crimson Tide won the SEC Championship vs the Missouri Tigers. The Tide have been ranked No. 1 since their victory over the previously No. 1 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Alabama prevails as the winners of the toughest division, arguably in all of college sports, which would probably even earn a 2-loss team a spot in the playoffs.

With their lone loss coming to a talented Ole Miss team by just a touchdown, the committee showed their ability to forgive an early loss. By ranking Alabama over the rest, the committee also shows how much stock they put in strength of schedule.

Image via heavy.com

2. Oregon 12-1

The Oregon Ducks lost early in the season to the Arizona Wildcats and many wrote them off as soon as the final whistle sounded. But, led by Heisman finalist Marcus Mariota, the Ducks rallied to the finish and would go on to earn a spot in the PAC-12 Championship.

Ironically enough, that match-up would pit them against the Arizona Wildcats yet again. Unfortunately for Rich Rodriguez and the Cats, this game went much differently. The Ducks got off to an early lead and never looked back, eventually beating Arizona 51-13.

This was another obvious choice for the committee and I think it’s also important Oregon not only won big in their championship game, but defeated a team they previously lost to earlier in the season.

Image via foxsports.com

3. Florida State 13-0

The BCS was exterminated just in time for Seminoles’ fans liking. If the BCS was still in place, according to these rankings, an undefeated FSU wouldn’t even be going to the National Championship Game. This would have grouped them in a category with previous Boise State undefeated teams that did not make the Championship Game cut due to an easy schedule. That alone should show how far the ACC has fallen in recent years.

However, a 4-team playoff is now in place and the Noles earned the third spot. Despite a rather easy schedule and unimpressive performances, I think this is a smart and deserved ranking for Florida State.

Image via cleveland.com

4. Ohio State 12-1

Well, who saw this coming? Once starting quaterback Braxton Miller went down before the season began, things were certainly not looking up for the Bucks. They would lose their second game of the season to a pitiful Virginia Tech team and that looked to be the beginning of a long season for college football fans in Columbus.

But led by Urban Meyer and QB replacement J.T. Barrett, the relentless Buckeyes refused to give up.

Even when Barrett went down a week before their potential Big 10 championship match-up, the Buckeyes showed resiliency, notably third string and now starting quarterback Cardale Jones.

The Buckeyes would blow out Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big 10 Championship Game, making things quite tough on the selection committee. But the CFP committee would reward Ohio State’s never-say-die attitude, despite losing two starting quarterbacks, and gave the Buckeyes the final spot in the playoffs.

Image via collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com

5. Baylor 11-1

6. TCU 11-1

I grouped these two Big XII teams together because their cases are nearly one in the same. Both were crowned co-champions due to the Big XII’s lack of a conference championship game, a move that obviously penalized them in the long run. TCU, after being ranked 3rd just last week, fell all the way to 6th despite winning their game last weekend.

Simply enough, I think these two teams canceled each other out of the college football playoff. It’s hard to make a case for co-champions being in such a small playoff bracket, with all other four teams winning their respective conferences outright.

This isn’t to say the Big XII needs a conference championship game. I believe TCU or Baylor would be ranked over Ohio State if the other team had lost a game, making them outright Big XII Champions. But, unfortunately for Baylor and TCU, both would win out after their respective losses and caused a shutout for the Big XII altogether.

As for their final rankings, I think Baylor got the edge because of their head-to-head match-up against TCU. This I can agree with, as I think a head-to-head match-up should carry more weight than comparing their sole losses.

Luckily for college football fans, it appears the committee got this one right. We have several, six in fact, football games to look forward to on New Year’s Day.

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