In the final year of the four team College Football Playoff, it seemed like there might be some intrigue and mystery as to who the final two teams would be.
Michigan and Washington were locks with their undefeated seasons and conference championships.
The final two came down to Texas, Alabama, Florida State and Georgia.
I would have argued for this playoff.
- Michigan
- Washington
- Alabama
- Georgia
Texas gets left out despite the win at Alabama. I leave the Longhorns out because of how they struggled at 4-8 Houston, winning 31-24 in a game that was tied with six minutes left.
I leave the Longhorns out because of how they struggled at 5-7 TCU, winning 29-26 and nearly blowing a 26-6 lead going into the fourth quarter.
I leave the Longhorns out because of how they struggled at Iowa State, winning 26-16. It was a seven point game with 6:30 remaining.
Texas is also out because they have the only loss outside the top 10 when they fell to Oklahoma 34-30.
My issue with the weekly rankings is that losses are weighed too heavily.
#2 Ohio State lost on the road to #3 Michigan last week in a game that comes down to the final minute in which Ohio State was the underdog. The Buckeyes fall all the way to #6. There really isn’t any reason why they should have fallen outside the top four. Ohio State finished 11-1 with its only loss to Michigan, the team that goes into the playoffs ranked #1.
Florida St is undefeated, but didn’t really play anyone or have that signature win like all the other contenders did. FSU didn’t play anyone this year close to the caliber of Michigan or Georgia or Alabama or Texas or Washington or Oregon and the Seminoles have looked much worse without QB Jordan Travis.
The worst loss any of these teams have is Texas losing to Oklahoma and even that is not a bad loss. The two best wins are Alabama over Georgia and Michigan over Ohio State, which also means the two best losses is Georgia losing to Alabama and Ohio State losing to Michigan. I’m not penalizing Georgia or Ohio State much at all for losing those games in the way they did.
Nothing that happened Saturday should have led to Georgia missing out on the playoffs just because they lost to Alabama by three points when Florida St looked like they did vs. Louisville and last week vs. Florida without Jordan Travis.
Texas blowing out Oklahoma St does nothing for me. There was nothing that Texas could have done yesterday in their game to help their cause. Their big win on Saturday was Alabama winning to make their earlier win over the Crimson Tide a win over the SEC champs.
I also don’t drop Oregon because they lost to #3 Washington by three points.
I don’t think the wins and losses are weighed properly. People just can’t blindly go by wins and losses when things are this close. Pretty much every team with one loss, lost to a better team than any that Florida St played against.
The strength of the schedule should matter. A one loss season with a tougher schedule can be better than an undefeated season with an easier schedule.
Why penalize Georgia for losing to Alabama? Why penalize Ohio State for losing to #1 Michigan? Why penalize Oregon for losing to #2 Washington twice by three points?
It also comes down to who would beat who. The Florida St QB situation mattered. FSU couldn’t beat any of the top 8 teams right now.
Michigan would much rather play Florida St than any other team, Alabama, which goes without saying.
It’s the argument of the four “best” teams vs. the four most “deserving” teams and if we are not trying to get the four best teams, then what’s the point?