Tim Tebow Is Sorta Right

With each season's selections for the College Football Playoff comes the inevitable controversy surrounding those picks.  While the CFP committee chooses the four teams that they feel are the best in the country, there are always schools -- and fans of those schools -- who feel they were unjustly left out.

Much of the discussion this season centered around Alabama and Ohio State.  In the end, the committee chose the one-loss Crimson Tide over the two-loss Buckeyes, even though Ohio State was the Big Ten champion and Alabama didn't even win their division.  Ironically, Ohio State benefited from the same type of decision when they were picked to compete in last year's playoffs ahead of the Big Ten champ Penn State.

But somewhat lost in the shuffle was the University of Central Florida.  The UCF Knights finished the regular season unbeaten -- 12-0! -- but were only ranked 10th by the playoff committee.  After a win in the Peach Bowl over 7th-ranked Auburn, the cries of injustice grew louder.  So loud, in fact, that they reached the delicate ears of Tim Tebow.  Tebow's response?

"There’s no question UCF [was overlooked].  But you need to go tell their president and athletic director to play a couple big-time teams in the regular season. You ask any analyst before they played Auburn and it would be really hard to justify them being in the top four with our eyes."

Tim has a point... the point being, an undefeated team that didn't beat anyone worth beating is not all that special.  More to the point, though: of the four teams that made the playoffs, which one would UCF beat?

Back in November, UCF gave up 42 points and over 600 yards in a win over USF.  What do you suppose Baker Mayfield and his Oklahoma offense would do against the Knight's defense?

So while the Knights were impressive in beating Auburn, that same Tigers team was manhandled themselves by Georgia in the SEC title game.  In fact, the Bulldogs literally ran over the Tigers with 238 yards rushing.  And let's not forget the Georgia defense: they held Auburn to only 259 yards of offense compared to the 400+ yards the Tigers gained in the Peach Bowl.

Over in the other bracket sits Alabama.  I'll just let you digest what the Crimson Tide did to the former #1-ranked, defending champion Clemson. While their 24-6 throttling may have lacked a degree of excitement, the Tide's methodical offense and staunch defense left Clemson with only 188 yards of offense.

What about UCF beating Clemson, you say?  After all, Auburn had beaten both Alabama and Georgia -- the two teams that will play for the national title -- and UCF knocked off Auburn.  Transitive Property anyone?

But even if we agree that Clemson looked like the most vulnerable team among the final four, that doesn't mean UCF was ever in any position to overtake them in the rankings.  This Clemson team was at or near the top of the rankings for most of the season.  While that doesn't mean anything on the field of play, it means a lot when it comes to picking who belongs in the college football playoffs.

Maybe UCF puts a Power 5 team on their schedule next time.  Maybe they even beat them.  Until then, they'll have to settle for calling themselves the national champions.

Make Up Your Mind, Dude!

"Make up your mind, dude, is he gonna shit or is he gonna kill us?!?"

Jeff Spicoli was taken aback by his friend's contradictory statements.  After this weekend, I'd like to ask the same thing of the College Football Playoff Committee!

On Sunday, the CFP released their final rankings, setting the teams that will play for the chance to win a National Championship: #1 Alabama, #2 Clemson, #3 Ohio State and #4 Washington.  Certainly these are among the top college football teams in 2016 and are deserving of a spot.  But are they the most deserving?  And by what criteria?

As I wondered aloud in this column before, the committee faced a challenge in weighing Ohio State vs Penn State.  Yes, Ohio State was one of the top teams in the nation, losing only once against good competition.  An 11-1 team from a major conference is usually a solid choice for the playoffs.  But that one loss: it came at the hands of Penn State!  A Penn State team that, by virtue of that head-to-head-victory, played for and won the Big 10 Championship.  Certainly the committee had to struggle with leaving out a big-5 conference champion?  Apparently not.  Penn State -- Big 10 champs, winners of 11 games, the only team to hand Ohio State a loss -- finished 5th.

Don't get me wrong: I absolutely think Ohio State is a better team than Penn State.  In fact, I don't think Penn State is a very good team at all.  In fact, the real reason why I'm ticked off is that IF the CFP doesn't particularly value a conference championship, how is Penn State ranked ahead of Michigan?  The Wolverines, who finished what feels like a distant 10-2, placed 6th in the final rankings, behind a Penn State team that they absolutely throttled to the tune of 49-10.  That was no squeaker.

If not playing for a conference title doesn't matter, what does?  Head-to-head apparently doesn't count for much, as both Ohio State and Penn State (both ways) can now attest.  So now we're left to guess just what makes one team rank higher than another.  Make up your mind, dude.

The reality is that it actually didn't matter where Michigan finished in relation to Penn State.  As the winner of the Big 10 that is not in the playoffs, the Nittany Lions get an automatic bid to the Rose Bowl.  There they will face USC, who didn't win the Pac-12, didn't play for that title, but is the next-highest-ranked team from the Pac-12 at #9.

I, for one, will enjoy the Orange Bowl.

Controversy By Committee

It's Monday, the Monday after the Saturday that shook up the college football rankings again.  In The Game, #2 Ohio State beat #3 Michigan in thrilling (if not entirely satisfying) fashion.  In the AP Poll released on Sunday, Michigan fell, but not far, from 3rd to 5th.  That allowed both Clemson and Washington to move up to #3 and #4, respectively.  It stands to reason that the rankings from the College Football Playoff Committee would follow suit.

Which is all well and good... until next weekend.  On Saturday, Penn State will take on Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship game.  Yes, even though Ohio State sits at 11-1, the lone blemish on their schedule came at the hands of 10-2 Penn State.  So while the Nittany Lions have a lesser overall record, both teams have the same 8-1 conference record.  Penn State wins the tie-breaker by virtue of having beaten the Buckeyes.

So let's play this out a little further.  Penn State wins the Big 10 Championship and has 11 wins against 2 losses.  Per the committee guidelines, they "place an emphasis on winning conference championships, strength of schedule and head-to-head competition when comparing teams with similar records and pedigree".  Ohio State, though probably the better team, has the same number of wins but lacks a conference championship and lost head-to-head.  Could that mean Penn State squeezes into the playoffs?  If so, who would they squeeze out?

It's hard to make an argument to keep out Clemson.  Assuming they beat Virginia Tech for the ACC Championship, a 12-1 Tigers team that had been ranked #2 earlier in the season by the CFP has a very strong case.  What about Washington?  The Huskies have been hanging around the peripheries of the playoffs since the first rankings placed them 5th.  But a win against Colorado in the PAC-12 Championship gives them a 12th win and that coveted conference championship.  Their lone loss was to a resurgent USC team that now ranks #10 in the AP Poll.

So it would appear to come down to PSU vs OSU.  In spite of their records, it would be hard for Ohio State to make the case that they are more deserving considering their loss to Penn State.  The opposite is true for Penn State: how can the team that they beat be going to the playoffs instead of them?

Of course, this is all speculation.  If this college season has taught us anything, it's to expect the unexpected.  Well, except an Alabama loss.

A Playoff Win

Chalk one up for the inaugural College Football Playoff championship.  Even before Ohio State dispatched Oregon for the title, the playoffs were a success.  Highly-anticipated match-ups brought record-breaking ratings and great football to the semi-finals, setting up last night's championship game.  But until this season, it could never have happened.

In past years, we would likely have seen #1-ranked Alabama face off against undefeated (but not highly acclaimed) Florida State.  By some chance, if the BCS voters and computers thought better of Oregon, we might have seen the Ducks jump over the Seminoles to face the Crimson Tide.  The most unlikely scenario, though, would have been for the Buckeyes, a one-loss team in a downtrodden conference playing with a 3rd-string quarterback, to get a shot at the title. 

Thanks to the new (and, naturally, controversial) Selection Committee rankings, FOUR teams were chosen to play in the first playoffs in major college football history.  No longer would it be settled on paper ballots -- the champion would be decided on the field.  And a team that last season would have been on the outside looking in has busted through.  While a 10-1 team hardly fits the bill as an underdog, #4 Ohio State was not expected to beat Alabama, and certainly not in the way they pounded the Tide into submission.  Even then, the Buckeyes weren't the favorites against the high-flying Ducks, either. 

But there they were, Ezekiel Elliott breaking off huge chunks of yardage, Cardale Jones finding open receivers downfield.  The Buckeyes defense causing fits for Marcus Mariota and the Oregon receiving corps.  And even though I didn't personally care for the outcome, I could certainly appreciate the ride.