Big Bowlers: Three great games on schedule for college football championship

Sunday, Dec. 3 was the best day in sports without a ball or puck being used, besides maybe NBA free agency.

Everyone knew that come Sunday, someone would not be happy with a bowl game. It was between a one loss Alabama verses a two loss Ohio State. The conversation was mainly between two things: conference championship and strength of schedule.

Wisconsin was a team that the CFP committee had no respect for all year. They hadn’t lost a game all year but failed to crack the top four until the final week. After Wisconsin lost the conference championship, it plowed the way for a controversial finish between two top tier teams.

Did they get it right?

So, before I get into the top four, I’d like to elaborate why there needs to be more teams in the playoffs. An expanded team playoff would offer more excitement with a lot less of the controversy, even if it’s just one team.

People seem to be leaning toward expansion to an eight team playoff over other options. While I do like that, I also think that too many teams will take all the rarity out of the playoff. It would start to feel like march madness instead of a BCS national championship.

While there are pros to that, I’d like to think there are more cons. Rather than an eight or six team playoff, I’d like to keep the four team but add one extra piece. I would like to see a play in game, similar to the way the MLB runs theirs.

For example, this year Alabama would play Ohio State after all the dust has settled a week after the conference championships. That way, instead of all these hypotheticals, we can determine for certain who is the better of  the two. The two battling out would provide for a game in a week with no other football, that everyone would tune into. Instead of comparisons and ideologies being tossed around by everyone, I think this would be the best way to decide who is better of the two.

Let’s go through why they weren’t right with their placing. Clemson came in first, with Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama filling out the top four respectively. Fifth through eighth are Ohio State, Wisconsin, Auburn and USC.

The biggest calamity by far was Alabama getting in over Ohio State. By the book, Ohio State should have gotten in. They had a stronger schedule, they had more quality wins and they won their conference. Those are all four keys to get into the CFP.

Then the hypocrisy shown by the CFP as Alabama walked in over the Buckeyes. Previously, Ohio State was ranked four and Alabama five. After a week where Alabama did not play and Ohio State won a game, Alabama leapfrogged Ohio State.

I don’t understand how Alabama could hop over a team who won the conference championship. If anything the CFP should’ve put Alabama four to begin with. Ohio State had stronger stats that previously had been valued by the CFP.

I understand that the CFP thinks that Alabama is the better team. I do as well, frankly, but going forward I think the committee needs to be stricter in terms of their rules to get in. That would eliminate controversy shrouding who gets in and who doesn’t.

Now, why did the CFP get it right? There isn’t much comotion for teams one through three. Clemson is the best team in the country, and (shocker) they will most likely be national champions when it is said and done. However, I do think Oklahoma should be number one because of their quality loss against Iowa State versus Clemson’s loss against Syracuse. That being said, I also think that they have a more potent offense with Baker Mayfield at the helm.

Now, I think the CFP got it right with Alabama getting in over Ohio State. They are just the better team. Jalen Hurts is underrated, and a higher quality quarterback over J.T. Barrett. Ohio State was also not impressive against Wisconsin. Going along with the hypotheticals, most of the population agrees when I say that Alabama would’ve put a lot more on the board against an undefeated Wisconsin team.

That being said I understand why they threw aside all their prerequisites. Alabama is just the better team, and from what I understand, nearly all of the committee members agree. Honestly, people who are making the case for Ohio State are either Buckeye fans or just don’t want to see Alabama in it for the fourth consecutive year.

Last season, this same thing happened for Ohio State. They got in without a conference championship, so in some ways it is just karma that they didn’t get in with a conference championship. Also, it’s a little ironic that people are arguing that they should get in with a championship after last season.

I think the College Football Playoff Committee made the right choice by choosing Alabama over Ohio State. That being said, I also think this is a situation we can learn from. Either the committee puts in place a set of guidelines to choose from for the final spot, or the sports world just learns that we can’t guess what the CFP will do.

Just be gracious that there are no longer computers making the decisions, and that humans will take more into effect, like the difference in quarterback or quality losses.

Nevertheless, we head into bowl season with three great games to anchor the month of meaningless sponsored championships. The New Year’s six can’t come fast enough.