College Football Playoff Picture

It’s official. The wait is over. We finally know who the top 4 teams are who are going to be in the playoffs, and there are no major surprises. Alabama locked up the top seed with a blowout victory in the SEC championship vs Florida, Clemson moved up to the 2nd seed with an AAC championship victory over Virginia Tech, Ohio State slid to 3rd with being left out of their conference championship, and Washington held on to the 4th spot after a blowout victory in the PAC 12 championship vs Colorado. Despite winning the Big 10 championship, largely considered the best conference in college football this year, Penn State was left out of the top 4 and finished ranked 5th. They will be destined for the Rose Bowl, likely against either USC or Colorado. Michigan, after a tough 2OT loss to Ohio State, finished 6th after they looked to be a lock for the playoffs most of the season leading up to the game vs Ohio State.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Picking the top 4 this season was a little tricky. It was clear that the most important thing to the committee in picking the top 4 was the fact that all four teams had 1 loss or less. Ohio State managed to stay in the top 4 because of some impressive wins and a strong resume, despite a head to head loss to Penn State and also not even playing for their conference championship. The fact that Ohio State only had 1 loss vs 2 losses for Penn State was likely the tipping point. Washington was on the edge despite a 1 loss season and a conference championship because of strength of schedule. In the end, the fact that Washington only had 1 loss was likely the tipping point, because Penn State won the tougher conference and had a similar quality of wins. 

Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

The first round of the playoffs is Saturday December 31st, with Alabama facing Washington and Clemson facing Ohio State. Alabama has to be considered a heavy favorite for the championship, as the only undefeated team this season and the way they never really stumbled at all this season. They are a truly great team, and the other 3 will have their hands full with trying to knock them off. None of what happened in the regular season matters at this point. We finally have the top 4, and at this point anything can happen. 

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

What do you think about the final rankings? Were the picks fair? Do you think the playoffs need to be restructured to possibly include more teams, such as a 6 team or 8 team playoff? Comment and let us know! Stay tuned for more current sports stories. Don't forget to follow us on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram @beyondthemetrics, and Twitter @byondthemetrics.