Obstructed Thoughts About the College Football Playoff Selection

Saturday, Championship Week.

By all accounts, 8 teams still had a legit argument of making the College Football Playoff: they were Clemson, Auburn, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Alabama, Georgia, Miami, and Ohio State. 7 of the 8 teams were going to be in action with Alabama watching it from the couch because of their Iron Bowl loss to Auburn.

So let's start the day. TCU vs. Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game. It started off well for the Sooners taking an early 14-0 lead and trying to blow the doors off of TCU with a fumble returned for a TD. However, poor coaching decisions by Gary Patterson before halftime may have doomed TCU. Instead of driving to score a TD on an Oklahoma team losing momentum, he opted for a FG to cut it to 24-17 before halftime. Logic to him was get the ball back to start the half, and score and make it a clean slate. Oops. Kenny Hill showed why he was Kenny Hill, the overrated QB who doesn't step up in big games, and imploded while the Sooners just toyed with the Frogs in the 2nd half. End result: Oklahoma 41, TCU 17.

Oklahoma, IN.

The one everybody figured to be really a Playoff quarterfinal game between Auburn and Georgia in the SEC Championship as a little bad blood took over with Malzahn boasting of how they "kicked the dog crap" out of Georgia on the Plains 3 weeks prior. It started to look like a similar story in the first quarter with Auburn rolling and Georgia scuffling. But the tides turned as Georgia came up with a key Auburn fumble in the 2nd quarter, giving the Bulldogs the momentum and scoring on that drive. It was the biggest play of the game as the Tigers offense never got in sync and Stidham had a horrible game while Kerryon Johnson couldn't shoulder the load (no pun intended) and by the 4th quarter, all the breaks went Georgia's way and a reverse of 3 weeks ago happened as the Bulldogs beat the cat urine out of Auburn, 28-7.

Georgia, IN.

Clemson and Miami was by all accounts another Playoff quarterfinal in the ACC Championship. Winner was in. There was some hope that Miami would put up a massive fight after their embarrassing loss to Pitt the week before, but the injuries of the Hurricanes offense and just the seasoning and the pure physicality and speed of Clemson's defense dictated that game. And Kelly Bryant really did look like DeShaun Watson on the night. Clemson thumped Miami 38-3.

Clemson, IN.

All eyes went to the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis. Wisconsin sitting at #4 and undefeated. Ohio State was 10-2 and ranked #8. Quarterfinal match? Or Ohio State hoists Alabama at #4? The game was honestly Ohio State's to DOMINATE. They had the speedsters that Wisconsin had NO ANSWER for the entire time. The Buckeyes stopped Jonathan Taylor from doing much damage. Alex Hornibrook showed why he was not a upper echelon quarterback. The Buckeyes keyed in on Jonathan Taylor and took him out of the game. And then JT Barrett played one of his worst games possible for a championship game. Pick Six, another INT deep in their own territory, poor passing throughout despite the guts of him trying to shoulder the load. The Buckeyes had a few big plays that netted them scores thanks in part to JK Dobbins, but they let Wisconsin hang around all night. After two late 4th quarter stands, the Buckeyes held off the Badgers, 27-21.

Ohio State, IN????

Nope.

Alabama, IN.

So the Playoff set a new precedent: two teams from one conference getting in (Georgia, Alabama).

So let's look at some thoughts.

1. YES, OHIO STATE GOT SCREWED, BUT EVERYBODY WHO IS NOT A BUCKEYES FAN (AND PERHAPS A BIG TEN FAN) WILL FEEL SORRY AND WILL SCREAM "KARMA" TO THEM: Let's face it, the inclusion of the Buckeyes in 2014 leapfrogging TCU and Baylor in the final poll drew the ire of people, notably in the Big 12. So Big 12 is glad to see Ohio State sit it out. The Buckeyes got the nod over conference champion Penn State last year and people screamed bloody murder about the Nittany Lions not making the Playoff. Penn State is glad to see karma happen.

The knock Ohio State fans scream about why they're over Alabama is that their resume is better, beating Penn State and thumping Michigan State, both ranked as well as the victory over Wisconsin while Alabama only had LSU and Mississippi State to their credit. And of course, the Big Ten title. But while the Buckeyes want to play the "Alabama choked when it mattered against Auburn " card, Ohio State got destroyed by an Iowa team that a few weeks later was easily defeated at home to Purdue. Losing to a high ranked team on the road trumps the losing by 31 points to a middle tier conference squad. And the Buckeyes got shellshocked against Oklahoma too.

Also, if you want to play the comparisons, look at last year:

Penn State beat a #2 team (Ohio State), a #6 team (Wisconsin) and loss badly to the #4 team (Michigan) and a 3-point loss to Pittsburgh early on.

Ohio State beat a #14 ranked Oklahoma team, a #8 team (Wisconsin), a grossly overrated 9th ranked team (Nebraska) that nearly fell out of the rankings by season's end and a #3 Michigan team. The lone loss, a 3 point loss to Penn State. Maybe ONE game better (Oklahoma) that gave Ohio State the nod, which I had no problem with in the Playoff.

Ohio State this year beat a #2 team in Penn State, thumped a #13 ranked team (Michigan State), and beat #4 Wisconsin for the title. The two losses, blowout at home to #5 Oklahoma and unranked Iowa.

Alabama beat #3 Florida State to begin the year, #19 LSU and #18 Mississippi State. The lone loss to Auburn, ranked #6. 12 point loss? Yes, but not a blowout.

The comparison isn't as lopsided as what Buckeye fans want to make it out to be.

So here is what I will say to any Ohio State fan, and throwing a reversal:

What if Ohio State beat a USC team ranked #3 to start the year, lost Darnold to injury, and the Trojans were ineffective the way. Then you got Penn State at #18 and Michigan State at #19, beat them and then lose to a #6 ranked Michigan by 10 points in Ann Arbor, fairly decisively and you sit home from the Big Ten Championship.

Then Alabama gets thumped by #5 Clemson in Tuscaloosa, stuns #2 LSU, thumps #15 Mississippi State, but then goes to Arkansas (let's say THIS YEAR'S Arkansas team) and gets thumped by 31. But manages to win the SEC, beating #4 Georgia. But they chose you over Alabama.

Buckeye fans, regardless, you'd still say Alabama didn't deserve it.

But it is still VERY similar to what happened last year with Ohio State and Penn State. And again, besides Auburn fans nobody else really would feel sorry for you.

2. OKLAHOMA VS. GEORGIA IS THE BEST SEMI-FINAL MATCH-UP IN THE PLAYOFF WE'VE SEEN SINCE THE PLAYOFF STARTED: The Big 12 has been dumped on yearly for being a "defense optional" conference. Georgia prides itself on its defense while liking to control the ball on offense. Oklahoma loves spreading it around in the air. To me, this is going to be the most exciting game we've seen in a semi-final as really we have seen duds for semi-final match-ups to this point. A debate can be made (ironically) that Alabama/Ohio State was pretty exciting. But I have a feeling this will go down as a classic. And despite both schools' storied histories, this is the first ever meeting between the two. Another fun tidbit.

3. ALABAMA/CLEMSON 3? WHY NOT! Some Ohio State fans believe a true conspiracy set by ESPN was to get Alabama in for that third tilt with the Tide and the Tigers as it is a ratings gold mine as opposed to seeing Clemson/Ohio State 2 and have another blowout happen where Ohio State and the Big Ten gets embarrassed once again in the Playoff. But honestly, Bama WOULD put up a better fight than Ohio State against Clemson and given how the last two battles were classics, heck, why not make it a trilogy? Anyway, great storyline here.

4. IF GEORGIA WINS AGAINST OKLAHOMA, ATLANTA WILL BE LIT: Won't matter if the Bulldogs play Clemson or Alabama. The state of Georgia has been starving for ANY of their teams, pro or college, to be atop of the hill. But also, Atlanta is pretty much Alabama's home away from home AND Clemson is not too far away. Actually, Atlanta is nearly the midpoint for Tuscaloosa and Clemson so while Georgia may tend to have more fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (like they had against Auburn in the SEC Championship), the Tide faithful and the Clemson faithful will be driven (no pun intended again) to pack the new Atlanta venue. And for that week leading up to it, Atlanta will be insane.

5. COACHES STORYLINES: Wow. We can look at it in every way possible. The King of college football coaches (Saban), his loyal pupil (Smart) trying to unseat him, the guy who unseated him and is trying to show his empire is as dominant (Swinney), and the one who nobody knows about and was given his own empire by his own mentor (Riley-from Stoops). Dilly Dilly?

But 10 years we look back, and we may go "well, that may have been the best group of coaches in the Playoff" especially if Oklahoma wins. Saban will still have Alabama rolling for a while (may not be coaching in 10 years though), Smart has Georgia in the right direction. Swinney may string a few national titles by then and so could Riley. But given how the landscape of the conferences are, in 10 years all 4 teams may be SEC schools.

6. SOUTH IS COLLEGE FOOTBALL KING: This will bother the Big Ten AND the PAC-12 conferences. Notice I didn't say the SEC is football king. 5 teams in the SEC failed to claim a bowl, only the Big Ten had more (6). Ole Miss is/was on probation, but shame shame for messing up. I'm including Oklahoma here too as I think of them as "south." SEC fans like to say that the conference is tops. Top-heavy, sure. Clemson could rival any of the SEC schools and still dominate as you would would think the Tigers are SEC, compared to the other ACC schools, especially up north (Syracuse, Pitt, Boston College) and a few North Carolina schools. Oklahoma, similar boat given how the Big 12 has been up until this year. Heck, there was talk the Sooners joining the SEC as it just stands out above the likes of Kansas, K-State, Iowa State, and even West Virginia. So yeah, the South holds the monopoly on college football and this year shows it.

I will have more blogs down the road about this and all the bowl games as everything progresses.

-Fan in the Obstructed Seat

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