Things weren’t looking good for the College Football Playoff selection committee.
The day after TCU had absolutely obliterated SEC West foe Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl, 42-3, the cries out of Fort Worth, Texas, seemed that much more justified.
Then, midway through the second quarter in the semifinal matchup between Alabama and Ohio State, the Buckeyes, who were supposedly the weak link of the final four, were trailing 21-6 and looked out of their depth.
But two perfectly orchestrated touchdown drives that cut the Alabama lead to just one, and set up an eventual Buckeye win 42-35, were enough to pull both Ohio State, and the committee, out of the flames.
While its hard to argue that Urban Meyer’s squad was the real big winner of the semifinal matchups on New Year’s Day, with the Big Ten benefiting as well, it is the committee who pulled an escape act that hasn’t been seen since the days of Harry Houdini.
The committee got it right, and while TCU might still be the best team in the country, it is hard to argue its position on the outside looking in.
Alabama was No. 1 overall in the final rankings, and few could argue its position, coming out of the supposedly super-powered SEC West. The Oregon Ducks were second and put a stamp on that by obliterating Florida State in the Rose Bowl to secure a spot in Arlington, Texas.
Although Florida State might have, in the end, been the weakest team heading into the playoff, there are few people that could seriously argue that a defending national champion with a 29-game winning streak wasn’t deserving of a top four-spot come season's end.
So the true gripe the Texas schools, TCU and Baylor (pre-Michigan State loss), had was with the inclusion of the Big Ten champions.
Now, after Ohio State supposedly ended the reign of the SEC, it is hard to find that argument anything to stand on.
The Buckeyes deserved to be in. The committee got it right.
Sure, there will be those who continue to cry out that TCU deserved to be in the playoff, especially when the Horned Frogs end up a likely No. 2 in the final AP Top 25, but it is impossible to please 100 percent of the fans 100 percent of the time.
The purpose of the playoff being introduced was to prevent situations where the No. 3 team, see 2004 Auburn and 2011 Oklahoma State, had a perfectly good claim to a spot in the title game but was left out of the party.
Unless every team is included in the playoff, which defeats the purpose of the regular season, there will always be a team or two that can find some complaint with being left out.
The committee did its best with the cards that were dealt it, and Ohio State’s win against Alabama confirmed the Buckeyes' inclusion and thus wiped away any questions that were being tossed at the committee.
So for now, let's just all bask in the glory that is the College Football Playoff that everyone has been clamoring for since the start of the sport and watch two quality teams take each other down for the sport's top prize Monday at Jerry World.
Let’s also have a round of applause for the committee for doing its job right and being able to take some time off to relax.
At least until next year.
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