In-Depth Discussion of Who Should Be The 4 College Playoff Teams
Saturday night, the 2014 college football regular season concluded with conference championship Saturday. We have now arrived to one of the most anticipated days in the history of college football on Sunday.
The history of college football will be changed forever when the first ever College Football Playoff final rankings are released and we learn which four teams will compete for the first ever playoff in FBS college football.
It has been a long time coming, to be exact ever since November 6, 1869 when the first collegiate football game was played between Rutgers and Princeton. We will now have a bracket like playoff for the first time ever to determine a champion for the big boys of college football.
So, the question on everyone’s mind is which four will get in?
The process will not be easy after a non eventful weekend due to all the favorites winning and winning big.
We will start with the two easy answers entering the selection process on Sunday. Number one Alabama defeated Missouri 42-13 in the SEC title game and appear to have maintained their number one ranking.
The second team that stamped their ticket convincingly was the Oregon Ducks. The Ducks defeated the Arizona Wildcats 51-13 in the PAC 12 title game Friday night. The Ducks are all but certain to claim either the first or second seed, but either way they will be playing in the Rose Bowl in their semi-final game.
Now, it’s time to discuss where things begin to get tricky. The number three and four positions will not be easy for the committee to select and Saturday only made it tougher to choose.
The prime candidates for the final two positions appear to be TCU, Florida State, Ohio State and Baylor. Entering this past weekend TCU was ranked third and Florida State landed at number four, despite being the only unbeaten team in the FBS.
Florida State is likely to claim either the third or fourth spot with their 13-0 season and 2014 ACC title. There is no way a power five conference team can go undefeated and be left out of a four team playoff. If that was to happen this system is flawed from the beginning and I am not afraid to state that.
Now, the number four spot will be between three teams and they are Ohio State, TCU, and Baylor.
The Buckeyes are down to their third string quarterback and despite that, still defeated number 13 Wisconsin 59-0. It was the Buckeyes’ most complete game of the season and it came at the right time to say the least.
The issue with Ohio State is they have a loss AT HOME to a 6-6 Virginia Tech team from the weak ACC. The Hokies beat Ohio State in the second game of the season by 14, but the argument of them being a better team and worthy currently is the main argument Ohio State people have.
The other two teams are Baylor and TCU from the Big 12. They are co-champions of the Big 12, but TCU lost to Baylor 61-58 on October 11. TCU blew a 21 point lead in the last 11 minutes of the game to lose their only game of the season.
The game was played in Waco, Texas, home of the Baylor Bears. In a playoff system you would think head to head outcomes would play a huge role in where teams are ranked, but as I mentioned earlier TCU entered this weekend at number three while Baylor is ranked number six.
These rankings are despite the Baylor win head to head over TCU. The thing that holds Baylor back is their nonconference strength of schedule and rightfully so. Baylor didn’t play a single power five conference team in their nonconference schedule. One of their three nonconference games was against the worst team in the FBS at that, the SMU Mustangs who just won their first game of the season on Saturday.
I feel TCU is the better team and should be ranked ahead of Baylor despite the head to head. I can understand the argument from both sides, but let’s look at each team’s respective loss.
TCU loss on the road to the number six ranked team currently, of course that being Baylor. Baylor’s loss came to an average West Virginia by double digits. If you use the logic of which team’s loss is the worst, then TCU wins this argument every day.
This leaves us with two teams for one spot and those two are Ohio State and TCU. I feel this argument, much like the TCU vs. Baylor argument, is simple. The Buckeyes lost to a 6-6 Virginia Tech team from the ACC and the Horned Frogs of TCU lost to the number six Baylor Bears.
Ohio State winning a Big Ten title game certainly helps them, but just because TCU doesn’t play a conference title game doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be given respect for their conference title as well. The Horned Frogs pass the eye test and have the resume worthy of making the first annual College Football Playoff.
So in conclusion, who are the four teams that should be in when the committee announces who they have chosen on Sunday afternoon?
I feel it should be Alabama, Oregon, TCU and Florida State, in that order.
Alabama should be the one seed playing the four seed Florida State and Oregon the two seed playing the three seed TCU.
It would make for an exciting playoff to start a new era in college football. The announcement of the final four teams is here and it will certainly be one of the most historic days in the history of this great game of college football.
The history of college football will be changed forever when the first ever College Football Playoff final rankings are released and we learn which four teams will compete for the first ever playoff in FBS college football.
It has been a long time coming, to be exact ever since November 6, 1869 when the first collegiate football game was played between Rutgers and Princeton. We will now have a bracket like playoff for the first time ever to determine a champion for the big boys of college football.
So, the question on everyone’s mind is which four will get in?
The process will not be easy after a non eventful weekend due to all the favorites winning and winning big.
We will start with the two easy answers entering the selection process on Sunday. Number one Alabama defeated Missouri 42-13 in the SEC title game and appear to have maintained their number one ranking.
The second team that stamped their ticket convincingly was the Oregon Ducks. The Ducks defeated the Arizona Wildcats 51-13 in the PAC 12 title game Friday night. The Ducks are all but certain to claim either the first or second seed, but either way they will be playing in the Rose Bowl in their semi-final game.
Now, it’s time to discuss where things begin to get tricky. The number three and four positions will not be easy for the committee to select and Saturday only made it tougher to choose.
The prime candidates for the final two positions appear to be TCU, Florida State, Ohio State and Baylor. Entering this past weekend TCU was ranked third and Florida State landed at number four, despite being the only unbeaten team in the FBS.
Florida State is likely to claim either the third or fourth spot with their 13-0 season and 2014 ACC title. There is no way a power five conference team can go undefeated and be left out of a four team playoff. If that was to happen this system is flawed from the beginning and I am not afraid to state that.
Now, the number four spot will be between three teams and they are Ohio State, TCU, and Baylor.
The Buckeyes are down to their third string quarterback and despite that, still defeated number 13 Wisconsin 59-0. It was the Buckeyes’ most complete game of the season and it came at the right time to say the least.
The issue with Ohio State is they have a loss AT HOME to a 6-6 Virginia Tech team from the weak ACC. The Hokies beat Ohio State in the second game of the season by 14, but the argument of them being a better team and worthy currently is the main argument Ohio State people have.
The other two teams are Baylor and TCU from the Big 12. They are co-champions of the Big 12, but TCU lost to Baylor 61-58 on October 11. TCU blew a 21 point lead in the last 11 minutes of the game to lose their only game of the season.
The game was played in Waco, Texas, home of the Baylor Bears. In a playoff system you would think head to head outcomes would play a huge role in where teams are ranked, but as I mentioned earlier TCU entered this weekend at number three while Baylor is ranked number six.
These rankings are despite the Baylor win head to head over TCU. The thing that holds Baylor back is their nonconference strength of schedule and rightfully so. Baylor didn’t play a single power five conference team in their nonconference schedule. One of their three nonconference games was against the worst team in the FBS at that, the SMU Mustangs who just won their first game of the season on Saturday.
I feel TCU is the better team and should be ranked ahead of Baylor despite the head to head. I can understand the argument from both sides, but let’s look at each team’s respective loss.
TCU loss on the road to the number six ranked team currently, of course that being Baylor. Baylor’s loss came to an average West Virginia by double digits. If you use the logic of which team’s loss is the worst, then TCU wins this argument every day.
This leaves us with two teams for one spot and those two are Ohio State and TCU. I feel this argument, much like the TCU vs. Baylor argument, is simple. The Buckeyes lost to a 6-6 Virginia Tech team from the ACC and the Horned Frogs of TCU lost to the number six Baylor Bears.
Ohio State winning a Big Ten title game certainly helps them, but just because TCU doesn’t play a conference title game doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be given respect for their conference title as well. The Horned Frogs pass the eye test and have the resume worthy of making the first annual College Football Playoff.
So in conclusion, who are the four teams that should be in when the committee announces who they have chosen on Sunday afternoon?
I feel it should be Alabama, Oregon, TCU and Florida State, in that order.
Alabama should be the one seed playing the four seed Florida State and Oregon the two seed playing the three seed TCU.
It would make for an exciting playoff to start a new era in college football. The announcement of the final four teams is here and it will certainly be one of the most historic days in the history of this great game of college football.
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