Did the College Football Playoff Selection Committee Get It Right?

The selection committee has locked in the field for the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff, and there’s no real surprise in the bracket.

After a narrow loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game, SMU earned the last at-large in the Playoff.

Alabama, as a result, is officially out.

No surprises, however, does not equate to not disagreements. Should the Crimson Tide—who dropped three games but boasted a greater set of quality wins—have instead made the Playoff? Across the media landscape, you’re destined to hear opinions both ways.

This, ultimately, is my personal opinion. The teams are separated into tiers, and the seeding reflects the bracket.

No. 1 Oregon Ducks (Big Ten champion)
No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs (SEC champion)
No. 3 Boise State Broncos (Mountain West champion)
No. 4 Arizona State Sun Devils (Big 12 champion)
No. 12 Clemson Tigers (ACC champion)

By virtue of winning their conference championship, this quintet automatically earned an automatic spot in the Playoff. Given that, it’s impossible for the committee to have messed it up.

As for their seeding, I have no issues, either.

Oregon is the country’s lone undefeated team, and Georgia is 12-1 with victories over ACC champion, Tennessee and Texas (twice).

Boise State proved it can compete on the national stage in a 37-34 loss at Oregon early in the season. After that setback, the Broncos ripped off 11 straight wins and toppled UNLV twice. Good pick.

Arizona State has a reasonable argument for a higher seed, but its losses—yes, one without quarterback Sam Leavitt—were to lesser teams. However, the Sun Devils were the clear selection ahead of Clemson, which is the only CFP-bound program with three losses.

No. 5 Texas Longhorns
No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions
No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Texas finished 11-2, and both setbacks happened at the hands of second-ranked Georgia. Hardly a disaster.

Notre Dame embarrassingly lost to Northern Illinois in September. In the aftermath of that result, it was fair to wonder how well the Fighting Irish would be able to recover. They, uh—they were fine. Notre Dame clipped Louisville to close the opening month but didn’t play another game within 14 points en route to an 11-1 record.

Penn State put together an 11-2 year, recently falling to Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game. This resume does not have a bunch of high-profile wins, but Penn State’s only losses are to Ohio State and Oregon.

All of these choices and seedings are perfectly sound.

No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes
No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers

Both of these programs had an understandable setback. Ohio State dropped a 32-31 thriller at Oregon—the nation’s top team—and Tennessee lost on the road opposite now-No. 2 Georgia.

What could’ve been a problem was the nauseating loss on their respective resumes. Ohio State fell to rival Michigan for the fourth straight year, a result that has become a catalyst for an uncomfortable decision in Columbus. Early in the season, Tennessee faltered at Arkansas.

Quality wins helped significantly, though.

Ohio State toppled top-10 opponents Penn State and Indiana, while Tennessee defeated rival Alabama with four other wins against bowl-bound programs.

The inclusion of both OSU and UT is easily defensible, and Ohio State ever-so-slightly has stronger wins than Tennessee.

No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers

Yes, the 1945 team notched a 9-0-1 record. That squad finished fourth in the final AP poll, as did the 1967 Hoosiers who earned the program’s lone Rose Bowl appearance to date.

But it’s not controversial to suggest the 2024 roster is the most significant team in Indiana football history.

Led by first-year coach Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers ripped off an 11-1 record with 10 victories of 14-plus points. Plus, their lone setback occurred at Ohio State, a fellow Playoff-bound team.

Don’t like their strength of schedule? Blame the Big Ten!

Besides, it’s not solely IU’s fault the conference expanded to 18 teams. Indiana capitalized on the favorable, realignment-impacted slate yet still dominated the strong majority of its competition.

Indiana fully deserves a spot in the CFP.

No. 11 SMU Mustangs

As you’d expect, the final at-large invitation is a point of contention. That’s only natural, especially when you remember all the arguments we have about the 68th team in March Madness.

In my opinion, the committee made the correct pick.

Truly, the idea of penalizing a program for making a conference championship is absurd. If the committee felt SMU didn’t already deserve a CFP spot, it shouldn’t have been ranked eighth last week. How could you possibly drop a team entirely out of that position after a three-point loss?

Alabama has an understandable gripe, considering its strength of schedule and stronger set of quality wins.

But if you don’t like it, don’t lose to Vanderbilt and don’t get thoroughly outclassed by what was a bad Oklahoma team.

The correct team—SMU—is in.