The College Football Playoff Selection Committee picked LSU, Ohio State, Clemson and Oklahoma in that order. Did the committee get it right this time?
We had a very strong feeling about which four teams would be getting in the College Football Playoff but there was a little suspense about the order. With teams like the Baylor Bears, the Georgia Bulldogs and the Utah Utes all losing their conference championships, this made it a very easy job for the Selection Committee to pick the top-four this year, but did it serve its purpose and get the order right?
The Selection Committee picked the SEC Champion LSU Tigers as their No. 1 seed, followed by the Big Ten Champion Ohio State Buckeyes at No. 2, the ACC Champion Clemson Tigers at No. 3 and the Big 12 Champion Oklahoma Sooners at No. 4.
Oklahoma was going to be No. 4, as the Sooners are the only team in the field with a loss this season. Clemson coming in at No. 3 doesn’t come as a surprise, as the ACC was horrendously down this year and the Tigers’ resume wasn’t impressive enough in the committee’s eyes to earn a top-two seed. But did LSU earn the No. 1 spot over Ohio State by leapfrogging them in the end?
Yes, LSU did more than enough to earn the top overall seed, thanks to three things. LSU humiliated the previous No. 4 team in the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship, winning 37-10. This was LSU’s fifth win over a team ranked inside of the top-10 at the time of their meeting. While Texas faded fast, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn and Florida will all finish ranked inside of the top-15.
LSU completely dominated Georgia in the SEC Championship, while Ohio State trailed the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers by two scores heading into halftime of the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis. Though the Buckeyes crushed the Badgers 27-0 in the second half, it wasn’t as convincing of a victory as what LSU put together vs. Georgia.
The Selection Committee ultimately got it right by putting LSU ahead of Ohio State in the final rankings is the Tigers beat more high-quality teams in their eyes over the Buckeyes. While Ohio State had five wins over teams ranked in the top-25 of last week’s rankings, compared to LSU’s four, three of Ohio State’s signature wins don’t look as good after championship weekend.
Ohio State beating Wisconsin twice devalues 40 percent of its quality wins. Seeing the Cincinnati Bearcats drop their third game on the season to the Memphis Tigers in the AAC Championship also hurt the Buckeyes in the Selection Committee’s eyes. Ohio State’s two other quality wins are over the two-loss Penn State Nittany Lions and the three-loss Michigan Wolverines.
As for LSU, the Tigers’ four quality wins are over two-loss Alabama, two-loss Florida, two-loss Georgia and three-loss Auburn. The only quality win to take a hit here was Georgia suffering its second defeat of the season, and that was for the right to play in the College Football Playoff as the SEC Champion.
Overall, we can’t complain about what the Selection Committee did. These top four teams were no-doubt inclusions for the playoff. Clemson may have some gripes about not being a top-two seed, but nobody outside of South Carolina should listen to them. Oklahoma is just happy to get in. Sure, folks in Columbus are mad the Buckeyes didn’t stay at No. 1, but LSU earned its top spot.
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