CFP reseeding discussion only gets more ammo from Arizona State, Boise State

The first round of the College Football Playoff had a substantial amount of fans upset with the committee's selected teams. Sure, programs like SMU and Indiana had good years, but were they really better than Alabama and Ole Miss? An argument can be made that Alabama would've put up more of a fight than SMU did for sure, but the committee, understandably, did not want to reward a three-loss team like Alabama with a spot in the CFP – and their loss to Michigan backed that up.

Now, with the teams some thought shouldn't have made it to begin with eliminated, the complainers have found something new to pick on. Reseeding appears to be a huge issue in the CFP, and we saw that on full display in the second round.

As structured, the four highest-ranked conference champions receive first-round byes and are given top four seeds. In theory, this would give them the easiest path to the College Football Championship. In reality, though, not all conferences are created equally. We've seen that in the second round of these playoffs.

Boise State, ASU give reason for CFP seeding to be changed

The Ashton Jeanty-led Boise State Broncos had an incredible year, going 12-2 overall and 7-0 in conference play, winning the Mountain West. As a result of that strong regular season, they received an automatic bid into the CFP and earned a first-round bye. They were the No. 3 seed overall.

Unfortunately, Boise State looked nothing like a No. 3 seed and was thoroughly outclassed by the No. 6-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions in the Fiesta Bowl. Maddux Madsen threw three interceptions, and Jeanty needed 30 carries to barely eclipse the 100-yard mark.

The Arizona State Sun Devils also had an incredible regular season. They went 11-2 overall and won seven of their nine Big 12 games before eventually winning that conference. Thanks to their strong year, they, too, received an automatic CFP bid and earned a first-round bye. They were the No. 4 seed in the CFP.

Much like Boise State, they were outclassed for much of their game against the No. 5-seeded Texas Longhorns. They trailed 17-3 at halftime and while Sam Leavitt hasn't thrown an interception (yet), he has barely completed over 50 percent of his 30 attempts and has just 126 yards in the air. Much like Jeanty, Cam Skattebo has struggled to run the ball efficiently.

There's no denying that both Boise State and Arizona State deserved to make the cut. They won their conferences and lost just two regular season games. Keeping the automatic bids makes sense, but why do those teams need automatic first-round byes?

The clear solution to make these games more interesting is to let the conference champions get in, but not reseed. Why can't the committee just seed the playoffs by the rankings? At no point were Boise State and Arizona State No. 3 and No. 4 respectively, so why are they given high seeds byes just for winning weaker conferences?

While it's fun to put teams like ASU and Boise State in the second round, the result of doing so is what we just witnessed. Had the seeding been done differently, the beginning of the second round of the CFP probably would've been a lot more entertaining, as the matchups would've featured better teams.

Conference winners should have a spot in the CFP, but anything beyond that should be based on merit.