College Football Playoff first round provided evidence one change is needed to format

We have made it through the first round of the College Football Playoff. While every home team ended up advancing, none of the first-round games were particularly close. No. 12 Clemson made it interesting for a while vs. No. 5 Texas, but the three other playoff games were varying degrees of snooze fests. Once again, we as consumers lost with the most deserving argument in the playoff.

Look. I am not going to say that at-large teams like Indiana and SMU did not deserve to make the playoff, but we have enough evidence from the four first-round games to make a minor change to the format. The four highest-ranked conference champions should not be shoe-horned into a first-round bye. This is not a slap in the face of teams like Arizona State and Boise State as much as you'd think...

Yes, we want to reward teams for winning their conferences. I do not take any issue with that. In most years, two or three of the highest-ranked conference champions will have done enough to earn a top-four seed as a team with a No. 4 or better ranking. This was not the year for that, not that it matters. What does is we need to figure out how to get more compelling first-round games than what we saw.

Let me now unpack what the College Football Playoff field would have looked like with new seeding.

College Football Playoff may already need an adjustment after first round

For those who need a refresher, here is what the 12-team playoff field looked like for this postseason.

1. Oregon Ducks (Big Ten champion)
2. Georgia Bulldogs (SEC champion)
3. Boise State Broncos (Mountain West/Group of Five champion)
4. Arizona State Sun Devils (Big 12 champion)
5. Texas Longhorns (SEC runner-up)
6. Penn State Nittany Lions (Big Ten runner-up)
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (National independent at-large)
8. Ohio State Buckeyes (Big Ten at-large)
9. Tennessee Volunteers (SEC at-large)
10. Indiana Hoosiers (Big Ten at-large)
11. SMU Mustangs (ACC runner-up)
12. Clemson Tigers (ACC champion)

And here is what the playoff bracket would have looked like if we did not have to have to reseed it...

1. Oregon Ducks (Big Ten champion)
2. Georgia Bulldogs (SEC champion)
3. Texas Longhorns (SEC runner-up)
4. Penn State Nittany Lions (Big Ten runner-up)
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (National independent at-large)
6. Ohio State Buckeyes (Big Ten at-large)
7. Tennessee Volunteers (SEC at-large)
8. Indiana Hoosiers (Big Ten at-large)
9. Boise State Broncos (Mountain West/Group of Five champion)
10. SMU Mustangs (ACC runner-up)
11. Arizona State Sun Devils (Big 12 champion)
12. Clemson Tigers (ACC champion)

As you can see, the only team that would have been bid stealing would have been Clemson getting in as the No. 16-ranked team. Arizona State was ranked No. 12 and would have gotten in anyway. Alabama fans may be up in arms over this, but they have had plenty of time to get over it. Regardless, this would have set up a few more interesting first-round games than what we got this postseason.

These would have been the four first-round games had we not needed to reshuffle the seeding.

• No. 12 Clemson Tigers at No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
• No. 11 Arizona State Sun Devils at No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes
• No. 10 SMU Mustangs at No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers
• No. 9 Boise State Broncos at No. 8 Indiana Hoosiers

And these would have been the four teams getting first-round byes to the national quarterfinals.

• No. 1 Oregon Ducks (Rose Bowl)
• No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs (Sugar Bowl)
• No. 3 Texas Longhorns (Peach Bowl)
• No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions (Fiesta Bowl)

What may have happened is the four teams I think have the best chance at winning the playoff right now would have been seeded in an easier position to do so. As far as if we could have gotten a first-round upset or two with untampered seeding, Clemson at Notre Dame has my intrigue, as does Boise State at Indiana. SMU might have struggled with Tennessee, as would Arizona State at Ohio State.

Overall, I think this potential adjustment could be on the horizon as soon as two years from now. The College Football Playoff needs probably another year's worth of evidence before potentially making any changes to the format. This could include adding a 13th and 14th team to the field, but we really need to see lower-seeded road teams actually beat a favored home team for once. That feels critical.

For now, we can appreciate the fact that the final seven playoff games are all going to be neutral sites.