The College Football Playoff Needs to Make Some Serious Changes: Just A Minute

No matter what you may think about the College Football Playoff selections this year, the University of Alabama football program only needs to look the mirror to find the reason why the Crimson Tide didn't make the inaugural 12-team tournament.

Alabama lost three games, and really it should be three strikes and you're out even though the Southeastern Conference schedule is the hardest in college football. No one's complaining about the 24-17 road loss at Tennessee, but the two road games at Vanderbilt (the week after playing Georgia) and Oklahoma clearly did in the Crimson Tide as a lot of people couldn't see past them. The first was due to reputation, which isn't fair considering that the Commodores are a bowl team, and with the other UA inexplicably played horribly in a 24-3 loss.

Despite all that, it still took almost a perfect storm, or worst case scenario, for the Crimson Tide to end up as the last team out. For that to happen SMU had to lose against Clemson in the ACC Championship Game, but still somehow look good in the process, which happened. So the Mustangs got into the playoff by how they didn't win to the No. 17 team in the nation. Seriously, that was the difference.

"It was quite a debate," College Football Playoff chair Warde Manuel told the ESPN selection show. "We value strength of schedule, which is why Alabama — as a three-loss team — was ranked ahead of other teams that have two losses. … In the balance of it, in the way SMU played in that game, losing on a last-second field goal … we just felt that, in this particular case, SMU still had the nod at 10 above Alabama. But it's no disrespect to Alabama's strength of schedule. It's merely looking at the entire body of work of both teams."

Regardless, here's five things about this year's College Football Playoff process that everyone, not just Alabama fans, should be complaining about and must be rectified moving forward.

1. The committee didn't pick the best teams

Michigan Wolverines director of athletics Warde Manuel was also the College Football Playoff Selection Committee Chair this year. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The AP Top 25 had Alabama ahead of SMU, as did the coaches' poll. Even the Football Writers Association of America/National Football Foundation Super 16 Poll, which is a select group of experienced experts, had the Crimson Tide ahead of the Mustangs in its rankings Sunday. If we were still using the BCS formula rankings the Crimson Tide would have been in as well. So basically everyone except the people in the room had the Crimson Tide in the playoff over SMU, albeit by a slim margin. This is the second time in three years the committee has gone with the best story over the better team in excluding Alabama from the playoff. Two years ago it opted for TCU, which lost to Georgia in the championship game 65-7. Moreover, if Alabama and SMU were to play this weekend on a neutral site, how many points would the Crimson Tide be favored to win by? How many teams in the 12-team field would Alabama be favored to beat in a similar matchup?

2. Strength of schedule was ultimately ignored

Dec 7, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs wide receiver Roderick Daniels Jr. (13) is tackled by Clemson Tigers safety R.J. Mickens (9) during the third quarter in the 2024 ACC Championship game at Bank of America Stadium. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Per the NCAA College Football Strength of Schedule Rankings and Ratings on the site TeamRankings, the top eight schedules played this season were all by SEC teams: Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina, LSU and Ole Miss. Different services have wide-ranging SOS rankings, but either way SMU made the playoff without beating a team that finished ranked. In terms of wins-and-losses its biggest win was against 9-3 Duke (and the game went to overtime). There were seven teams in the ACC to finish above .500 in conference play and the only other one that SMU played was Louisville. Meanwhile, Alabama beat Georgia, shut out Missouri, won at LSU and beat South Carolina. Each could be called a signature win, something that SMU was never able to add to its resume.

3. The best teams didn't get the byes

Dec 6, 2024; Boise, ID, USA; Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty (2) during the first half against the UNLV Rebels at Albertsons Stadium. | Brian Losness-Imagn Images

This isn't the selection committee's fault, but it's inexcusable that two teams that are very fortunate to be in the playoff at all got a first-round bye as a conference champion. The four bye teams were ranked by the committee at 1, 2, 9 and 12. When the first round games are completed and we have the quarterfinals set, how many of those bye teams will be favored to advance? Two? Possibly one if Georgia quarterback Carson Beck is out for a while. Moreover, the perception is that both No. 5 Texas and No. 6 Penn State, which both lost in their championship games, have an easier road to the title game than top-seeded Oregon, which should never happen. The CFP can't get rid of the automatic bye for the top four conference champions fast enough.

4. Inconsistency regarding conference championship games

Dec 7, 2024; Arlington, TX, USA; Arizona State celebrates winning the Big 12 Championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Yes, it's important to gauge teams in high-profile settings with something on the line, and on a neutral field whenever possible per the conference championship games. But it's also obvious that not all conferences are created equal, nor should they be treated as such. The automatic bid into the playoff was an important part of getting everyone on board for expansion, and this year's drama will only contribute to the argument to expand the field to 16, 20 and then 24 teams. Regardless, the importance of the title games needs to be better defined by the College Football Playoff not so much for seeding the teams that win, but rather the teams that lose. Moreover, there needs to be clarification on why the title games should matter over others, especially when each league does things differently, and some schools still play as an independent like Notre Dame (which was ineligble for a bye since it doesn't play in a conference).

5. Lack of continuity

Nov 16, 2024; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer celebrates beating the Missouri Tigers at Williams-Brice Stadium. He is holding the Mayors Cup, given to the winner of the South Carolina-Missouri game. | Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

Imagine you're South Carolina right now. You played a tougher schedule, in a tougher conference, and beat your rival Clemson on the Tigers' home field to finish better than them in the final rankings. Yet you still weren't in strong consideration for the playoff. Or how about Miami? Last week it was told that playing an ACC schedule wasn't good enough, yet now it is for SMU even though the Mustangs lost? Ole Miss has a pretty decent complaint as well. The Rebels played an SEC schedule, beat Georgia, and finished better than Clemson in the rankings. We could go on, but more and more there's been a lack of consistency regarding selection committees decisions. Sometimes it's by resume (wins and losses, etc), and other times what they call the eye test or something else is a major factor. The criteria being used seems to change not just each year, but each week, and this has been going on for quite some time. The guiding principles of the committee remain unclear and vague, resulting in a lack of consistency that has frustrated nearly everyone.