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An Unenviable Task Awaits College Football Selection Committee

There's always going to be upset people and disagreement aimed at the College Football Selection Committee, but this season will be an even tougher situation for that group.
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When the College Football Selection Committee gathers to select the four teams who will battle for the 2020 college football national championship, the task will be much more challenging than in previous seasons.

No, there won't likely be five or six undefeated teams to drill through to determine who is most deserving of those four coveted spots. Still, there could be two and even more one or two loss squads in position and worthy of consideration. 

On Saturday, former Florida and Ohio State national championship-winning head coach Urban Meyer weighed in on the selection committee and how difficult a task it could become in this most unusual season.  

"The impact of scheduling is unprecedented," Meyer said. "This is going to go down in the history books.

"What happens if Ohio State is 6-0, and then there's the SEC. I mean, I'm telling you, every single week you're in a four-to-five point game. When you look at Ohio State's Big Ten schedule, to me, it's all like Clemson. Clemson will be a three-touchdown favorite in almost every game. Then you look at Alabama and LSU... LSU has four games within a six-week period against Top-11 teams.

"So, I don't know how you do this. If you're the playoff committee: expect the worst, react to the best. What does that mean? Start this conversation now! So whatever criteria you had before, you better be rethinking it now and asking, is that fair? You're going to have some teams just blow out all the way through, and then you look at that SEC schedule - unprecedented. The SEC has been built on, "let's get to the College Football Playoff." You know, they are playing FCS teams before rivalry games. Now, they are playing ten conference games with that schedule. To me, there's now a complete shift in college football this year. I'm curious to see what those conversations are behind closed doors."

The is little doubt that the SEC is the best conference in the nation top to bottom, though some in the Big-10 might argue that theory. 

However, what Meyer said of Clemson and Ohio State, who both play a weaker schedule than any of the top contenders from the SEC, is correct. Going through a 10-game SEC minefield is far more complicated than either of those teams' current schedules. 

It will be tough for any team in the SEC to finish this season undefeated against their conference-only schedules. How the selection committee chooses to evaluate the strengths of schedule for the teams who earn consideration for the playoffs will undoubtedly be the subject of much discussion at seasons end when some deserving teams are left home from the playoffs.    

Follow Greg on Twitter @GregAriasSports and @SIVanderbilt or Facebook at Vanderbilt Commodores-Maven.