Fans React to Alabama, Miami Snubs as SMU Selected to 1st 12-Team CFP Bracket Format

Two teams, four teams, 12 teams, 16 teams, 32 teams, 64 teams, 68 teams.

There's always going to be controversy when a selection committee is choosing the field for a postseason event in college sports, and Sunday was no different just because the College Football Playoff field expanded from four teams to 12 for the first time in history.

While there were secondary debates about seeding, Sunday's controversy largely came down to whether the SEC's Alabama or the ACC's SMU would land the final spot in the field.

SMU it was, which left the Crimson Tide, Miami and others on the outside looking in once the dust settled.

Naturally, that led to plenty of social media reaction:

Clemson was largely to thank for this controversy.

After all, Dabo Swinney's team ended up being something of a bid-stealer thanks to Saturday's dramatic victory over SMU in the ACC Championship Game. The Tigers jumped out to a 31-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter just for the Mustangs to come storming back and tie the game in the final seconds.

Yet a long kick return by Adam Randall helped set up Nolan Hauser's walk-off 56-yard field goal to send Clemson to the CFP as the conference champion.

The debate between a three-loss Alabama team that spent conference championship Saturday on the couch and a two-loss SMU team that lost on the final play in stunning fashion started almost immediately after Hauser's kick went through the uprights.

The Crimson Tide had better wins than the Mustangs thanks to victories over Georgia and South Carolina. They also checked in at ninth in strength of record and 16th in strength of schedule, per ESPN's metrics.

By comparison, SMU was 15th in strength of record and 60th in strength of schedule.

However, the Crimson Tide also had a difficult-to-explain 24-3 blowout loss to a 6-6 Oklahoma team that hasn't defeated another FBS team since September. What's more, keeping the Mustangs out of the CFP would equate to punishing them for reaching a conference championship game when Alabama was unable to do so in its own league.

It created the perfect environment for debate, and there was no shortage of that Sunday.