Why a Florida State vs. Oregon Title Game Would Be Perfect Start to Playoff Era

We asked for a playoff, and we got it. Now let's hope we get a title-game matchup worthy of being determined by a postseason tournament.

And since this is the dawn of a new era, there's no better way to bridge the gap from the past to the present by having the old guard take on some fresh blood for the championship. That's why having a Florida State-Oregon title game would be the best way for the College Football Playoff age to begin.

We're not alone in this view. NFL.com's Mike Huguenin has the Seminoles and Ducks meeting Jan. 12 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, while USA Today worked with an analytics website and ran 50,000 projections that came up with FSU-Oregon as its most likely title game.

But this isn't so much about who will be in there as it is who should participate in the first-ever championship game determined be an actual, 100 percent real playoff. FSU-Oregon makes the most sense, because it will give us everything we want for a title bout.

Florida State is the reigning national champion, the last one crowned through the BCS system that worked (mostly) well for 15 years but was scrapped in favor of a four-team playoff. This new system, according to the sound bites put out by the 13-person playoff selection committee, is meant to pit the four best teams against each other in a winner-take-all format.

Just exactly how all that gets established is a mystery at this point, because the first CFP rankings don't come out until late October and the specific criteria that each committee member will use to rank teams is as proprietary as a blue ribbon-worthy barbecue sauce. We've heard a lot of talk about strength of schedule taking precedence over how good the wins look, as well as factoring in things like injuries (maybe even suspensions of star players who decide to jump on a table and blurt out obscenities?) into who really is playing best at the end of the year.

As the defending champs, FSU's presence in the first CFP final would help pass on the torch from the BCS, because it would give weight to what the Seminoles did last year but also credit them for being able to sustain that success in this new playoff-centric environment even while weathering outside factors like Jameis Winston's off-field actions and constant media scrutiny.

The team that currently wears the crown should be given the chance to take on the best challenger out there. You won the last game of pool at the neighborhood bar? Who cares that it was eight-ball and now the game is cutthroat, you get dibs on all comers by owning the table until you lose.

As for Oregon, what other team in college football better epitomizes the idea of the here-and-now than the Ducks? The program has been a fashion trendsetter in the game for years, to the point that its weekly updates on what uniform combination out of 47,365 different options is going to be donned is one of the most retweeted items.

Oregon also features maybe the best individual player in the game in quarterback Marcus Mariota, who has transcended the dual-threat passer position into one that's truly an asset through both forms of offense. Mariota runs when he needs (or wants to) and throws when that works best. And unlike Winston, who has become an extremely polarizing figure even before winning the Heisman Trophy, Mariota doesn't have any notable character blemishes.

This would set up some classic story-script pairings, such as the incumbent-challenger and the villain-hero plot lines. Realistically, any team other than Florida State could play the challenger/hero role, but Oregon passes the eye test more in terms of national image and the likelihood it would be more backed than other teams.

An SEC team, while likely just as worthy from a performance standpoint—whoever emerges from that hellacious West Division, assuming they don't trip up in the SEC title game, will be as battled tested as anyone else and certainly would make a case for being one of the best in the country—faces the stigma of being from a league that all non-SEC fans would root against, regardless of whom it is.

Teams from the Big 12 also don't have as much of a sport-wide pull, aside from maybe Texas, but that's not happening this season. And the Big Ten? Well, that's nice to think its best team is even going to get a semifinal bid at this point, let alone be worthy of playing for a championship.

Florida State-Oregon is the best-case scenario, image-wise, for the initial College Football Playoff. The court of public opinion has a big influence, and this first version will be scrutinized more than the latest iPhone. Therefore it needs to have the best and most user-friendly features and apps.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.