Oregon Fans Loving the New College Football Playoff Committee

There have been few guarantees in college football season. However, if there's one certainty, it's that Oregon will make the playoff as long as it wins out. 

The story of the latest College Football Playoff rankings, released Tuesday, was that the Ducks, with one loss to Arizona, jumped undefeated Florida State to take the No. 2 spot. 

"Based on the committee's view about the strength of Florida State's schedule and their body of work compared to Oregon's strength of schedule and body of work, the committee voted that Oregon was No. 2," committee chair Jeff Long said, via Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports. "It was a very close call, but the committee placed significant value on Oregon's quality of wins against three top‑25 teams, two of which were on the road."

Agree or disagree with the decision, it's definitely a change of pace that adds a level of intrigue to the process. Under the BCS, there would be no doubt over which teams would occupy the top two spots. As long as Mississippi State and Florida State remained undefeated, they would be No. 1 and No. 2, even if interchangeably. Only a loss by one or both of those two teams would open things up. 

That's obviously not how the committee thinks or acts.  

As Mandel points out, swapping Oregon and Florida State only has an impact "on which team wears the home or road jerseys in their semifinal game." It's small potatoes, even if Seminole fans feel disrespected. 

However, Mandel continues, "In the bigger picture, the committee sent its most definitive message to date that this is not the traditional AP and coaches polls."

One concern about the playoff was that it would ruin the regular season, but what this year has shown is that nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, there's a case to be made that the playoff, combined with the lack of a truly great team, has made this regular season more interesting and meaningful. 

Keeping with that theme, playoff executive director Bill Hancock has made it clear that the committee is looking beyond the win-loss column as it stands; it's looking at what teams have done. 

Clearly, the committee thinks 1) highly of the Pac-12 and 2) that Oregon's three wins against top-25 teams outweigh a loss to a team that was unranked at the time, but currently comes in at No. 14. 

That's a great sign for Oregon. So long as the Ducks take care of business against Colorado and Oregon State, their playoff hopes likely come down to the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Given that the overall depth and perceived quality of the conference resides in the South Division—Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA and Utah are all ranked in the playoff poll, whereas Oregon is the only ranked team from the North Division—that would be viewed as another quality win for Oregon regardless of which team it plays.

Of course, an Oregon loss at any time would open up the conversation, but that's for another day. In short: Oregon's path is clear—and favorable, for that matter. The same can't quite be said for teams atop the Big 12 and Big Ten. 

The Big 12's "One True Champion" motto is being challenged by the possibility of Baylor and TCU finishing with identical overall and conference records. Baylor would have the tiebreaker, but as David Ubben of Fox Sports Southwest notes, the committee wouldn't be obligated to take the Bears per se. 

The Big Ten's best chance to get a team into the playoff comes down to a conference championship game between Ohio State and Nebraska. The Buckeyes are one of the most, if not the most, improved teams over the past two months. The Huskers are quietly sitting as a playoff dark horse at No. 16 in the latest standings with one loss to Michigan State.

Still, early returns from the playoff rankings indicate the Big Ten might need some help. 

Oregon doesn't, and that's a great place to be during the final stretch of the season. Even though there are no automatic bids for the playoff, the Ducks are as close to controlling their own destiny as any team can be. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football.