College Football Playoff Committee Got Right Teams, Wrong Matchups

While the state of Texas may disagree, the College Football Playoff committee did a superb job in selecting Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Ohio State as the four playoff participants.

However, the 12-member panel made a mistake when it came to creating the semifinal matchups.

No one is going to complain about Nick Saban and Urban Meyer facing each other in the Sugar Bowl. No one should make a fuss over having to watch 2013 Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston take on 2014 Heisman front-runner Marcus Mariota in the Rose Bowl.

Both of the College Football Playoff semifinals games have a plethora of storylines lines that will please ESPN and the rest of the sports world. Moreover, both games feature amazing teams and will undoubtedly bring in record-setting viewership.

I’m sure you’re now wondering, how did the committee get it wrong then?

Well, the committee had the opportunity to create the CFP dream scenario: Alabama vs. Florida State in the Sugar Bowl and Oregon vs. Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

It was staring it right in the face, and it dropped the ball.

In order to get to Alabama-Florida State and Oregon-Ohio State, the CFB committee would likely have had to jump the Ducks to No. 1 over Alabama. The reason for this is that there was no logical reason for Ohio State—previously ranked No. 5—to jump No. 4 Florida State.

Yes, the Buckeyes played better against Wisconsin than the Seminoles did against Georgia Tech on championship weekend.

However, it’s tough to look past Ohio State’s home loss to Virginia Tech and, perhaps more importantly, the committee had to take into account the Buckeyes' quarterback situation. Third-string quarterback Cardale Jones had a great game against the Badgers, but do we really know enough to have the Buckeyes jump over FSU? Probably not.

Therefore, Oregon would have simply had to jump Alabama in order for the CFP to get its dream matchups.

Is there a case to be made for Oregon over Alabama? Absolutely. The Ducks have won eight straight games and done it by an average margin of over 26 points per game. Moreover, Oregon has been the most complete team in the country over the past two months.

ESPN.com’s Kyle Bonagura explains:

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In the five games since the win against Cal, the Ducks have turned into the most complete team -- statistically -- in the country. 

During that span, only eight FBS teams -- none of them named Alabama, Ohio State or Florida State -- allowed fewer points than the Ducks (17 points per game). They led the nation in points margin (30.6) and yards margin (plus-227) per game and their defense ranked No. 26 overall (336 ypg). 

Only Utah cracked 20 points and the Ducks held all five opponents to less than their scoring average. Games that might have remained close earlier in the season turned into routs in a hurry.

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However, due to section 9B of the selection committee protocol, it really didn’t matter who was No. 1 and No. 2 this year. The Ducks were a lock to be the home team in the Rose Bowl and the Crimson Tide were shoe-ins for the Sugar Bowl based on the geographical proximity to each school and its fans.

What would have been the difference between swapping Oregon and Alabama? It would have meant very little, other than giving the Ducks more jersey options in the national title game should they win the Rose Bowl.

Let’s be honest, giving Oregon more jersey options is always the right thing to do.

Awarding Oregon the No. 1 overall seed would have set up a Rose Bowl between Oregon and Ohio State. Not only would that game have garnered the same attention as Florida State-Oregon, but it also would have kept the traditional Big Ten vs. Pac-12 matchup.

I’m not big on tradition and believe it to be overrated.

However, the Rose Bowl is meant to be played between the Big Ten and Pac-12 champions. Now imagine a traditional Rose Bowl with a spot in the CFP National Championship Game on the line.

If the customary Rose Bowl were the original recipe, then the 2014 Rose Bowl would have been extra spicy.

The Rose Bowl would have benefited from a Big Ten vs. Pac-12 battle. The true winner in this scenario, though, would have been the Sugar Bowl.

If Alabama and Florida State had matched up as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, it would have likely been the highest-rated Jan. 1 bowl game ever and pitted the past two national champions up against one another for the right to play for another title. What could’ve been better than that?

Section 10B of the CFP selection committee protocol deals with the selection process of the four non-semifinal “premier” bowl games:

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B. The committee shall create the best matchups in these bowl games in light of the following considerations. None of these considerations shall affect the ranking of teams. Also, none of these considerations will be controlling in determining the assignment of teams to available bowl games.

• The committee will use geography as a consideration in the pairing of teams and assigning them to available bowl games.
• The committee will attempt to avoid regular-season rematches when assigning teams to bowls.
• To benefit fans and student-athletes, the committee will attempt to avoid assigning a team, or conference, or the highest-ranked champion of a non-contract conference, to the same bowl game repeatedly.
• The committee will consider regular-season head-to-head results when assigning teams to bowls.
• The committee will consider conference championships when assigning teams to bowls.

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“The committee shall create the best matchups.” That part of the first sentence is flashing in neon lights.

The CFP committee has a responsibility to rank the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in a particular order due to the geographic advantage those rankings hold. However, I believe that the committee has a responsibility to also create the best matchups possible.

This year, the best semifinal matchups would have been Oregon vs. Ohio State and Alabama vs. Florida State.

Look, perhaps I’m nitpicking here because the four best teams—in my opinion—got into the playoff. Moreover, all four teams are brand names and will generate big-time television ratings for ESPN.

With that said, the CFP committee had the opportunity to uphold the Rose Bowl's tradition and keep a Big Ten versus Pac-12 game in place. It didn’t. It had an opportunity to give Florida State, the undefeated defending national champion, a chance to play much closer to its home fans and match up the past two national champions. It didn’t.

Outside of the state of Texas, most people are congratulating the CFP committee on what it did. I’m dumbfounded by what it failed to do.

Statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise stated. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated.

Jason Gold is Bleacher Report’s lead Oregon writer. Follow Jason on Twitter @TheSportsGuy33.