College Football Playoff committee lacks consistency

By Trace Johnson

           It wasn’t long ago that college football fans were clamoring for a playoff system and voicing their displeasures with the Bowl Championship Series system that was in place. 

Be careful what you wish for, because it might just come true.  Ever since the College Football Playoff system came into play last season, criticism of the committee and how it operates has been an issue. 

The biggest criticism of the BCS system was that it disregarded worthy teams in the national championship picture.  However, if the early stages of the College Football Playoff tell us anything, it is doing the exact same thing. 

Despite giving four teams the opportunity to play for a national championship, leaving worthy teams out of the picture is still an issue. 

The selection committee has been particularly harsh on Big 12 conference teams since its inception.  Heading into the final week of the season in 2014, TCU and Baylor both were in prime position for a top 4 ranking and a playoff berth. 

TCU was ranked third in the College Football Playoff poll and after a 55-3 win over Iowa State in its final game, the Horned Frogs looked to be headed to the playoff. 

Baylor was ranked sixth in the poll and after defeating Kansas State 38-27 in its final game, the Bears appeared to have a great shot at clinching a berth in the playoff. 

The issue at hand was both TCU and Baylor had an 11-1 record, but Baylor defeated TCU 61-58 earlier in the season.  However, due to the rules of the Big 12, the teams were co-champions of the conference despite the head-to-head win for Baylor. 

The committee did not appear to take into play the head-to-head win by Baylor through the first several weeks of the rankings because TCU remained in front of the Baylor.  However, that would change drastically in the final College Football Playoff rankings. 

Despite its blowout win, TCU fell from third in the poll to sixth and Baylor jumped from sixth to fifth.  Both teams missed out on the playoff. 

What ultimately doomed the Big 12’s playoff chances was not having one true conference champion, but many were shocked to see TCU fall out of the top 4 despite a 52-point victory in the regular season finale.  It was equally surprising that the committee ranked Baylor ahead of TCU in the final poll despite not taking the head-to-head factor into play previously. 

The committee decided to put Ohio State in the playoff last season, despite losing to a six loss Virginia Tech team earlier in the season.  The Buckeyes went on to win the national championship with upset wins over Alabama and Oregon, but the committee takes into consideration bad losses in its selection process. 

Obviously the choice of Ohio State being the fourth team looks good now, but the committee’s process was flawed in the sense that it penalized Baylor for losing to a five loss West Virginia team last season, but Ohio State got that fourth spot despite its bad loss. 

Aside from that, it seems as if the committee focuses more on analytics than actual winning.  Strength of schedule, game control, strength of record, quality losses and other factors reign supreme in the eyes of the committee members. 

A glaring example of this occurred last season.  Minnesota was ranked 25th in the College Football Playoff rankings heading into its showdown with Ohio State. 

Minnesota lost a close game to the Buckeyes, yet still remained ranked 25th in the rankings the following week.  Getting rewarded for losing is unfathomable and not logical in any way. 

Not that analytics aren’t important in college football, but they should not overshadow winning.  The committee has turned the game of college football into science. 

In the early stages of the rankings this season, more of the same issues are being discussed and inevitably, deserving teams will be left out of the playoff again. 

We are not even through two playoffs yet and fans are already clamoring for an eight team playoff.  And honestly, that is probably a good idea. 

No matter what happens from here on out, the College Football Playoff system needs work and needs more consistency in the committee’s decision making.  All of a sudden, the BCS system isn’t looking so bad.