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Good Job College Football Playoff Selection Committee, You Got the Final 4 Teams Correct

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The College Football Playoff selection committee finalized its top four teams on Sunday.

And while I’m sure there will be debates over the four teams selected, there shouldn’t be.

It goes without saying that the three undefeated teams atop the standings earned their selection.

Alabama, who came back from a double-digit deficit against Georgia for the second time in 11 months, was an easy choice. Not only did Alabama finish the season a perfect 13-0, it won the SEC championship. Setting all personal feelings for Nick Saban aside, Alabama was a clear and obvious choice as the No. 1 overall seed in the playoff.

Clemson, which also finished 13-0 and won the ACC championship in a 42-10 rout over Pittsburgh, secured the No. 2 spot. Again, not much to argue about there.

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Notre Dame, which finished the year 12-0, will be the No. 3 seed. They may not have had the most difficult schedule and didn’t have to play a conference championship game, but it would’ve been impossible to exclude the Irish from the playoff.

The only real question would be that fourth seed, but even then, the selection committee nailed it.

Oklahoma, on the back of a sterling 39-27 win over Texas and a Big 12 championship, absolutely deserves to be the final and fourth seed in the playoffs. There shouldn’t be any debate about it.

The other teams in contention all have fatal flaws and fully deserved to be left off the list.

Do you agree with the four picks for the College Football Playoff?

There was a growing narrative after Georgia’s one-score loss to Alabama in the SEC championship that it deserved to be in the playoff.

Watching that game between the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide, it became abundantly clear to me that Coach Kirby Smart didn’t deserve a third crack at Alabama in 12 months.

I actually have no problem with Smart’s bizarre fake punt play late in the game. Far more egregious to me was when the Bulldogs, up only a touchdown with a minute left and three timeouts in the first half, chose to “play it safe” with a one-score lead and Alabama receiving the football to start the second half.

That’s not playing to win, that’s playing to lose. I have no interest or desire to see that in the playoff.

Ohio State? Please. Just like Oklahoma, the Buckeyes have a lone loss on their resume. But unlike Oklahoma, who avenged the loss with that convincing over Texas, Ohio State’s loss came to lowly Purdue — by 29 points. That’s a disqualification.

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And don’t even get me started on the obnoxious UCF fans clamoring for a crack at the national championship. Admittedly, a 25-game win streak is nothing to sneeze at, but until some of those wins start coming against real competition, I can’t possibly take them seriously.

Here’s the other issue I have with people quibbling over resumes; frankly, resumes should be of secondary concern when deciding the CFP. If you’re an employer at a top-tier law firm and looking to make a hire, all of the resumes you get will be sparkling. Then, the next most important factor is fit. Alabama struggles against teams with high-powered offenses and mobile quarterbacks. If you want to see the best games, you just had to be rooting for Oklahoma to make the final four.

And Oklahoma will get an early crack to make a statement. The Sooners will square off with the Crimson Tide in the Orange Bowl. Notre Dame, meanwhile, will face Clemson in the Cotton Bowl. Both games will take place on Dec. 29.

The national championship game will take place Jan. 7 in Santa Clara, California. And I cannot wait, especially since the right four teams got in.

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Bryan Chai has written news and sports for The Western Journal for more than five years and has produced more than 1,300 stories. He specializes in the NBA and NFL as well as politics.
Bryan Chai has written news and sports for The Western Journal for more than five years and has produced more than 1,300 stories. He specializes in the NBA and NFL as well as politics. He graduated with a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona. He is an avid fan of sports, video games, politics and debate.
Birthplace
Hawaii
Education
Class of 2010 University of Arizona. BEAR DOWN.
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English, Korean
Topics of Expertise
Sports, Entertainment, Science/Tech




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