More teams, more bellyaching.
The College Football Playoff’s first round served a series of blowouts, resulting in blowback that the selection committee whiffed on its picks for at-large bids.
But, is the committee really to blame for the first-round drubbings, and if so, which teams would have been better qualifiers?
Hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams debate that question on this edition of “SEC Football Unfiltered,” a podcast from the USA TODAY Network.
They offer diverging viewpoints on whether the committee flubbed:
Did CFP committee pick wrong at-large teams for playoff?
Toppmeyer: The committee flubbed with SMU. I wrote as much before the playoff. The Mustangs hitched their credentials to an ACC runner-up finish, but they drew an easy conference schedule, lost two games, lacked a marquee victory and lost at home to BYU, which finished 10-2. The Cougars or Ole Miss would have been a better playoff choice than SMU. I would have picked Ole Miss, slotted the Rebels at No. 10 and bumped Indiana to No. 11.
Despite the blowout losses, I don’t take issue with Tennessee or Indiana making the playoff.
The Hoosiers went 11-1 within a “Super Two” conference. Their only regular-season loss came against Ohio State, one of the top frontrunners to win the national championship. True, Indiana lacked a signature regular-season victory, but if we played that game, where does it end? Whom did Texas beat in the regular season? Also, I watched Alabama get blown out by a mediocre Oklahoma team. Who’s to say Notre Dame wouldn’t have also smacked the Crimson Tide?
As for Tennessee, its 10-2 record from inside the SEC and a solid strength of schedule made the Vols a worthy qualifier.
Other than SMU, I don’t think the committee flubbed its at-large picks, but I do think they got seeding wrong. Ohio State built a résumé worthy of a No. 5 seed, awarded to the top at-large team. The committee overlooked the Buckeyes’ wins against playoff qualifiers Penn State and Indiana when seeding them No. 8. They became a victim of the moment and overpenalized OSU for its loss to Michigan.
Ohio State should have been seeded No. No. 5. Then, I would have gone with No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 8 Penn State, swapped out SMU in favor of No. 10 Ole Miss, followed by No. 11 Indiana.
Adams: Indiana and SMU compiled thin résumés and proved themselves bad choices by their pitiful first-round performances.
South Carolina and Ole Miss would have been better picks than either team and almost certainly would have contributed to more competitive games. Pitiful though Tennessee’s performance was against underseeded Ohio State, the Vols probably deserved a playoff spot thanks in part to beating Alabama, although perhaps they were overseeded at No. 9.
I won’t lose sleep over three-loss teams not qualifying for the playoff, but, yes, the committee screwed up in selecting Indiana and SMU instead of two 9-3 SEC teams.
TOPPMEYER:Ohio State’s rout of Tennessee inspires new catchphrase for Ryan Day
ADAMS:There comes a time when one College Football Playoff isn’t enough
Later in the episode
∎ The hosts discuss which team impressed them most in the first round and highlight a frontrunner to win the national championship.
CFP quarterfinal picks!
Picks against the spread:
Penn State (-10.5) vs. Boise State
Toppmeyer: Boise State; Adams: Boise State
Texas (-13.5) vs. Arizona State
Toppmeyer: Texas; Adams: Arizona State
Ohio State (-2.5) vs. Oregon
Toppmeyer: Ohio State; Adams: Ohio State
Notre Dame vs. Georgia (-1.5)
Toppmeyer: Georgia; Adams: Georgia
Records
Toppmeyer 41-45 (3-1); Adams 40-46 (2-2)
Where to listen to SEC Football Unfiltered
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. John Adams is the senior sports columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Subscribe to the SEC Football Unfiltered podcast, and check out the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
