Playoff: Initial Thoughts

The day that we've been waiting for since September is finally here.  The CFP committee has revealed the four playoff teams:  Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State.  While I (mostly) agree with the teams, I don't agree with the seeding.

First of all, I would have put FSU at #1.  At 13-0, they are the only undefeated team in the FBS.  I don't care about style points, they won.

After that, I think it is a very close margin between the remaining teams.  So, I don't put a lot of stock into the rest of the seeding, because part of it is geography.  Going with that, I would have seeded the teams as follows:  Oregon #2, Ohio State #3, and Alabama #4.

That way, we get Oregon and Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, keeping those bowl organizers happy, because it leaves the Pac-12/Big Ten matchup intact.  Then, we get FSU and Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

As it stands, we have Oregon "hosting" Florida State in the Rose Bowl, and Alabama "hosting" Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.  Not the worst matchups, considering FSU was in Pasadena last year for the National Championship game.

I have reasons to want to root for three of the four teams in the CFP.  Obviously, I'm sick of the Alabama and SEC love fest, so I hope they lose.  Florida State winning will help benefit Virginia Tech, both for conference respect and also conference payout.  The ACC shares their bowl revenue, which might include both rounds of the playoffs.  Meanwhile, the talking heads at ESPN keep saying Ohio State has the "worst" loss of the one-loss teams.  Personally, I feel they have the best loss.  Plus, it would give VT a boost as they are that one loss.

Finally, I would not mind seeing Oregon succeeding.  They, along with schools like Virginia Tech, TCU, and Baylor, are in that second tier of colleges that haven't been traditional powers, but have really developed their programs in the last two decades.  And while some of them (Oregon and VT) have reached national championship games, none have won.

So as long as Alabama loses, I think we're in for a good national championship.

I'll detail my thoughts in another post regarding the two teams on the cusp that were left out, and what it means for their conference.