College Football Playoff committee didn't pick the four best teams
The College Football Playoff committee blew it. It didn't pick the best four teams in the country; if it did, Georgia would be playing in the semifinals.
The committee selected Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama as the top four, stunning the college football world by leaving off the No. 1-ranked team.
ESPN's Laura Rutledge had a better idea for a top four based on the country's best teams, including the Wolverines, Longhorns, Crimson Tide and Bulldogs.
"If somebody in that committee room doesn't think Georgia's one of the four best teams in the country, I don't know if they're in the right profession," quipped head coach Kirby Smart after the team's SEC championship game loss.
He's right. Georgia went 12-0 in the toughest conference in the country. Its only loss was by a field goal in a game where it had a 50-yard field goal attempt hit the upright and allowed three points after losing a fumble inside its 20-yard line.
Mike Greenberg of ESPN's "Get Up" highlighted the absurdity of the argument that the playoff is truly about finding the four best teams in the country.
Knocking Georgia out of the playoff was bad enough, but it was made even worse considering the committee inexplicably ranked Florida State ahead of it. Does the committee really think the Bulldogs are a worse team than the Seminoles without Jordan Travis?
The committee contradicted itself with that decision. It clearly isn't ranking all the teams in order of who is the best, so the measure must be who's the most deserving of a top-four spot, which the Seminoles are considering they went undefeated after starting three different quarterbacks.
The Bulldogs would be in the semifinals if this were a playoff involving the sport's four best teams. The Seminoles would be there if it was about involving the most deserving teams. Ultimately, the committee had two options — pick the four best or the four most deserving teams — and didn't get it right either way.
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