Committee reinforces notion league title games part of playoff

Sunday’s decision by the College Football Playoff committee to leave two-loss Georgia out of the final four really shouldn’t be that surprising if you carefully remember back when it all started.

Early in the morning at SEC Media Days back in July 2014, executive director Bill Hancock sat down for an interview on the brand new college football playoff and his points from that interview haven’t really changed.

“We want something people are talking about all year long,” he said while we were finishing up a quick visit from then-SEC commissioner Mike Slive, who had stopped by to say hello.

He also talked about the entire season meaning something for college football. That was a point of debate for detractors of the old BCS formula, which rewarded late success and, at times, ignored late failures.

Hancock made it very clear the entire season mattered.

“There is a strong blueprint for the process,” he said.

That blueprint hasn’t changed a whole lot going into the fifth year of the process. There’s no definitive language that eliminates a two-loss team from getting into the final four, but unless there’s a lot of them, don’t look for it anytime soon.

Reading between the lines, Hancock more or less said from the first year it would be hard for a team to lose a championship game and still get into the playoff.

“The last one — and the most important one — is that you win your conference,” he said in 2014.

Alabama got in without winning the SEC last year … and promptly won the whole thing because Georgia avenged a regular-season loss to Auburn, then beat the Tigers in the SEC Championship game.

With the Big 10 and Pac 12 in dreadful shape, it wasn’t a big stretch to have two teams from the SEC in the discussion.

But this year? Well, the reason Georgia didn’t make it in is because they lost their play-in game. Conference championship games — for good or bad — have become literally the first round of the college football playoff system.

The committee made it clear Sunday that’s the case.

Based on prior conversations with Hancock, the guess from this corner is the Bulldogs would still be on the outside looking in if Notre Dame wasn’t in the mix this year. I’m guessing Ohio State would have been in there.

It’s the conference championship thing again.

Advertisement

Just as Wisconsin finished 12-1 in 2017, that one loss came to Ohio State in the Big 10 Championship Game and the Big 10 got left out because Alabama had one loss that did not come in the conference championship game.

Ohio State more or less got into the playoff the same way in 2016. They didn’t make it to the Big 10 title game, but got into the playoff with an 11-1 record. They were promptly stomped into the ground by Clemson, but they got in.

The CFP committee could resolve all of this by simply saying you don’t have to be in your conference championship game, but if you do make it there you better win it.

They won’t, though. Just like they’re not really going to entertain any talk of expansion anytime soon.

“It’s going to be four teams for 12 years,” Hancock said back in 2014. We set this up on a 12-year contract because we want fans to know how it’s going to be.”

So don’t expect changes for awhile.

And whether you like it or not, that’s the way it’s going to be.

Which keeps you talking about the College Football Playoff. That drives interest, which drives sponsorship dollars and television ratings.

“Every school and every conference will benefit financially from this deal every year,” Hancock said back in 2014.

In case you’re wondering, that’s what really matters.