College Football Playoff: Money or Politics?

         

Week 13 is in the books now and all that is left is the championship games next Saturday before the selection committee locks itself in a room like the College of Cardinals do when they are selecting a new Pope. As just about every year everyone is buzzing about the chance that Oklahoma and Wisconsin lose their championship games to TCU and Ohio State respectively, thus throwing the committee into a tailspin on whom to put in the final four. Is this possible I guess but in reality if chalk holds the decision is one of the easiest to make in the modern playoff era. If Oklahoma wins their in, if Wisconsin wins they are in. The winner of the SEC championship between Auburn and Georgia is automatically in and the winner of the ACC is also; automatically in between Miami & Clemson (period). So, with that being said what happens if Oklahoma or Wisconsin or both loose?

                The answer to this question is easy in reality if Oklahoma loses and Wisconsin wins then Alabama is back in with Wisconsin and the winners of the ACC and SEC championship games. If Oklahoma wins and Wisconsin loses same thing Alabama is back in with Oklahoma and the winner of the ACC and SEC Championship games. The only way this gets really crazy is if Oklahoma and Wisconsin both lose. Then and only then will the Committee be in a position of having to make really tough decisions and possibly piss a lot of people off along the way. So let us take a look at what that perfect storm would actually look like. So for the sake of argument let’s just stick with the theory that it is hard to beat any team twice in the same season much less a good team. With that being said Georgia gets in as they knock off a hurt Auburn team who is limping into the SEC championship game fresh off their upset of number 1 Alabama in the Iron Bowl. Georgia gets their revenge in virtually a home Championship game against Auburn so they are your SEC Champion and they are in. Now using the same philosophy of it being hard to beat a team twice much less a good team, Miami limps into the ACC championship game and has to beat Clemson for a second time? I just don’t think the U fresh of an embarrassing loss to unranked Pittsburg can get it done so Clemson is back in the playoff as the ACC champion. This leaves two spots and one 10-2 team that gets in as I already said if one of the two loses Alabama at 11-1 is back in. Now we are down to who is the fourth and final two loss team the committee selects. Now I know you still have one undefeated top 15 team in UCF but let’s be real the Knights strength of schedule and lack of big name opponents keeps them out. So is it TCU who would have had to knock off Oklahoma in the BIG 12 championship game or is it Ohio State who would have had to beat Wisconsin in the BIG 10 championship game? Well let’s look at those two loses TCU lost to Oklahoma earlier in the year and they lost by a touchdown to then ranked Iowa State. Ohio State on the other hand lost to Oklahoma as well earlier in the year but their second loss which was a beating by unranked Iowa. So with that being said if you went by strength of schedule and win loses the final four should be Georgia, Clemson, Alabama, and TCU.

                Why if Wisconsin and Oklahoma both go down this won’t be the four as I listed above? The answer is of course because of politics, “sex appeal” and money. Mark my words if TCU beats Oklahoma and Wisconsin loses to Ohio State the Buckeyes will find their way in simply because they are a bigger name that draws more attention, fans, and publicity which equals what more money! Fresh off their rivalry game with my beloved not so good wolverines OSU is headed to the BIG Ten championship game against the Badgers. The question for OSU is who will be their quarterback as JT Barrett was hurt allegedly before the game by a camera man that ran into him but then “again” in the game when taking a hit. Although Barrett and OSU claim this camera man ran into him, why is it that no one else seen this? In a stadium of over 113,000 people plus both teams and media how is it possible no one else seen this? It is one of the biggest rivalry games in all of sports even though we “Michigan” have been getting our asses handed to us lately the world was still watching. So where this mystery camera man is and what media outlet he works for is as big of a mystery right now as where Jimmy Hoffa’s body is and what happened to Amelia Earhart. Furthermore, if Barrett was so hurt before the game even started how was he able to scramble for a 21 yard running touchdown and throw for another prior to leaving the game? This whole story is just about is crazy as the selection committee will be if they put a 2 loss Ohio State team in the final four. Often times in this life though there have been cases that just leave intelligent people scratching their heads, and just as often real life can be quite stranger than fiction.  For the sanity of college football fans and outside on lookers a like let us hope the committee does not have to perform a comparison of Rocket Science in come selection Sunday. Let us hope that next Saturday’s championship games make the decision for them and thus allowing the process to work itself out on the field in real game time action and not through the political and lobbying process that goes along with any Committee. If I had to pick now I would tell you Georgia wins and is in, Clemson wins and is in, Oklahoma wins and is in and Wisconsin wins and is also in. The four champions with 11-1 records or 12-0 in Wisconsin’s case is the easiest and cleanest way to get the final four and is what I think will actually happened next Saturday. Once again if this is the case college football will escape at the last minute with another year of playoffs minus to much controversy. Once the final four is announced stay tuned to this blog or the NO MASS PODCAST for predictions on who beats who to go to the title game and who will be College football’s Next National Champion.

                   Written By J. MASS