The expanded College Football Playoff presented drama in the first year.
And in a somewhat surprising change from the four-team postseason of the last decade, a big brand was left out.
Alabama was passed over for SMU, punished for its three losses. It was the major question mark entering the announcement, after the Mustangs lost a heartbreaking ACC championship game to Clemson on a 56-yard field goal at the horn.
Alabama had the far better win, a victory over SEC champion Georgia. But also two bad losses, to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. SMU’s two defeats came by a combined six points to BYU and Clemson.
So after all the talk about how dominant the SEC would be after adding Oklahoma and Texas, it wound up with fewer bids than the Big Ten (four). Somewhere, Greg Sankey is fuming.
Otherwise, there really weren’t many surprises. Undefeated Oregon landed the top seed as expected, Georgia was No. 2, Mountain West champion Boise State received the third bye and Arizona State the fourth.
Texas, the highest at-large seed, will host No. 12 Clemson in the opening round.
Penn State received the sixth seed and will meet SMU.
The 7-10 game is an in-state battle between Notre Dame and Indiana, while Ohio State meets Tennessee in the most interesting first-round game, with the winner getting Georgia in the quarterfinals.
