The inaugural and very much anticipated College Football Playoff has finally been unveiled. Alabama, Oregon, Florida St. and Ohio St. will all be fighting for the 2014 National Championship.
CBS Sports is reporting that the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide will face #4 Ohio State Buckeyes in the Sugar Bowl, and #2 Oregon Ducks will matchup against defending champion #3 Florida St. Seminoles in the Rose Bowl.
Regardless of how many teams are chosen for the playoff, whether it be four in football or 64 in basketball, the first and second teams on the outside looking in will have a tough time adjusting to life. And in this case, TCU, which was ranked #3 going into their Saturday game has to swallow that bitter pill. TCU dismantled Iowa St. 55 to 3, out-gaining them in yards 722 to 236, and yet they have fallen two spots and out of playoff contention, notes ESPN.
The main reason? Because of how lowly an Iowa St. team really is at 2-10, and because of the impressive performance by mega-program Ohio State. Urban Meyer is a big-time college coach, and leaving him at home after their impressive Conference Championship win against a great Wisconsin team would have been really tough for the committee.
"With the championship game, Ohio State demonstrated that they were a total team. They did overcome replacing two quarterbacks, and that's a tremendous statement about the quality of their team. With a conference championship in the Big Ten, with a win over the Western Division champion, Wisconsin, it was decisive for Ohio State to move into that fourth spot," explained committee chair and Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long.
Long also went on to note that the fact that the Big 12 gave the committee co-champions of their league, both TCU and Baylor, "weighed heavily in their decision."