On Sunday, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee released the first-ever 12-team college football playoff bracket.
As you might expect, it was not without controversy.
With several teams in contention for at-large bids, and only seven such spots available, there was no question that a team or two would be left on the outside looking in. Who would that be? An Alabama Crimson Tide team that defeated the Georgia Bulldogs? An SMU Mustangs team that advanced to the ACC Championship Game and lost on a final-second, 56-yard field goal to the Clemson Tigers? A two-loss Miami Hurricanes team that was shut out of the ACC title fight between Clemson and SMU?
Now that the 12 teams have been announced, it is time to dive in. Here are SB Nation’s key takeaways from the inaugural 12-team college football playoff bracket.
SMU (11-2) gets in over Alabama (9-3)
This was the biggest question heading into Selection Sunday.
Would the Committee reward Alabama for defeating Georgia earlier in the season and navigating a difficult SEC schedule? Or would the Committee punish them for some shocking losses, including a loss on the road to Vanderbilt?
On the other side of the coin, how would the Committee look at SMU, who entered Conference Championship Weekend ranked inside the top ten and lost in the ACC title game to Clemson on a last-second, 56-yard walk-off field goal? Would a loss in the ACC Championship Game bounce the Mustangs out, and potentially give teams pause regarding championship games in the future? In addition, what about a resume that lacked a win over a Top-25 team?
Alabama could also point to their 16th-ranked schedule (in contrast to SMU’s 60th-ranked schedule) and a better record against teams over .500. While SMU finished 5-2 against such teams, Alabama finished 5-1.
In the end, the Committee rewarded SMU for advancing to the title game, and for fighting back late against Clemson. After falling down 24-7 the Mustangs stormed back, scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter to tie the contest at 31-31.
Only Clemson’s late field goal denied SMU the title.
Was this the right call? As Rece Davis said in the selection show, there are no right answers here. Nick Saban raised the issue following the bracket release that this bracket — and the decision to put SMU into the field over Alabama — might lead teams away from scheduling tough non-conference games in the future.
But as Saban pointed out, each team controlled their own destiny, and tough losses by Alabama against teams like Vanderbilt and their late-season 24-3 loss to Oklahoma, doomed their chances at getting into the field.
Notre Dame (11-1) earns an in-state home game against Indiana
Indiana at Notre Dame should provide the most electric atmosphere of round one. The two in-state rivals square off with a chance to face No. 2 Georgia in the next round.
There was a thought that Notre Dame would slide into the No. 5 spot, as the Committee ranked them No. 5. But with both Texas and Penn State slotted ahead of them, the Fighting Irish dropped to No. 7.
That still gives Notre Dame a home game, but they will face a feisty 11-1 Indiana team, who made it into the field as the No. 10 seed.
No surprises at the top with Oregon (13-0) and Georgia (11-2)
There were no surprises to be found at the top of the bracket.
Oregon capped off an unbeaten regular season with a win Saturday night in the Big Ten Championship Game, defeating No. 3 Penn State 45-37. The Ducks were tested on a few occasions this season, including a win over then-No. 2 Ohio State, and an early-season win over another playoff team, Boise State, and will roll into the playoffs with an unblemished record and holding a first-round bye.
Georgia certainly helped themselves Saturday evening with an overtime win against second-ranked Texas, the second time in as many meetings this year that the Bulldogs knocked off the Longhorns. While there will be questions about the health of starting quarterback Carson Beck — who was replaced for the second half by Gunner Stockton but did return for one play, the game-winning handoff, in overtime — Georgia tackled a difficult schedule this year and came away with just two losses.
The Committee rewarded Georgia for that tough slate.
Boise State (12-1) and Arizona State (11-2) earn the other byes
With Georgia and Oregon slated in as the top-two teams in the bracket, the next big question focused on who the Committee would slot in as the No. 3 team: Boise State or Arizona State?
The Sun Devils won their first conference title since 1996, coming in their first year in the Big 12. Not only was it an impressive season from Arizona State, but no one picked Arizona State to put together a year like this.
After all, they were picked to finish last in the Big 12 media poll ahead of the season. They also finished with a 4-1 record against FBS teams above .500, and had key wins over Kansas State, BYU, and Iowa State in the Big 12 title game.
As for Boise State, the Broncos have a Heisman contender in Ashton Jeanty, a 5-1 record against teams over .500 this year, and wins over UNLV (twice) and Washington State, as well as a three-point loss on the road to Oregon earlier this season.
Clemson’s case for a first-round bye? Of these three teams they played the toughest schedule — ranked 35th in the nation when compared to Boise’s schedule (81st) and Arizona State’s (62nd) — and also won a conference championship game, against then-eighth-ranked SMU on Saturday night.
But the Tigers were also 2-3 against teams over .500 this season.
That might have been what doomed Clemson in the end. While Boise was ranked No. 9 and Arizona State No. 12, they were given first-round byes.
Boise State was the pick at No. 3, and Arizona State the pick at No. 4. Two teams that maybe were not expected to secure byes when the season began, watching the First Round along with the rest us.
Clemson (10-3) gets in at No. 12, but gets an intriguing road
Shut out of the first-round bye conversation, Clemson fell to the final spot in the bracket at No. 12, and they take on Texas (11-2) on the road.
Should they survive in Austin, they would then take on Arizona State.
It is an intriguing pathway to the Semifinals, and one that Dabo Swinney and company are likely thankful for right now.
The Committee ranked Clemson No. 16, but by virtue of winning their conference, they are in the field. A few weeks ago the Tigers seemed to be on the outside looking, and a loss to South Carolina last week put them squarely on the bubble, but Syracuse’s win over Miami put the Tigers into the ACC Championship Game.
Texas (11-2) gets rewarded for two tough losses with No. 5
The Longhorns lost a pair of games to Georgia this season, first at home back in October, and then Saturday in the SEC Championship Game.
The Committee looked kindly on that schedule, and valued those two losses to a Top-5 team highly, as Texas was rewarded with the No. 5 seed — the top-ranked non-conference championship team — and a home game against Clemson in the First Round.
Here’s the full College Football Playoff bracket
This is going to be so much fun.
