Michigan, Alabama, Washington, and Texas: The Chosen Four in the College Football Playoff

‍‍Michigan, Alabama, Washington, and Texas were selected for the prestigious College Football Playoff, leaving Florida State, the undefeated Power Five conference champion, out of the four-team field. This marks a significant event in the playoff’s history as it’s the first time an unbeaten team from the Power Five conference has been excluded.

Michigan is slated to cross swords with Alabama in the Rose Bowl. In contrast, Washington will take on Texas in the Sugar Bowl for the January 1 CFP semi-finals. The national championship will be decided later, on January 8, against Houston.

The final season of the four-team playoff, set to expand to 12 next year, presented the CFP selection committee with perhaps its toughest decision in the 10-year history of the postseason system. Florida State (13-0) lost their ace quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury two weeks prior, but they continued to win with a backup and then a third-string quarterback.

However, the committee is guided to judge the teams for what they are heading into the playoff. The panel decided that FSU, without Travis, was not among the best four in the country. This decision led them to choose Alabama, which surprisingly defeated Georgia to win the Southeastern Conference championship, and Texas, the Big 12 champion, which defeated the Crimson Tide on the road in September.

The decision to exclude any team would have stirred controversy, given the strong arguments each team had to get in. The SEC had never missed the playoff, and Alabama, now in for the eighth time, preserved that streak. Texas would have been just the second Power Five team with only one loss to be left out. However, the Longhorns will now be making their first appearance in the CFP in their last season as a member of the Big 12, before moving to the SEC next year.

Big Ten champion Michigan will be making its third consecutive appearance in the CFP, still in pursuit of its first playoff victory. At the same time, Washington is participating in the CFP for the second time, breaking the Pac-12’s playoff drought after six years and doing so just a year before it leaves the conference for the Big Ten.

Florida State, which was No. 4 in the previous CFP rankings, appeared to be heading towards its second playoff appearance in mid-November, when their season took a drastic turn. Travis suffered a severe injury in the first quarter against North Alabama, which sidelined him for the year. The Seminoles defeated their rival Florida last week, with backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker playing. However, Rodemaker then missed the ACC championship against Louisville due to a concussion. Florida State managed to stay unbeaten with a strong defensive performance, but they only scored one touchdown.

The four-team version of the College Football Playoff is teetering on the edge of drama and controversy. Championship weekend created as many questions as answers for the CFP committee, and the selections made on Sunday were the first in the 10-year history of the system where the field was genuinely hard to predict.

Michigan (13-0) and Washington (13-0) seem to be safely in. However, there are three — and perhaps even four — teams in contention for the last two spots that, in most years, would have easily made it to the CFP. This year, the scenario is different, and it won’t be a problem next year when the playoff expands to 12 teams.

Florida State (13-0), Texas (12-1), and Alabama (12-1) gave the 13-member committee a lot to ponder over. The Seminoles completed a perfect regular season with an Atlantic Coast Conference championship, relying on their defense to beat No. 15 Louisville while playing a third-string, freshman quarterback. No unbeaten Power Five champion has ever been left out of the CFP, but with the injured star quarterback Jordan Travis out for the season, is Florida State genuinely one of the four best teams?

A few things that have never happened before might occur on Sunday. The No. 1 team heading into championship weekend had never missed the CFP, even with a loss. After losing to Alabama, top-ranked Georgia’s quest to become the first team to win three straight national titles is hanging by a thread.

The SEC champion has never been left out of the College Football Playoff. Six times the CFP champion has been from the SEC, and twice the conference has had both participants in the title game. The only certainty heading into college football’s selection Sunday is that a few fan bases are bound to be unhappy with the committee’s choices.

The College Football Playoff decisions have sparked considerable debate and controversy. However, the focus now shifts to the upcoming matches and how the selected teams will perform. As the playoff expands to 12 teams next year, the selection process will undoubtedly evolve, potentially reducing such controversies.