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Joe Rexrode: College Football Playoff complaints are plentiful and mostly laughable 

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We used to argue, and now we complain. Sure, we complained back in the day, too, but mostly we complained about the fact that we had to argue — about which teams were best in college football, because we didn’t have a way to actually decide that. Now we do. And maybe this is just the skewed perspective of a semi-mature but still very youthful (in non-obvious ways) observer who remembers waiting to see who the writers and coaches would “vote as national champion.”

But the whining is out of control, you whiners. Of course, there are valid complaints. The 12-team College Football Playoff isn’t perfect. It can improve. It should be scrutinized. No one is asking for mindless acceptance. The past week and change, though, culminating with a first-round weekend that should have been more of a celebration, felt like one torturous car ride with a 4-year-old who couldn’t stop screaming.

About an ice cream cone that melted all over his fingers. Because he didn’t finish fast enough. Because he had to eat two ice cream cones. Because he demanded two. Because he couldn’t decide on a flavor. Let’s review these complaints, in order from most ridiculous to most valid.

‘My Notre Dame Fighting Irish could beat both of these teams.’

Yes, Notre Dame Twitter was all over that low-scoring, college kicker-exposing affair between Miami and Texas A&M. And maybe it was an army of troll accounts, to be disregarded like those posing as newsbreakers and giving us, “Breaking: Rich Rod rises to top of Michigan’s list.” But if even a single Notre Dame fan was serious about this… your team lost to both of those teams.

‘Half of these games were blowouts! That’s not how tournaments are supposed to be!’

Right, except the most celebrated American sporting event of all, the Super Bowl, has been decided by double figures 35 of 59 times, with some real beauties thrown in there. How about Russell Wilson’s 2013 team playing Alabama to Peyton Manning’s FCS team trying to hang in a buy game? The four-team CFP was chock full of blowouts. All postseasons have tons of them.

But somehow that’s an affront to the very idea of competition when it happens in the College Football Playoff.

‘Let’s gather all these Group of 5 teams and let them have their own tournament.’

Sounds like the FCS playoffs. If they didn’t want to be FBS teams, I’m sure they’d happily be part of that. Variations of G5-related crying dominated the conversation for the past few days. It’s not the worst of all the complaints because it is less than ideal that we had two such teams in this field — blame the ACC — and unfortunately, they were not the best possible G5 hopefuls, and it showed.

I still think South Florida at its best this season could have won a game in this thing or made a real run at it, but the Bulls had some costly failures, and we’ll never know. I’m confident better G5 showings will happen in the future, even in the roster-raiding era. As colleague David Ubben wrote, raising the bar a bit on a G5 team’s inclusion may be a good idea. But as colleague Stewart Mandel wrote, the collective college football media uproar about this has been out of hand.

I expect this from fans of teams that were left out. Or from Nick Saban, who now owns part of a hockey team and thinks everyone but the top of the SEC should be relegated to Strat-O-Matic football as a postseason fate. But have any of the same media members complaining about this considered that removing G5 access would be — on top of an antitrust issue — the exact same kind of shortsighted move, disenfranchising large swaths of the country, that the suits have been pushing on the sport to its long-term detriment? And that the same media members have been complaining about these suits and that mindset for years?

I don’t know if we’ll ever get an upset, or even a serious run at one, in a game like Tulane at Ole Miss or James Madison at Oregon. But I’d like to find out, because I know those are some of the very best moments sports has to offer. This tournament and the NCAA Tournament don’t compare perfectly, because an overmatched football team has much less of a chance than an undersized No. 16 seed that can have a magical night from 3-point range.

But the inexplicable happens in football, too. Most of the 1-16, 2-15 and 3-14 games are blowouts, and no one complains about it. We wait for the one or two games a year that provide the unthinkable or a brush with the unthinkable, and it’s what we remember most from that tournament. This isn’t just about the access of Group of 5 teams to the hope and thrill that comes with a spot in the College Football Playoff; it’s about our access to them.

‘See, the committee did a bad job.’

Is that you again, Notre Dame fans? Actually, it was Notre Dame fans — and, to be fair, many, many others — warming up for Saturday, watching Friday as Alabama built a 17-point deficit at Oklahoma. Every Alabama incompletion and Oklahoma gain of 4 yards or more served as a referendum on the selection committee. Until the game completely flipped.

Which doesn’t matter. One of the all-time dumbest things in sports is using game results to re-litigate a selection committee’s choices. Alabama deserved to be in the field, largely because of its win at Georgia, and nothing from this game would have changed that. But hey, considering how the Alabama and Miami games turned out, committee members had a right to smirk at the haters — for a fleeting moment, before looking in the mirror and remembering that it wasn’t the choices, it was the explanations, that were problematic.

‘At least the quarterfinals should be good.’

This isn’t really a complaint, and it isn’t wrong. But let’s also remember that, other than what should be an amazing scene with Indiana and Alabama playing at the Rose Bowl, everyone but the bowls is getting shortchanged with the current arrangement. Miami should be visiting the Horseshoe, not playing Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Ole Miss should be taking a second crack at Georgia in Athens, not taking on the Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl.

Texas Tech should be hosting the biggest athletic event in the history of its campus — it sure as heck shouldn’t be playing Oregon in south Florida. And for as stirring as that scene in Pasadena is, imagine a stadium full of new-money Hoosiers fans howling at Alabama royalty. The pressure to make this right as soon as possible must continue. In the meantime, let’s wipe our tears with those sticky fingers and try to enjoy what’s left of the ice cream.

Stewart Mandel: Miami’s revival, underdog Alabama and G5 reality check, plus more College Football Playoff takeaways

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And now, 14 Final Thoughts from the College Football Playoff first round, in which ESPN got exactly what it paid for from its two games, while TNT might have been better off showing Christmas movies.

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1. You could almost hear the cathartic roar from South Florida when Miami freshman safety Bryce Fitzgerald picked off Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed in the end zone to seal a 10-3 first-round win. Fitzgerald was not yet born the last time Miami played a game with national championship stakes, back in 2002, when the reigning dynasty of that era won its 34th straight game to reach the BCS championship against Ohio State.

The Buckeyes ended that streak in a controversial double-overtime win at the Fiesta Bowl. Miami hasn’t played in a postseason game with national title implications since. So it’s a pretty big deal that Mario Cristobal’s 10th-seeded team is headed to the Cotton Bowl for a CFP quarterfinal date with… No. 2 Ohio State. 

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2. Saturday’s matinee at Kyle Field marked the first time in the brief history of the 12-team CFP that a first-round game was decided in the final seconds. It was a slog, but it was an exciting one, as two tough defenses kept two usually explosive offenses out of the end zone for 58 minutes. But there were also ghastly special teams galore. In particular, Canes kicker Carter Davis missed three manageable field goals. When Miami’s stud freshman receiver Malachi Toney fumbled at midfield with seven minutes left in a 3-3 game, I figured we were about to witness another gut-wrenching, mistake-filled Miami loss under Cristobal.

Instead, All-American defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. sacked Reed on a third-and-6 to get his team the ball back, running back Mark Fletcher Jr. broke a 56-yard run and Toney scored a redemptive 11-yard touchdown on a nifty third-and-5 sweep called by offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson. Reed nearly led the Aggies back down the field before throwing his fourth second-half interception in two games. No, I’m not going to declare “The U is back!” just yet.

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3. The 11-2 Canes, who didn’t enter the CFP field until eight days after their last game, will face a 12-1 foe that did not trail in the second half all season until its most recent game. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean Ohio State-Miami is a mismatch. I say that primarily because Bain and Miami’s defense are special. They had seven sacks Saturday, bottling up Reed both passing and running. They held A&M’s running backs to 2.8 yards per carry. They’re certainly capable of slowing down Julian Sayin, Jeremiah Smith and company, as Indiana did.

The problem is the other side of the ball. Carson Beck was just 14 of 20 for 103 yards against the Aggies. He’ll need to be a much bigger factor if the Canes hope to pull off the upset. If they do, then I’ll consider declaring, “The U is…” 

4. For Texas A&M, the high of its 11-0 start gave way to a buzzkill of an ending. First, the Aggies imploded in the second half and lost 27-17 to bitter rival Texas, missing the SEC Championship Game as a result. Then, in their first CFP appearance, they finished with a three-point showing in front of their home crowd. In hindsight, A&M’s deceivingly soft conference schedule (which included six of the bottom seven SEC teams) papered over several flaws. Like the fact that Fletcher’s long run was the 12th of 30 or more yards allowed by the Aggies’ defense. Only seven FBS teams have allowed more.

But big picture, Mike Elko’s team made considerable progress in Year 2, and has a chance to continue it in 2026. Reed, receiver Mario Craver and linebacker Taurean York are among those the program will attempt to retain. More daunting for Elko is he’s losing both OC Collin Klein (Kansas State head coach) and DC Jay Bateman (Kentucky DC).

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5. Nick Saban’s final game at Alabama came in a Rose Bowl appearance, where the fourth-seeded Tide lost to eventual national champion Michigan in a CFP semifinal. Imagine telling him as he walked off the field that Bama would return two years later as a touchdown underdog against Indiana. Kalen DeBoer’s ninth-seeded Tide, whose inclusion in the field drew considerable backlash, found some redemption Friday night with their 34-24 comeback win at No. 8 seed Oklahoma.

Give Bama credit for going on the road and erasing a 17-0 deficit (albeit with a couple of helpful gifts from the Sooners), while largely dominating the second half. QB Ty Simpson, when not getting sacked, had his most efficient passing night since the Tennessee game two months ago. But Alabama, now 11-3, still fails to inspire confidence that it can make a deep run.

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6. The Tide struggled to run the ball (again), save for one 30-yard Daniel Hill run. Their O-line struggled to handle blitzes (again), and their receivers dropped passes (again). A team prone to self-inflicted mistakes could be in for a long day against Curt Cignetti’s extremely disciplined Hoosiers. But that’s assuming we get the same versions of those teams come Jan. 1.

Last year’s quarterfinals saw the teams coming off a longer break (Indiana’s will be 26 days by then) go 0-4, and another 13-0 Big Ten champion, No. 1 Oregon, looked like a shell of its former self in the Rose Bowl. Perhaps Fernando Mendoza and the Hoosiers come out similarly rusty. There’s a big difference, though, between the veteran-led, dripping-with-talent Ohio State team that waxed the Ducks last year and an Alabama squad that’s relying heavily on youth and trying to duct-tape its running game. Never thought I’d write these words, but: Indiana is a bad matchup for Alabama.

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7. Oklahoma managed to win 10 games and make the Playoff despite its big-ticket quarterback, John Mateer, not being quite the same after his thumb injury in Week 4 that required surgery. He showed flashes of his former self in staking his team to that 17-0 lead against Alabama, but that mostly ended after his pick six late in the first half that tied the game. The junior will now have to decide whether to run it back, turn pro (not recommended!) or hop back in the portal.

The Sooners figure to keep turning out elite defenses for as long as Brent Venables is their coach, but they haven’t yet fully figured out the whole offense thing.

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8. On Friday, I rose to the defense of Tulane and James Madison after watching several prominent TV analysts take turns shoving the little guys into their lockers. On Saturday, the little guys failed to rise to their own defense. Ole Miss 41, Tulane 10 and Oregon 51, James Madison 34 were as lopsided as feared. (Though JMU deserves credit for rallying in the second half to cover the spread.)

G5 teams held their own over the first nine years of the CFP, going 4-5 in New Year’s Six/CFP bowls from 2014-22, but since then, it’s been four straight blowout losses. Three of the G5 teams involved were ranked in the 20s (2023 Liberty, 2025 Tulane and JMU). Probably not a coincidence the trend began right as several of the best G5 programs (Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and SMU) moved up to P4 leagues, and the end of transfer restrictions made it easier to raid those teams’ rosters.

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9. We saw zero evidence Saturday that Lane Kiffin’s departure had any negative impact on No. 6 Ole Miss’s players. Rebels QB and new AT&T customer Trinidad Chambliss was his usual efficient self. Kewan Lacy broke two long runs. And while Jake Retzlaff and Tulane moved the ball at times, newly promoted head coach Pete Golding’s defense stuffed all four of the Green Wave’s fourth-down attempts and forced three turnovers.

But 12-1 Ole Miss faces a stiffer challenge against No. 3 Georgia in the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl quarterfinal. In the Rebels’ only loss of the season, Chambliss led the offense to five straight touchdowns and a 35-26 lead against Georgia in Athens. But then Kirby Smart’s defense shut them out in the fourth quarter, while QB Gunner Stockton threw his third and fourth TDs to win 43-35.

Georgia’s defense only got stingier from there. While it’s hard to imagine the Dawgs manhandling Chambliss and Lacy like they did Alabama in the SEC championship, the onus will be on Ole Miss’s defense to keep them in it.

10. We would love to get a peek inside the Nike factory that churns out Oregon’s endless supply of receivers. A cast of seven caught 11 of 12 targets by Dante Moore in the first half as he rained bombs on JMU’s overmatched defense. (Though he did throw two picks after halftime.) Dan Lanning’s team has so much darn speed across its offense.

Which makes the fifth-ranked Ducks’ Orange Bowl matchup against No. 4 Texas Tech incredibly intriguing. The Red Raiders’ loaded defense has mostly negated big plays thanks to dominant linemen David Bailey, Lee Hunter and Nagurski Trophy winner Jacob Rodriguez. But, of course, Tech didn’t see an offense as dynamic as Oregon’s in the Big 12.

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11. Saturday’s back-to-back yawners will surely lead to renewed calls to claw back G5 leagues’ access to the CFP, to which I’ll provide two reminders: 1. This was the first and likely last time two G5 teams will earn automatic berths. 2. The new CFP deal that begins next year is expected to specifically guarantee bids to the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC, as opposed to an open-ended “five highest conference champions.” Albeit a year too late for Duke.

But more pertinently, the CFP’s precursor, the BCS, ultimately crumbled due to the relentless lobbying, Congressional hearings and threats of antitrust investigations every time a Utah or Boise State went 13-0 but couldn’t compete for the national championship. So even if the SEC’s Greg Sankey or Big Ten’s Tony Petitti might want to kick those teams to the curb, their lawyers will likely advise them against it.

 

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