The College Football Playoff committee took SMU’s wins over Alabama’s strength of schedule, picking the Mustangs for the final at-large spot Sunday after a furious public debate and days of lobbying and arguing over which teams should make the 12-team field.
SMU (11-2) showed it could compete against a traditional power, losing to Clemson 34-31 on a 56-yard field goal on the final play of the ACC championship game. The late-game rally probably did the trick.
“I just think America saw SMU belongs,” Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee told ESPN on Sunday after his team got in. “We’re a team that has a chance to compete for this championship. And to some degree, I think we’re a little bit America’s team after last night.”
The Mustangs, seeded 11th, will visit No. 6 seed Penn State in the first round.
The bracket was expanded from four teams this season, but that didn’t help Alabama or save the committee from controversy that began over the past two weeks as the CFP rankings — and “data points” — were parsed and criticized. The squabbling wasn’t limited to who should be in the field but also who should get consideration for first-round byes.
The Crimson Tide (9-3) had quality wins against Georgia and South Carolina in their first season under coach Kalen DeBoer. Losses at Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma proved costly. The 24-3 loss to Oklahoma was too much to overcome. The Sooners, who finished 6-6, rushed for 250 yards against the Crimson Tide and dominated despite having several key injuries.
Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne stated the case for the Crimson Tide several hours before the announcement. So did former Alabama coach Nick Saban.
“Strength of schedule matters,” Byrne posted on social media. “Not all schedules and conferences are created equal. Six of our eight wins are against bowl eligible teams and have come against some of the top teams in the sec, including sec champion Georgia.”
Several teams with strong seasons were left out besides the Crimson Tide, including Miami (two losses), South Carolina and Mississippi (three losses each). Committee chairman Warde Manuel explained that strength of schedule was valued — a comment that didn’t sit well with Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.
“Is this fake news??? he didn’t actually really say that ….” Kiffin wrote on a social media post, tagging both the Alabama and SMU football accounts.
SMU actually increased its strength of schedule from the previous season by switching from the American Athletic Conference to the ACC. The Mustangs’ only regular-season loss this year was a non-conference game at home to 10-win BYU in the third game of the season. The Mustangs won nine straight before the loss to Clemson.
That didn’t make the waiting easier on Sunday. SMU was the last qualifier announced.
“Until we saw SMU up there, you know, you’re just hanging, hanging on the edge,” Lashlee said.
There was more controversy.
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said he didn’t believe any Group of Five team should get the bye over a Power Four champion, citing strength of schedule. Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez pushed back hours ahead of the bracket announcement.
“Participation in the College Football Playoff isn’t about entitlement,” she wrote on social media. “It should not be contingent upon a conference patch or the logo on the helmet … Boise State’s body of work this season, including an 11-game win streak, has earned it one of the top four seeds ahead of the Big 12 champion.”
In the end, Boise State of the Mountain West got the No. 3 seed ahead of Big 12 champion Arizona State, which was seeded fourth. But both got first-round byes.
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