College Football Playoff reactions, there's time to change the format

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Twelve thoughts about the College Football Playoff bracket, which was unveiled on Sunday, Dec. 7:

1. Why Alabama with a 10-3 record, a really bad loss at Florida State and a no-show performance in the SEC title game against Georgia? Don’t like it. The Crimson Tide won at Georgia (regular season) and beat Vanderbilt at home, but they also needed late-game plays to win at South Carolina and Auburn. Had the Tide played better in the Georgia rematch, I could have made a case. But the Dawgs manhandled the Tide.

2. Notre Dame was the first team out despite a 10-game winning streak to finish the regular season and basically, the selection committee kept it simple and went with Miami, which opened the season with a win over the Irish. I don’t have a problem with the Hurricanes making it.

3. The top four seeds were as expected and well-earned: Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia and Texas Tech. Indiana beating Ohio State in the Big Ten title game was for the No. 1 overall seed. The Bulldogs have found their footing and they are my favorite to win the national title.

4. Was the playoff system really set up to include Tulane and James Madison? No way. The limit should be one Group of Five team. Notre Dame and Vanderbilt not getting in means the best 12 teams won’t be in the playoff. Going to a 16-team playoff would help solve this issue.

5. The conference championship game system has run its course. Texas Tech-BYU? Boring. Alabama-Georgia? Snoozer. Indiana-Ohio State/Virginia-Duke? Two games that had intrigue but started way too late for this older guy (8:15 p.m.-ish). The motive for conference title games is obviously money, which helps support the non-revenue sports. But Indiana and Ohio State, for example, both knew they were getting first-round byes. I get the allure of playing for a “title,” but going to a 16-team playoff and axing conference title games is better for the sport.

6. Former Florida coach/Jaguars legend Urban Meyer said Indiana’s turnaround under coach Curt Cignetti is the “greatest” he’s ever seen. Ol’ Urb is pretty close. Indiana’s last 10-win season before Cignetti arrived was, wait for it, never. Cignetti is 24-2 (13-0 this year). But don’t forget about Bill Snyder at Kansas State (full disclose: my alma mater). A different era, but worth noting was Snyder’s step-by-step build that culminated with nine seasons of at least 10 wins over two tours.

7. Watch out for Texas Tech. The Best College Football Team Money Could Buy will play the Oregon-James Madison winner. Texas Tech was ultra-impressive in both of its routs BYU. Yes, the Red Raiders spent big money, but credit goes to their personnel and coaching staffs for both identifying the right type of player to pay and then developing them to be instant contributors.

8. Florida will have to wait to get coach Jon Sumrall on-campus full-time because Tulane made the playoff. Call that a good problem. Sumrall will be on the national stage like he was in the Green Wave’s conference-title game win over North Texas, which means it will be good exposure for the Gators.

9. First round predictions: No. 8 Oklahoma over No. 9 Alabama, No. 7 Texas A&M over No. 10 Miami, No. 11 Tulane over No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 5 Oregon over No. 12 James Madison.

10. Quarterfinal predictions: No. 1 Indiana over No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 7 Texas A&M over No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia over No. 11 Tulane and No. 5 Oregon over No. 4 Texas Tech.

11. Semifinal predictions: Texas A&M over Indiana and Georgia over Oregon.

12. Championship game: Georgia over Texas A&M.

Contact O'Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: College Football Playoff reactions, there's time to change the format

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos