It's crying time for college football teams and coaches. Here's why.

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The Power Four league championships are finalized and the Big Ten, featuring undefeated No. 2 Indiana and No. 1 Ohio State (both 12-0), will pit those two powerhouses against each other with the loser being assured a position in the College Football Playoff. No. 3 Georgia, which has one loss and will play No. 9 Alabama in the SEC final, is also assured of a berth in the CFP, even if it loses a second time. It’s probably the same for No. 4 Texas Tech if it loses the Big 12 Championship to No. 11 BYU, which it already has defeated. No. 5 Oregon, No. 6 Mississippi, No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 8 Oklahoma are all idle and all in the CFP barring a corruptive act.

After that, the crying just won’t stop!

We told you this year, just as Tom Hanks said in “A League of Their Own,“ that “There’s no crying in baseball” — there’s also no crying in football. Unfortunately, since the final regular-season CFP rankings have been released, that’s all we are hearing from No. 9 Miami, No. 13 Texas, No. 14 Vanderbilt and even No. 10 Notre Dame. Those teams have all concluded their seasons, so unless there is an upset in three of the Power Four conference finals, it is likely the rankings will not change and that means the first three are out while No. 10 Notre Dame, at the moment, is in. Knowing that all could change with an upset this weekend has all of those teams on edge.

First, Miami is crying because it defeated the Irish, 27-24, has the same record (10-2) and argues why the Hurricanes wouldn’t be ranked ahead of the Irish since the head-to-head result should overwhelmingly be the determining factor? It reminds us of 1993 when the voters gave the national championship to Florida State ahead of one-loss Notre Dame, which had defeated the Seminoles (31-24) late in the season. And even though both finished with one loss, FSU was voted No. 1. The former Irish head coach, Lou Holtz, is furious to this day. It’s a great argument but it appears the Irish are the beneficiaries this time and sounds of silence are heard in South Bend.

Next is Vandy, which lost games against Texas and Alabama but defeated four ranked teams, one being Tennessee, 45-24. The Commodores also have the most valuable player in the country in quarterback Diego Pavia, who literally turned the Vanderbilt program around on his back. Having said that, it’s Vanderbilt for crying out loud! Do you really think the committee is going to rate your school, a perennial SEC doormat, in the same way it evaluates Alabama or Texas. Fuhgeddaboudit!

Then there is the loudest voice of all — Texas, the only team to come within 15 points of Ohio State, losing in Columbus, 14-7. Other than that, Texas lost to Florida and No. 3 Georgia. The Longhorns‘ coach, Steve Sarkisian, is crying that Texas should not be penalized for playing a powerhouse such as Ohio State when so many others refuse to do so. He’s right about that, too. (See Ole Miss‘ nonconference schedule.) But the devil is in the details. The Longhorns struggled all year and, while they won 10 games, many were unimpressive and some were more of the survival type against lesser-quality opponents. Plus, that loss at 4-8 Florida was a bad one. They’re so bitter, they’re threatening to remove games against elite opponents from their schedule. Great. Take your game ball with you, too, and don’t come back.

Finally, there is Notre Dame, America’s team. Winners of 10 games in a row but who have defeated no current ranked team, the Irish clobbered Stanford, 49-20, but the CFP Committee dropped them below Alabama to No. 10 even though ‘Bama struggled with a 5-7 Auburn team, 27-20. That’s important because the next two spots will go to the highest-rated conference champions, which right now are predicted to be No. 14 Virginia and No. 21 Tulane. If Duke (5-7) prevails, the ACC is likely to have no CFP berth and James Madison from the Sun Belt in right now. So, every spot counts and, by moving down behind the Tide, the Irish are exposed if No. 11 BYU defeats No. 5 Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship and that league gets two CFP berths.

Here’s the other scenario: What happens if Alabama, the No, 1 seed in the SEC, loses to Georgia? Do they drop behind anyone? Which brings us back to Sarkisian’s statement asking why are we playing tough teams when we don’t have to. Avoiding a conference championship game against another difficult opponent actually benefits all the idle teams in the Top 10, which only proves his point.

It’s an imperfect system created by the powers that be, expanded from four teams to 12 and now realizing it is probably more imperfect than before. The sample size is and forever will be too small to fairly and subjectively determine who deserves to be the last two in and the last two out. The answer, expansion, is on the way. The Big Ten has the right model because, at 24 teams, there is no room for griping or crying and those powerhouse nonconference games will remain on the schedule. That would be the solution to this yearly chaos. To quote the great Charles Barkley, “Anything less would be uncivilized.”

My championship predictions

No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Indiana (+4): The game of the century, right! Day vs. Cignetti. The defending national champions against the upstart and juggernaut Hoosiers. While both will qualify for the CFP no matter what the outcome, it’s must-see television. Both teams have Heisman candidates in quarterbacks Julian Sayin at OSU and Fernando Mendoza at IU. Both teams have talent at the skill positions and both teams ran right through their opposition. The difference is in the depth department. The Buckeyes are loaded, Indiana not so much. Yet, there is something about this Hoosiers team, which has a certain personality to it built on its physicality. Last year, Indiana could not hang with the Buckeyes, losing, 38-15, but the Hoosiers have gotten stronger defensively while upgrading at quarterback with Mendoza. This game is a monster and has all the hype of a classic. The chance to see Mendoza compete against the No. 1 Buckeye defense (7.8 points per game) has made traveling to Indy to see it live something I can’t pass up. Indiana’s defense is actually No. 2 at 10.9 ppg, so Sayin also will be tested. Take the points for what I see as an upset for the team of destiny all year — Indiana.

No. 10 Alabama (+3) vs. No. 3 Georgia: The Dawgs know how to win a close one.

No. 11 BYU vs. No. 4 Texas Tech (-11): The Red Raiders are legit and too talented defensively for the Cougars.

Duke vs. No. 14 Virginia (-2.5): The ACC should cancel this game and declare Miami its legitimate champion as the highest-ranked team. No chance, so they’ll pray Virginia wins.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: With the final regular-season CFP rankings out, plenty of complaints

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