Ranking Reaction: Clear-cut top four for College Football Playoff committee

Never in the two-plus-year history of the College Football Playoff has the selection committee had it this easy: four undefeated teams, four spots, zero intrigue, zero controversy.

The math was in the committee’s favor last week, in its debut rankings, even if the group failed to take advantage. The committee, now chaired by Texas Tech athletics director Kirby Hocutt, elected instead to seed Texas A&M fourth, a spot ahead of Washington.

One week later, the Aggies’ miserable loss to Mississippi State cleared the path for a clear-cut top four. As was the case a week ago, it begins with Alabama, Clemson and Michigan. In fourth, however, come the Huskies.

“Washington has been consistent week in and week out,” Hocutt said. “They have had tremendous execution in all phases of the game. The committee continues to be impressed.”

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If intrigue did exist, it was over the possibility of the committee choosing to once again take a controversial route in picking No. 5 Ohio State rather than Washington. It would have been the wrong choice, though not ridiculously so: Ohio State is 8-1, with six wins against winning records and four wins against teams currently in the Playoff’s top 25.

The most recent, a 62-3 shellacking of No. 19 Nebraska, seemed familiar to those who remember the Buckeyes’ late surge in 2014. That fall, OSU leaped into the top four with a 59-0 win against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Conference title game, bypassing a pair of one-loss teams from the Big 12 Conference.

There was “a small margin” between the Buckeyes and Huskies, Hocutt said.

“This week, the one-loss team in that No. 5 position below Washington is Ohio State, and their loss is to Penn State. That’s the difference in the eyes of the selection committee.”

There is still time and an opportunity for the Buckeyes to reach the Playoff field, particularly with an all-or-nothing game against Michigan on Nov. 26. But that fact underlines a crucial point, one not seen during the previous two seasons of this postseason format.

This year’s championship race, unlike so many in the recent past, has largely avoided any swells of bedlam. If that holds — and the play of the top five teams suggests that may be so — it’s possible to make the following statement: When it comes the Playoff chase, we’re down to five teams battling for the four-team field.

One is Washington, which will face a stern test in this weekend’s game against No. 20 Southern California. After Saturday, the Huskies will face Arizona State and No. 23 Washington State before potentially reaching the Pac-12 Conference championship.

The second is Clemson, which has the clearest path to an unbeaten regular season: Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, South Carolina and a matchup with the winner of the Coastal Division to decide the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The third is Alabama. Fresh off a 10-0 win against No. 24 LSU, the Crimson Tide must handle No. 9 Auburn (after Mississippi State and Chattanooga) in the year-ending rivalry before playing for the Southeastern Conference title.

And the fourth and fifth come from the Big Ten, where it’s become clear that one of Michigan or Ohio State is going to represent the conference in a national semifinal.

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It’s surprising: College football’s Playoff era has never seen such a settled state of affairs at any point during the past two years, let alone during the final push toward the conclusion of the regular season.

It’s also boring, relatively speaking. Few if any want a return to the Bowl Championship Series, which routinely — as in 2001, 2004 or 2011 — left deserving teams out in the cold. There’s also reason to believe the same would happen this fall if the BCS remained the sport’s postseason format.

In the previous postseason format, five teams jostling for two spots would have led to a volatile and unpredictable final month. Not so in the Playoff, clearly. It’s enough to almost make you miss the BCS. Almost, but not quite.

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