Bama Hammer
Fansided

Alabama Football: A letter to the CFB Selection Committee

By Ronald Evans

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 08: The Alabama Crimson Tide celebrates beating the Georgia Bulldogs in overtime and winning the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 8, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. Alabama won 26-23. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 08: The Alabama Crimson Tide celebrates beating the Georgia Bulldogs in overtime and winning the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 8, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. Alabama won 26-23. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

On behalf of Alabama football fans, we want to express our gratitude to the CFB Selection committee and give them some advice.

Dear Chairman Mullins, past and present members of the CFB Selection Committee,

Before the frenzy of another college football season returns next month, we want to share our appreciation for the fine work of past committees. Despite an almost thankless and challenging task, the committee has performed well. It is no small duty to choose the ‘four best’ teams for the Playoff. On behalf of Alabama football fans, we urge you to take a well-deserved bow.

To be clear, Bama Hammer has no official role with the University of Alabama. We are just fans who love college sports and most especially the Alabama Crimson Tide. As such, we can take a fan’s prerogative and unabashedly offer you advice on how to continue doing your job successfully.

All of us have heard the numerous explanations defining the measurement criteria of the committee. We understand the value of strength of schedule. We concur that an experienced group like yourselves can use ‘eye-ball’ tests for teams. Conference championships should continue to matter in college football.

Follow last season’s precedence going forward

We urge you going forward to make the annual final selection as you did last season, irrespective of conference championships. There is a problem with too much credit being given a Power Five conference champion. That problem is the conferences are not equal in the talent of their top teams.

Every Power Five conference claims to be the best. In reality, the five conferences are not close to being equal. We will gladly explain why.

In the four years of the CFB Playoff, nine teams have been chosen. Of the 16 slots in the four Playoffs, the SEC has filled five, the ACC four, the Big Ten three, the Big 12 and the Pac 12, two each. As you know, the Big 12 and the Pac 12 have won no national championships.

It is no coincidence that among the nine CFB Playoff participants, the teams with the fewest total losses in the four-year interval are the three teams who have won the four national championships.

There is another stat which clearly shows the disparity between the Power Five conferences. The chart below shows the performance of the nine teams by highlighting the percentage of total losses that came against unranked teams.

SEC

  • Alabama 4-year record – 53 wins, 5 losses – Losses against unranked teams, 0 percent.
  • Georgia 4-year record – 41 wins, 13 losses – Losses against unranked teams, 30.7 percent
  • SEC Total 94 wins, 18 losses – Losses against unranked teams, 22.2 percent

ACC

  • Clemson 4-year record – 50 wins, 7 losses – Losses against unranked teams, 28.5 percent
  • Florida State 4-year record – 40 wins, 13 losses – Losses against unranked teams, 38.5 percent
  • ACC Total 90 wins, 20 losses – Losses against unranked teams, 35 percent

Big Ten

  • Ohio State 4-year record – 49 wins, 6 losses – Losses to unranked teams, 50 percent
  • Michigan State 4-year record – 36 wins, 16 losses – Losses to unranked teams, 50 percent
  • Big Ten Total 85 wins, 22 losses – Losses to unranked teams, 50 percent

Pac 12

  • Oregon 4-year record – 33 wins, 20 losses – Losses to unranked teams, 55 percent
  • Washington 4-year record – 37 wins, 17 losses – Losses to unranked teams, 41 percent
  • Pac 12 Total 70 wins, 37 losses – Losses to unranked teams, 49 percent

Big 12

  • Oklahoma  4-year record – 42 wins, 11 losses – Losses to unranked teams, 27 percent

The comparison of the Big 12 to the other conferences cannot be made because only one Big 12 school has ever qualified for the Playoff field.

What is clear in the comparison of losses against unranked teams is a Big Ten and Pac 12 championship is not equal to an SEC or ACC championship. The disparity has nothing to do with weaker schedules for SEC teams. In fact, it is just the opposite. In the last four seasons, Alabama football played 32 games against ranked teams. Ohio State played 17 ranked teams. Washington played 16 ranked teams. Our excellent source for all this data is sports-reference.com.

The disparity between the conferences is so great, some future season the four ‘best teams’ may come from only two conferences. If that situation ever arises, we want to thank the committee in advance, for doing what it was created to do, by picking the four ‘best teams’ while alienating three Power Five conferences.

Next: 25 Greatest Games in Saban Era

Alabama football will continue to shoulder the burden of carrying the rest of the SEC on its back. As Alabama football fans, we are glad the committee notices our efforts.

Home/Alabama Football