Alabama Football: Dabo and Sankey right, Selection Committee won’t listen

Alabama Football: The CFBP Selection Committee has a tough call to make and every indication is it will make the wrong one.

Alabama football fans who were worried about the Tide maybe losing to Florida, and not making the Playoffs, can breathe easy. The Crimson Tide would have to lose to Florida by three touchdowns and have two of Mac, Najee and Smitty injured for the Tide to slip below the fourth slot.

The biggest beneficiary of LSU upsetting Florida – make that the only beneficiary is Ohio State. A 6-0, Big Ten Champion, Buckeyes team will make the Playoff field.

When the Crimson Tide and Clemson win on Saturday, the first three slots in the Playoff final four will be set. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will join the Tide and the Tigers in the field.

A remaining, slight quandary for the committee will be whether to punish Ohio State for too few games. The Buckeyes need not look to Dabo Swinney or SEC Commissioner, Greg Sankey for support.

On Friday, Dabo discussed his belief teams having played more games should get favorable consideration.

"I just think that there has to be some type of standard and I just think — if I was on a committee it would be hard for me to leave out a 10-1 Texas A&M"

Greg Sankey agreed with Dabo’s premise while challenging the Selection Committee.

"Florida will have to play eight straight weeks through our championship game. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we have some conferences that aren’t even going to play eight games in their schedule."

Of course, Sankey was lobbying for the Playoff field to have two SEC teams. Beyond doing his job as SEC Commissioner, Sankey was arguing for fairness and consistency. The Big Ten and the Pac 12, chose to play fewer games. In a virus-impacted season, they should not be punished for not being able to play games. Neither should they be rewarded. For simplicity, ignore strength of schedule comparisons. Instead, look at simple math. The odds of being an undefeated or one-loss team are increased by playing fewer games. There is a significant difference between playing six games instead of 10 or 11 games. The risk of a loss goes up with every game played.

As Sankey pointed out, the Selection Committee has already said “playing games (as in how many) matters.” The final four decisions must include that calculation. The primary task of the Selection Committee is to select the best four teams. An argument can be made, that and the other rankings are the committee’s only tasks.

While accomplishing those tasks, the good people on the committee should not reward a team for not playing. To do so would be unfair. After dispensing with Northwestern, the teams Ohio State will have played, will have won only 22 games. By comparison, after games on Dec. 19, the teams Alabama football has played will have won at least 56 games.

When the Selection Committee chooses Ohio State over Texas A&M and Cincinnati, and possibly a 9-2, Big 12 Champion, Iowa State, the decision will be wrong and not completely fair.

The Selection Committee could tip its hand on Tuesday night. If the new No. 5 – No. 7 are TAMU, Iowa State and Cincinnati, Ohio State with a win over Northwestern will be the No. 4 team.