Greg Byrne needs to cancel a bunch of Alabama Football games

The strongest message from Alabama Football being the first team out of the Playoff field was a loud one. Don't bother paying attention to anything the CFP Selection Committee Chair, Warde Manuel said. The committee was in a no-win situation and the team hurt the most was the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The committee could have chosen to pick the most deserving team between Alabama and SMU, based on wins against ranked teams. That standard was a slam dunk for the Crimson Tide. Had it done so, the future viability of conference championships would have been at risk.

Instead, the committee decided the quality of wins matters little. Which means that the quantity of wins matters a lot. Anyone disagreeing with that assessment ignores facts. As Aaron Torres pointed out, "haven't beaten anyone, applies to nearly half of the Playoff field." SMU, Indiana, and Texas have zero wins over ranked teams. Penn State, ranked No. 6 by the committee has one ranked win over No. 20 Illinois. Notre Dame has one ranked win over No. 22 Army.

The facts documented above prove the current 12-team Playoff structure is a failure at rewarding the best teams and thereby the opportunity to win a National Championship. In the opinions of many SEC football fans, Alabama, South Carolina, and Ole Miss had better claims to Playoff spots than did SMU, Clemson, Boise State, Indiana, and Miami; and possibly Texas.

Rece Davis and ESPN continually decry the unfairness of the current awarding of first-round byes. He is correct, the bye format is flawed. But, a remedy for that problem would do nothing to correct the Playoff's major flaw of rewarding less deserving teams over more deserving teams.

Alabama football fans can hope Greg Sankey, aided by the Big Ten, can construct a better format. Count me as skeptical that the 'participation trophy' mindset among many college football decision-makers will change.

Future Alabama Football Schedules

Greg Byrne cannot afford a wait-and-see approach. Future Alabama football schedules are filled with games against Ohio State, Notre Dame, and other Power Four teams. Instead of those games, Alabama needs to play only low-level Power Four, out-of-conference teams. The Selection Committee has spoken and 'just win baby' is the path to post-season opportunity.

It is also true that the Alabama Crimson Tide was not treated unfairly by the Selection Committee. Beat Vanderbilt; beat, or even lose a close game to Oklahoma, or don't be unlucky when a less deserving Playoff team makes a 56-yard field goal to win a conference championship. Had any one of the three variables gone Alabama's way, the Crimson Tide would be in the Playoff field. But, the Playoff structure and format would still be fundamentally flawed.