Indiana was never in the game and SMU was never in their game either. Yet, they were in the College Football Playoff. So, here are some numbers,
Clemson: 54; Notre Dame 57; SMU 64; Indiana 67; Boise State 78; Oregon 42; Penn State 38; Ohio State 23. If you haven’t guessed those numbers represent the final Strength of Schedule standings for each of those schools. There are 134 teams in Division 1 football and this is where each of the teams finished relative to the other 133 teams at end of the season.
Here are some other numbers Alabama 9; South Carolina 21; (that’s two places above Ohio State, seventeen places above Penn State and twenty-one places above Oregon.) Ole Miss 37 (that’s better than Clemson, Notre Dame, SMU, Indiana, Penn State, Oregon and Boise State.)
It is obvious to anyone with half a brain that taking conference champions who play in conference with weak teams doesn’t make for choosing the best team in the country.
Here’s the solution: No automatic bids, NONE. No rankings by anyone AP, Coaches, ESPN, etc until the seventh game of the season. Then the rankings are predicated on wins and losses factored for Strength of Schedule of the teams played. At the end of the year the teams with ten wins or more and with the best Strength of Schedule are seeded by SoS if equal in wins. We should go to a sixteen team playoff just as the FCS has with the first four ranked teams getting a bye for the first week of playoffs. Teams that lose in the first or second week of the playoff would be eligible for bowls so the bowl selection would be later.
This is a more equitable system and allows us to actually have the best teams playing for the national championship. I guarantee Alabama, South Carolina or Ole Miss would have given Notre Dame and Penn State a tougher game than Indiana or SMU did.
Who you play and how good they are should make a difference.