And that message needs to be: schedule better opponents. If you play cupcakes and lose a game, you are out. If you play tough teams in addition to your conference schedule (or just play ND's schedule) and drop one (possibly two close ones) along the way, you will be in the conversation.

Then Lt Gen Gould is happy. I don't care who finishes 4th, 5th, or any place else. You losers aren't going to win anyway.

And ultimately, you don't have a reason to bitch no matter who gets left out.

Baylor? When your conference is weak and your OOC schedule sucks, win all your games and by god don't get pants'd in a loss.

MSU? You had 2, maybe 3, real actual football games this year. Win or shut up.

Stanford? You lost twice. Once to Utah which counts as 2 losses on its own.

OSU? Sparty tried to Sparty you but you Sparty'd yourself. Lost to the only good team you played all year. And Urban Meyer is a weasel.

This is tough.
I put MSU 3rd ahead of Bama to avoid Auburn being saddled with rematch in first game. They just beat Bama and winning the SEC is too difficult to be punished like that.
MSU over Baylor is a tough call, but Baylor loss was a stinker and later in season than Sparty narrow defeat in Sept in pretty tough road game at ND.
I think MSU improved over the season so that counts a little for me.
Stanford is a distant 6th for me. Two losses against teams that Bama would beat by 21+.
I admit to some influence in favor of SEC based on recent past performance in title games.
And in this format, I predict Bama, given a few weeks to prepare for these games, would win its third consecutive national championship.

Not just in terms of bowl purses, but how much the winners will be able to reap in prestige, recruiting mojo, ticket sales, etc, etc.

I still can't believe they left it up to this, a small committee rife with conflict-of-interest.

I always viewed the sportswriters as the least bad option of a bunch of bad options. It would be a much bigger canvas, and at least on the surface you have the appearance of propriety. Instead, we will have a situation where a committee member is a direct beneficiary of voting his conference (or even his own team!).

Auburn for their body of work down the stretch and winning the SEC.

Alabama because they deserve a shot.

Baylor-- because I think they are the next best team. One bad loss to a Top 10 team isn't the worst thing to happen.

Hell, Alabama lost to LSU and Texas AM (at home) and still won a NC.

I say no to Michigan State because I think the Big 10 is worse than we even think it is.

No to Stanford because you can't lose to Utah AND USC and still get in when there are other conference champions with better resumes.

No Alabama? Why? I'd agree they are probably one of the top two teams in the country in terms of ability to win this hypothetical tournament. It really depends on how you're looking at this thing.

I would think we'd preserve more of the regular season magic if it was like the NCAA tournament used to be, where you had to win your conference to get in.

Alabama lost that miracle game to Auburn. Would that game really matter if Bammer won the NC the same year?

My personal rule would be only conference champs (or independents).

No Alabama, no Ohio State, no Oregon, no MIssouri, no way.

Baylor and MSU edge out Stanford based on winning percentage, and strength of loss(es).

* I'll champion Baylor.

1. FSU is undefeated and has smoked pretty much everyone.

2. I'll seed Auburn #2 based on their record and win against previously unbeaten and #1 ranked Alabama. But IMO it really doesn't matter.

3. Alabama. I think they're either the best or 2nd best team in the nation. In a rematch against #2 Auburn I think 'Bamma tunes 'em up.

4. Baylor. I can't put a 2 loss LSJU team ahead of BU. They've been impressive all year long and have only lost one game. I give BU the nod over MSU based on their tougher schedule.

FSU drills BU & Alabama beats AU.

FSU V Alabama for the NC. I think those are the two best teams in college football.

I picked the Seminoles because they have been the most dominant team in football this year (and one of the most dominant ever). Their schedule was weak, so I'm not sure if they're my No.1 seed.

I picked the Crimson Tide because except for one game, they were in the conversation with Florida State as the most dominant team in football this season. I actually think they are the best team of the four.

I picked Auburn because they had the most impressive finish of the season with two wins over top-10 teams. They are playing their best football when it matters most. They are lucky to be here, though, not just because of the close calls and miracle finishes, but in my mind, they practically eliminated themselves by losing by two touchdowns to LSU this year. The best teams either don't lose at all or lose in very close games. Solid overall schedule.

I picked Stanford because I want to start an argument in the room about where we actually stand when it comes to schedule strength. And I'm not happy to have to defend a team that lost to Utah and USC, but they lost those games by a combined nine points, so that lessens the blow for me. And their wins were very, very good. Best set of victories among the four teams, best overall schedule by far.

I don't want to guarantee an SEC team to the title game, so I'm splitting Auburn and Alabama into two semifinals.

Semifinal 1: Florida State hosts Auburn
Semifinal 2: Alabama hosts Stanford

IMO, #4 is the only debateable slot. Bama was pretty clearly the best team in the country until they lost a road game to the team directly in front of them in the flukiest manner possible. Even though they didn't participate in the SEC title game, they ran through their SEC schedule like a knife through butter.

I don't feel great about Stanford, but: 1) I think the Pac-12 is the 2nd best conference, 2) I think Stanford is pretty clearly the best team in that conference, and 3) Stanford has the most "good" resume wins of any team in the country.

Others considered and dismissed for #4:

MSU - Schedule too soft. If the Committee really looks at SOS closely, the B1G teams like OSU, MSU, Wisky and maybe Michigan are going to be significantly hurt by the continued watering-down of the conference.

Baylor - You can lose a game, but you better not get thumped in said game, and your other resume better look pretty good. Big XII really, really soft again this year, and Baylor didn't do anything OOC.

South Carolina - Stanford's 2-loss wins better than the Cocks. SC(e) may have "better" losses, but I put more value on who you beat than who you lose to.

I, Barry Alvarez, have selected these Final Four teams:

1 - Florida State. This is a no brainer.

2 - Michigan State. The Spartans have the best defense in football, and being a defensive-minded guy, I believe defense wins championships. Their early season loss to Notre Dame was long ago and does not reflect the excellence with which they're currently playing. I believe them to be the best of the 1-loss teams. (No Big Ten bias played a role in this selection.)

3 - Auburn. Although I think Alabama may beat them 2 out 3 times in a rematch, they deserve to reach the playoffs because of their head-to-head win. I suspect that Auburn's offensive pyrotechnics have masked serious deficiencies with the Tigers for my fellow committee members, so I would lobby my fellow committee members to arrange an Auburn-Michigan State matchup in the first round to solve this debate before moving on to the finals.

4 - Baylor. They are the last 1-loss team from an unrepresented conference, and I believe the Big 12 deserves representation in the Final Four. To those who would say this is a "weak" conference, I do not think there have been enough games between conferences to make that claim. I would like to see this proven out in actual competition, so Baylor gets my last slot.

---

1 Florida State vs 4 Baylor

2 Michigan State vs 3 Auburn

I pick a nice, sensible pair of pleated slacks and a 10 AM tee time at Pebble Beach.

And FSU, Auburn, Bama, Sparty

I'd prefer these games be played in the home stadium of the higher seeded team.

Edit: Rationale.

Baylor got stomped in a game, out.
Stanford lost two games, out.
OSU loses out to MSU.
Alabama lost on a flukish play and is probably still the best SEC team. Their one loss is the best of the one loss teams. OSU would try to make this claim too but they haven't beaten anyone. Also, pit the two SEC schools against each other to avoid all SEC final.