The College Football Playoff is upon us and, for the first time in the history of the sport, we've got 12 teams competing for the national championship.
While some might believe that only a handful truly have a shot at winning the whole thing, if this college football season has taught us anything, it's that you never know what's going to happen on the gridiron on any given Saturday — or Friday, for that matter.
The first-round is set to take place, beginning on Friday, December 20 with Indiana at Notre Dame. Then, the other three games — SMU at Penn State, Clemson at Texas, and Tennessee at Ohio State — will be played on Saturday.
The winners of those four games will advance to the quarterfinals to take on the top four-seeded teams in the country. Here's a look at the three teams that may have been punished the most by the College Football Playoff committee.
Clemson Tigers (No. 12 seed)
The committee kept Clemson ranked No. 16 in the country despite beating SMU — ranked No. 10 overall — in the ACC Championship game. The Tigers had a tougher strength of schedule by far compared to Arizona State and Boise State, but essentially weren't even considered for a first-round bye.
Many might argue that Clemson didn't deserve to be ranked ahead of Arizona State because the Sun Devils only have two losses. That didn't stop the committee from ranking Tennessee (two losses) ahead of Indiana (one loss). It's a double standard, no doubt.
What's even more interesting is that Clemson is still the No. 12 seed, behind SMU as the No. 11 seed. That's despite the Tigers just winning a head-to-head matchup, which the committee claimed to care about.
Clemson will now travel to Texas to take on the Longhorns in Austin.
Oregon Ducks (No. 1 seed)
Oregon just beat Penn State in the Big Ten Championship and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the field. However, if you look at the path between them and Penn State, you could argue that it may have been more beneficial for the Ducks to lose rather than win.
Penn State has a home game against SMU. That's not a given win — especially with James Franklin's track record — but it's one that they'll be heavily favored in. Then, you look at the quarterfinal matchups.
Oregon will play the winner of Ohio State and Tennessee. Penn State, on the other hand, will get Boise State. Who is really set up better to advance to the semifinals?
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (No. 7 seed)
Some Notre Dame fans were hopeful that the Fighting Irish would score the No. 5 seed. That didn't happen. Instead, they remained behind the Big Ten and SEC Championship losers.
Now, they get a very favorable matchup in the first-round with Indiana, but then the Fighting Irish will have to play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl in the next round. Talk about having to overcome the field.
The committee, in my opinion, is sending a clear message to Notre Dame: Join a conference.
If you want to remain an Independent, that's fine. But, in this new world order of college football, don't be surprised when you're still stuck behind the Big Ten and SEC runner-ups. Notre Dame fans might be fine with that, but if not, you might want to get the Big Ten — or even ACC — on the phone because in this new system, it looks as if the No. 7 seed might be hitting the ceiling for the Irish most seasons.