CFP COLUMN: A discussion of the abuse of flies and old knights

Alabama celebrates a Cotton Bowl victory and another trip to the College Football championship game on Jan. 10. (UA Media Relations)

By GRAHAM DUNN

Happy New Year’s college football fans.

You got exactly what you didn’t want.

The “fly in the ointment” got swatted. The Big 10 got abused… again. And an all-SEC final is on the way.

Two blowouts. Proof that a Group of 5 team doesn’t belong in the playoffs. Nor does anyone outside a few teams, i.e. Clemson and Oklahoma (and that might change as of next year thanks to a new coach).

But why in the first place did you question the thought of an Alabama-Georgia rematch in the national championship game?

It was bound to happen. Like it or not, these were the two best teams in the country. Any questions should be referred to New Year’s Eve and the ease of disposing of their opponents.

It was too easy, so much that it begs the question – why do we have four teams in this playoff anyway?

I get it. You people like the pomp and circumstance of constant blathering on ESPN regarding the “upcoming matchup in the playoff” every few minutes during the other meaningless bowl coverage.

I timed it. During one of the games during “Bowl Mania” there was a playoff promo of some type every five minutes. Literally.

Now add eight more games over the course of December and what to do you get – more of the same times 10.

You can’t wait to get on your favorite social media and bloviate about how the mighty (fill in the blank) will beat the snot out of the favorites.

Funny, all of this was set up as an old Errol Flynn movie, or maybe a story of chivalry – something like a tale of the Knights of the Round Table.

You got what you wanted – a Cincinnati squad that looked the part of a crowned prince with the head of a dragon (Notre Dame) in its pouch.

Or, in the case of Michigan, a reborn old knight fresh off the kill of its arch nemesis, ready to slay its next victim.

The stage was set. But unlike make believe where the hero wears white, the Evil Empire had the bigger sword and smote the fan favorites (apologies for the meld of metaphors).

To think Georgia-Alabama almost didn’t happen.

Auburn almost saved you the repulsion of Nick Saban making another playoff in the first place. Darn that Bryce Young.

Georgia couldn’t save the masses from a Bama berth in the playoffs, either.

Deep down inside, you knew it was bound to happen. It always does… this makes nine trips to the championship game for the Crimson Tide since Saban arrived in 2007 – three times in the BCS; six in the CFP.

Nine.

Comments following Friday’s outcome have praised the inclusion of the Bearcats and legitimized by the fact that they took their beating like everybody else. They kept it within the average margin of loss, which has been somewhere between 16-20 points in semifinal games.

This is the world of college football as we know it…. Inclusion for the sake of fairness. It’s about “engaging fans and interesting games in the early rounds,” so says Andy Staples of The Athletic website.

Agree on the inclusion simply due to there will be more teams.  The part about interesting games? That’s a reach.

So is this experiment we continue to call the college playoff. The idea had merit back in 2014 when it all started. Chances are the powers brokers will put  together a new plan that will provide a “better” chance for everyone not named Alabama.

Good luck with that.