CFP Quarterfinal Set, But Questions Remain After SMU Blowout Loss

The College Football Playoff began with a quartet of convincing home victories, but that hasn’t done anything to quell the raging debate about who should have been in the expanded tournament format. 

There was no ambiguity in the opening games of the new, 12-team CFP format as Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, and Notre Dame each prevailed in front of their home fans Friday night and Saturday by an average of more than 19 points. But it was SMU, the final Playoff team in somewhat disputed fashion, that once again became a fulcrum of CFP conversation. 

The Mustangs were blown out by Penn State 38-10 at Beaver Stadium in front of an announced audience of 106,013, quickly leading many prominent analysts and writers to suggest that a three-loss Alabama team should have received that last CFP slot. That sentiment was punctuated by Alabama football GM Courtney Morgan, who tersely tweeted “Disgusting…” as the Nittany Lions jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead.

SMU coach Rhett Lashlee, however, pushed back on such suggestions.

“We didn’t play well enough to say anything that isn’t going to be written,” Lashlee said. “It’ll be written, ‘Should we be in or did we belong?’ That’s fine. You’re welcome to write it. We didn’t play good today. But this is a quality team. We had a good team. We deserve to be here. We earned the right to be here. I’m disappointed that we didn’t play to the level that validates that.”

Upcoming Games

The CFP quarterfinals will feature the bracket’s top eight seeds in four battles of college football heavyweights. Those games will include:

• Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 31: (6) Penn State–(3) Boise State
• Peach Bowl, Jan. 1: (5) Texas–(4) Arizona State
• Rose Bowl, Jan. 1: (8) Ohio State–(1) Oregon
• Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1: (7) Notre Dame–(2) Georgia

Those games, to all be shown on ESPN after a prior simulcasting deal with TNT, will set up an evening and subsequent full day of college football action that should also go a long way to restoring some college football’s traditional dominance on New Year’s Day. That stature had been largely abandoned in recent years as the prior, four-team CFP format typically involved games on other days in late December and early January. 

“A lot of college coaches talking about this being a four-game season. It’s not,” said Penn State coach James Franklin. “It’s a one-game season. … How you value those reps, how you prepare, will give you an opportunity to play again. We’re in a one-game season, and we just extended our season one more game.”