Stop complaining; College Football Playoff has landed in great spot – elcajon newson Elcajon News only

Those finding fault in the expanded College Football Playoff are the types of people who walk outside on a brilliantly sunny day and complain that they have to bring sunglasses.

Alabama was left out? Don’t lose to Vanderbilt and sub-.500 Oklahoma. In this format, your name isn’t a meal ticket.

Early blowouts? The average margin of victory in the first round of last year’s NFL playoffs was more than 17 points and we didn’t hear anyone complaining.

The 12-team field has been whittled to a terrific final four.

Ohio State seems the most fearsome of the bunch, a team that faced a regular-season reckoning after another bitter loss to rival Michigan.

They regrouped and found their footing in a major way. The Buckeyes cruised past No. 1 Oregon and dismantled Tennessee. They spiced up the script.

Notre Dame, a team brimming with potential season after season before unraveling late, finally learned to win when it mattered by beating Georgia — winner of two of the last three national titles — by two scores.

Penn State stiff-armed Boise State and national rushing leader Ashton Jeanty with a gritty ground game of their own.

Texas, which survived Cam Skattebo and Arizona State in two overtimes, is the biggest underdog against Ohio State, but the Cotton Bowl in the heart of Texas amps up the drama.

Most refreshingly, the first lap of an expanded playoff has not turned into an SEC coronation, as it has so many times over recent decades. We’re nearing the finish line and there’s no Georgia, no Alabama, no LSU. Auburn and Oklahoma lost more games than they won.

If you’re tired of all that SEC chest-thumping, you got your wish with this playoff, Texas pending.

The conference routinely claims they carve each other up in the regular season, leaving some of its best teams at a disadvantage when the regular season ends.

Going to 12 playoff teams, however, provided enough slots for the conference to prove that depth. They haven’t.

Tennessee was blasted, Georgia crashed to earth and Alabama, whom many barked themselves hoarse over for the final spot, lost for the fourth time in a bowl.

Even Clemson, a two-time champ the last decade from the ACC, stayed on the sideline.

The new playoff and college football landscape showed that even the bluest of bloods can find the footing unsteady. The door is opened wide enough to allow others to dream.

Giving non-traditional conferences and teams a path to the tournament is good for the game and supports its overall health. At a time when it seems the rich might be getting richer, there’s a system that feels truly inclusive.

Would anyone rather go back to four playoff teams? Or worse, revisit an archaic bowl system that routinely was left to compare apples to oranges without things being decided on the field?

The current setup allows the interest to spike as the stakes rise, round by round.

Penn State and Notre Dame meet Thursday in the Orange Bowl. Texas and Ohio State step on the field the next day for the Cotton Bowl. It feels like the playoff led us to an entertaining and satisfying spot.

The survivors are ranked among the top eight nationally in total defense and scoring defense. All will be tested by offensive players with eye-catching resumes.

Penn State claims two 1,000-yard rushers in Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, a proven passer in Drew Allar (3,192 yards, 24 touchdowns) and a standout receiver in Tyler Warren (1,158 yards, eight scores).

Ohio State is a couple of snaps from lining up two 1,000-yard rushers as well, with 900-plus-yard backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. Future pro receiver Jeremiah Smith has piled up 1,224 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Texas back Quintrevion Wisner has already hit the 1,000-yard mark and quarterback Quinn Ewers has thrown for nearly 3,200 yards and 29 scores.

Though Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (1,076 yards, 16 touchdowns) is questionable with a knee injury, he is expected to play. Dual-threat quarterback Riley Leonard has thrown for 18 touchdowns and has rushed for 831 yards and 15 more scores.

All those head-to-head tests seem like must-watch TV.

The bigger field allowed teams a chance to stumble or misstep. Losses that would have been fatal in the past did not derail seasons.

Ohio State lost twice, flipping a one-point regular season loss at Oregon into a 20-point rout against the same team a little more than two and a half months later.

A pair of losses to Georgia, one in overtime during the SEC championship, did not sink Texas. One of the two losses for Penn State — a one-score setback against Ohio State — could end in a rematch for the national title.

Notre Dame’s home loss to eventual 8-5 Northern Illinois did not get dissected under a microscope as it might have been in the old four-team format.

The field size was right and the process ended up equally so. In the end, the sun shined on college football.

Don’t dare complain about those sunglasses.