Quit whining about Nick Saban and the 3-loss snubs because the committee got it right

Going forward, the motto for the College Football Playoff should be “Embrace The Chaos” because nothing short of inviting every team with shoulder pads to the post-season party will satisfy the critics.

Since that isn’t going to happen, we’ll just have to let those with their noses pressed against the glass moan that they got screwed, even though they didn’t.

Oh yes, we celebrated when the college football playoffs expanded to 12 teams instead of four. That was going to solve all the problems, right? No worthy team would be left behind.

Well, guess what? We were right, especially about those three-loss teams in the SEC not measuring up. Sorry (not sorry) about that Ole Miss, Missouri, South Carolina, and, especially, Alabama.

The selection committee got it right, too.

That’s why I’m about to do something I wouldn’t have imagined possible when the day began. I’m going to defend Nick Saban.

The GOAT was excoriated for comments he made Sunday on the College Football Selection Show about the strength of schedule being important in selecting and seeding teams. The assumption was that he was whining that SMU got in over Alabama.

Trouble is, he didn’t say that.

I’ve rolled over the tape of his remarks like it was the Zapruder film, and nowhere do I hear him saying the top 30 teams should break off and just play each other NFL-style. It would then follow that he was telling programs like USF and others outside the golden 30 to pound sand.

Here’s what he said.

“Well, I think one of the things that I’ve mentioned, you know, throughout this football season is, if we don’t take strength of schedule into consideration, is there any benefit to scheduling really good teams in the future,” Saban said.

“Like, you know, here at Alabama, we’re supposed to play Notre Dame, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Florida State, in the future, outside the league. Well, those are great games for fans to see, and that’s what I think we should be doing. You know, in college football, it’s creating more good inventory for great games that people are interested in, but do you enhance people wanting to do that?

“What’s the athletic director going to do? He may go cancel all those games now, knowing that the SEC is tough enough, but at the same time, I do think the best teams are in the playoff, which I think is most important.”

Repeat: “I do think the best teams are in the playoffs, which I think is most important.”

Hang a star on that quote.

Yes, we get it – the SEC is a monster to navigate.  It’s the toughest conference in the land, much tougher than the ACC, and it’s not even close. And ‘Bama went 3-1 against Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and LSU.

The Tide also lost to a pair of 6-6 teams, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. And the Tide feasted on a non-conference schedule that included Western Kentucky, USF, Wisconsin, and Mercer. That’s not exactly a gauntlet.

For what it’s worth, Army is 11-1 (with the game against Navy remaining) and won the American Athletic Conference title, but the Black Knights were ranked 22nd and didn’t get within sniffing distance of a spot in the playoffs because of their 49-14 loss to Notre Dame.

Strength of schedule already matters.

So does the number of losses.

One is OK. Two puts you on the bubble.

Three strikes, you’re out.