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CFP Committee Should Be Fired if it Selects Utah Over One-Loss Oklahoma for Final Spot in Top 4

By Jerry Trotta

The Oklahoma Sooners enter the Big 12 Championship against Baylor at 11-1 on the season.
The Oklahoma Sooners enter the Big 12 Championship against Baylor at 11-1 on the season. / Brian Bahr/Getty Images

Now that Alabama is out of contention to clinch a berth in the College Football Playoff following their loss to Auburn in the Iron Bowl, it's quite clear that we have ourselves a six-team race as we enter conference championship weekend.

Three of this week's penultimate top four -- No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 LSU, and No. 3 Clemson -- are near-locks to punch their tickets, but there remains an interesting conversation for that No. 4 spot assuming Georgia falls to LSU in the SEC title game.

Lets assume that OSU, LSU, Clemson, Utah, and Oklahoma all win their respective conference championship games. Should the Utes or the Sooners get the nod for the fourth and final spot?

Ultimately, there should be absolute uproar if Utah were to be named to the Playoff over Jalen Hurts and Co.

Sure, Kyle Whittingham's side has handily defeated almost all of the teams on their below-average schedule, but let's not forget that they gave USC their ONLY win in a four-game span from September to mid-October. That was the only ranked team the Utes played on their schedule all year long, and they lost to a team that was crumbling at the seams.

That speaks volumes.

Oklahoma, on the other hand, has defeated three ranked teams this season -- No. 11 Texas, No. 13 Baylor, and No. 21 Oklahoma State. Their only loss came against an 8-4 Kansas State squad that disposed of a ranked Iowa State bunch last weekend.

Does the Playoff committee not preach about their apparent bias towards strong resumes? Of course they do, and Oklahoma's is FAR superior to that of Utah's, particularly if and when they defeat Baylor a second time to claim their conference crown.

Very quietly, the Sooners' resume is every bit as robust as it's been in years that saw them named to the Playoff. Are we supposed to accept that Utah, whose best win came against a now 7-5 Arizona State team, is more deserving? No way.

Don't let the rankings fool you. The Utes getting in over Oklahoma, assuming both win this weekend and Georgia falters, would be utter nonsense. The CFP committee would deserve nothing less than banishment in that event.