Playoff committee chairman explains why Clemson over Alabama for #1 rank

College football’s selection Sunday was so clean, Larry David could not have complained. Iowa missed out on a playoff spot by about the length of a football – Connor Cook’s fourth-and-2 option run with less than two minutes to play – and deserved to be rewarded with its first trip to the Granddaddy of Them All since 1991.

Nos. 1 Clemson and 4 Oklahoma will meet in Miami, and Nos. Both games will take place on ESPN on December 31.

Big Ten champion Michigan State opened 2015 by playing last New Year’s Day in its first Cotton Bowl.

Saban is 5-3 in bowl games at Alabama, earning wins over Notre Dame (2013 BCS National Championship Game), LSU (2012 BCS National Championship Game), Michigan State (2011 Capital One Bowl), Texas (2010 BCS National Championship) and Colorado (2007 Independence Bowl).

None of the current players for either side were on the team that season.

Perception also matters. The Big 10, which had five teams in the top 15 in Tuesday’s rankings (No. 4 Iowa, No. 5 Michigan State, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 14 Northwestern and No. 15 Michigan) was perceived as stronger than the Big 12, which had three other teams ranked – No. 11 TCU, No. 12 Baylor and No. 17 OSU.

Committee chairman Jeff Long said that the Tigers were the clear-cut top team in the final rankings. ‘Three top-10 victories on their resume now. “It has been a fun season for us, and it’s great to be able to go pole to pole as the No. 1 team”.

Clemson, however, is the only undefeated team this season in the Football Bowl Subdivision, improving to 13-0 Saturday night with a 45-37 outlasting of North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game. But the Big 12 had to be happy just to get a spot after last season’s decision to leave Texas Christian out of the field. The biggest could come from the Big Ten championship game, where Michigan State handed Iowa its first loss of the year.

“We’re a program on the rise, ” coach Jim McElwain said. “Obviously, it didn’t lose us the game; one play never loses you the game”. The pounding 22-play drive capped by L.J. Scott’s 1-yard touchdown to beat Iowa 16-13 Saturday night should forever be branded the Michigan State Man March, as impressive a statement as you’ll ever see.

You wonder, however, whether Henry’s workload will start to be an issue for Alabama. Henry now has 1,986 yards for his career to set the Southeastern Conference’s all-time single-season mark for rushing yards.

-LB Reggie Ragland is the man in the middle for Alabama.

Long said bumping Michigan State past Oklahoma had nothing to do with avoiding the possibility of having the Sooners play close to home in the Dallas area.

-P JK Scott could be a secret weapon when it comes to flipping field position if Alabama’s offense does struggle.

Florida, an 18-point underdog, briefly grabbed a 7-2 lead on Antonio Callaway’s 85-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the second quarter. He’ll have the same responsibilities in this one. The Crimson Tide, of course, is led by former Michigan State coach Nick Saban. “You do keep in the back of your mind the score a year ago and how we went out”.

Swinney had wide grin on his face most of the time, and raised both fists in the air, pumping them to the fans’ applause when Clemson was announced as the top seed. Stanford has arguably the most dynamic player in college football with Christian McCaffrey, who will nearly assuredly be a Heisman Trophy finalist.