National semifinals have star power and controversy

IOWA CITY - Undisputed champions from four of the nation's five power-five conferences were selected Sunday morning as the foundation for the inaugural College Football Playoff.

Southeastern Conference champion Alabama (12-1) was tabbed as the top seed and will face fourth-seeded Ohio State (12-1) of the Big Ten in the Sugar Bowl. Pac-12 champion Oregon (12-1), the second seed, plays third seed and ACC champion Florida State (13-0) in the Rose Bowl. Both games are staged Jan. 1, and the winners meet Jan. 12 in Arlington, Texas.

The inaugural College Football Playoff was designed to allow more teams access at a national championship. Instead, like its predecessor the Bowl Championship Series, it has created more controversy.

Entering the final weekend, Big 12 squad TCU (11-1) was ranked third, and fellow Big 12 competitor Baylor (11-1) was rated sixth behind No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Ohio State. TCU throttled Iowa State 55-3, Baylor beat then-No. 9 Kansas State 38-27 and Ohio State crushed then-No. 13 Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten championship game. But in the final standings, Florida State - which edged No. 11 Georgia Tech 37-35 - moved up to No. 3, followed by Ohio State, Baylor and then TCU.

Baylor defeated TCU on a last-second field goal 61-58 on Oct. 11 at home. It was TCU's only loss. Baylor lost at West Virginia (7-5) 41-27 the following week. Last week Big 12 Commissioner (and former Iowa athletics director) Bob Bowlsby said if two teams are tied they'd be considered co-champions. Saturday, Baylor Coach Art Briles got into a heated discussion with Bowlsby over the subject. Sunday, Briles wasn't satisfied.

'If we were sitting here 12-0, we're in the final four,” Briles said. 'That's the bottom line. I guess that's what we need to do to be able to be in there. I guess winning 11 games and winning our conference two times in a row, which is considered the second-best conference in America by most people's standards, and having the tiebreaker in this conference apparently wasn't enough.”

The selection committee consists of 12 people, including West Virginia Athletics Director Oliver Luck, hall of fame coaches Barry Alvarez and Tom Osborne and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and is chaired by Arkansas Athletics Director Jeff Long. Briles complained that there aren't enough southerners on the board to make the correct decision on the four teams.

'My opinion - since people are asking - I think the committee needs to be a little more regionalized with people that are associated with the south part of the United States,” Briles said. 'I'm not sure there is a connection on there that is that familiar with the Big 12 Conference. To me that's an issue.

'You want to ask me about a team in this part of the United States, I can tell you about them. I can tell you their weakness and their strengths. They need to have somebody on there that knows the teams in this part of the nation.”

The semifinals match heavyweights in tradition and star power. Oregon boasts the Heisman Trophy front-runner in quarterback Marcus Mariota, who was responsible for 52 touchdowns with only two interceptions. Florida State, which won last year's national title, features the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Jameis Winston.

The Sugar Bowl match-up of Alabama and Ohio State not only features storied programs from opposing regions, but both has coaches with national titles. Alabama Coach Nick Saban claims four national titles, including three at Alabama. Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer won two while at Florida in 2006 and 2008. Meyer's Gators beat Saban in 2008 in the SEC title game en route to the national title. Saban's Crimson Tide beat Meyer's Gators in 2009.

'I can't remember my address or phone number but I could tell you probably every play in those games,” Meyer said.

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