Urban Meyer defends Alabama's SEC title loss, calls for College Football Playoff committee to be abolished

Until an official College Football Playoff bracket is released, debate is going to rage on about the final two at-large spots. Seemingly, three teams are in the mix — Alabama, Miami, and Notre Dame. Folks in Provo would like a word too, even after BYU lost the Big 12 Championship.

Alabama also lost its conference title game to Georgia in blowout fashion, becoming the main talking point in the whole discussion. Many now believe the Crimson Tide should be on the outside looking in. FOX’s Mark Ingram is one of them, citing how his former school played in Atlanta. But Urban Meyer came firing back, saying Alabama cannot be punished for playing an extra game.

“You guys, you can’t penalize Bama for going to Georgia,” Meyer said at halftime of the Big Ten Championship between Indiana and Ohio State. “It’s at Georgia, it’s in Atlanta. You play a great football team, you can’t do that. You set the precedent, you’re going to hear people say ‘Why go play in that championship game?'”

Matt Leinart pointed out the committee’s decision from last year when it came to the SMU Mustangs. Losing in the ACC Championship, SMU did not drop out of the 12-team field. Instead, Rhett Lashlee‘s ballclub was sent on the road to face Penn State.

A quick counterpoint was provided by Ingram. SMU lost in Charlotte to Clemson by just three points. Alabama did not put up much of a competitive performance at all against Georgia, being the first team in SEC Championship history to be shut out through three quarters.

Either way, Meyer is tired of the whole charade. He does not want a committee making these decisions anymore. Instead, make teams go out there and earn it on the field with guaranteed spots available.

“Get rid of the committee and have all play-in games,” Meyer said.

This is not the first time Meyer has suggested getting rid of the committee. He did so when originally saying Ohio State should take Texas off the schedule next season, avoiding a potential loss.

“The committee’s got to go away. We’ve got to do a play-in,” Meyer said. “We’ve got to do, and Tony Pettiti, the commissioner of the Big Ten, came up with a 4-4-2-2-1-1 model, and that’s going to be the Big Ten gets four. One plays two, they’re both in. One gets a ring, one doesn’t. Three plays six, whoever wins that game is in. Four plays five, whoever wins that game is in. So you have six teams at the Big Ten at the end of the year, that way you can schedule who you want.”