The inaugural season of the college football playoff has been filled with upsets, excitement, and in the end, oodles of controversy. From the dramatic rise, and fall, of Mississippi State, the week in week out intensity of SEC football, to the reveal of the final four playoffs, there has rarely been a boring point within the 2014-2015 college football seasons. After all of these monumental events, the committee made up of 13 former players, coaches, current athletic directors, and former members of government, decided that the final four should be, in order of rank, Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and much to the demise of both TCU and Baylor, The Ohio State University.

Alabama, the preseason number 1 overall, despite one loss to Ole Miss, was dominant all season and well deserving of the number 1 overall spot. They won the incredibly tough SEC west division as well as the conference beating Missouri at a neutral site. They also added wins over top-ranked teams such as Auburn, Mississippi State, LSU, and Texas A&M. They look to continue this streak of dominance against The Ohio State University in New Orleans at the Sugar Bowl, or college football playoff semifinal.

The Oregon Ducks looked to be out of the playoff conversation after suffering a defeat to an unranked Arizona Wildcats team at home. However, after many losses to teams ahead of them in the rankings, and a streak of dominance over teams in which they did not lose by more than eighteen points, and the eventual blowout of the same Arizona team in the Pac-12 championship game impressed the committee enough to give them the number two seed in the college football playoff. They will play Florida State in the Rose Bowl for a chance to play in the national championship.

The Florida State Seminoles seemed to be on the brink of losing every single week this season, however, they never did; becoming the only team in the country to go undefeated. With questions surrounding Florida State’s strength of schedule and the eligibility of star quarterback Jameis Winston in question, controversy surrounded their inclusion in the college football playoff. However, you can’t argue with a team going undefeated in a power five conference so, at least in my opinion, they are well deserving of a playoff spot and are not getting enough respect as a team who knows how to win close ballgames. Look for Florida State to play with a chip on their shoulder and make some noise.

The Ohio State University, much like Oregon, suffered an early defeat to an unranked team in Virginia Tech at home. The loss of Heisman-favorite Braxton Miller also seemed to completely count out the Buckeyes chances of making the playoff. However, the emergence of young quarterback J.T Barrett brought new life to the team ripping off win after win behind the incredible talent of Barrett. The redshirt sophomore seemed to be on a trip to being a Heisman finalist, until tragedy struck, in the Michigan rivalry game; Barrett went down with a broken ankle and was lost for the season. Once again, the Buckeyes seemed to be destined for the outside looking in. But in the Big Ten championship game, third-string quarterback Cardale Jones proved his worth leading an inspired effort, blowing out top-ranked Wisconsin 59-0. The dominance over the team and great play from Jones proved to be a deciding factor in the inclusion of Ohio State in the playoff as one of the top teams in the country. Ohio State will play heavily-favored Alabama in what is sure to be a great game.

Not every team in the country can make it however, and TCU and Baylor, despite both being very deserving were left out of the playoff even though TCU was ranked ahead of Ohio State and beat their opponent by over 50 points. They both blamed their conference, the Big 12, for not holding a conference championship game as the reason they were left out. That argument is sure to start some controversy in the conference as a champion seems essential to being included in the playoff. Also, more and more teams are going to quickly call for playoff expansion to include all deserving teams.

In my personal opinion, I believe Ohio State will upset Alabama and Florida State will also upset Oregon. In the championship, I think Florida State’s winning streak will finally be ended and the Buckeyes will overcome the adversity against them and be crowned champions for the first time since 2002. But, I’m also a born and raised Buckeye fan so my outlook may be skewed. No matter who wins, this playoff is going to set the precedent for years to come and is sure to be a very exciting stretch of games.