This is an opinion based article that does not represent anyone who goes to school or works at Dakota High School.

The College Football Playoff is here. On December 3rd, the College Football Committee selected the top four teams who will compete for the National Championship. The top four teams are #1 Clemson, #2 Oklahoma, #3 Georgia, and #4 Alabama. For the most part, the top three teams were all very reasonable and widely accepted by college football fans around the U.S. Although, the number four spot sparked a huge outrage and debate around the college football world. Many fans, including me, believed the Ohio State should have been in the spot rather than Alabama. In this article, I will give reasons and state facts on why OSU should be in the playoffs over Alabama.

To start things off, the CFB Playoff Committee’s goal was to put the best four teams in the playoff. Not the most deserving, but the best. I truly believe that Ohio State is better that Alabama and here is why.

Ohio State had a 11-2 (including the BIG Ten Championship win against Wisconsin) win-loss record going into Selection Day. Alabama’s record going into December 3rd was 11-1. Ohio State has beaten two top 10 teams throughout the year. Alabama, on the other hand, hasn’t even beaten a team in the top 15. Also, Ohio State had a way tougher schedule than Alabama, and still managed to have a very similar record. Alabama’s best win this year was a against Number 16 LSU (Number 19 when they played), who finished the season 9-3. LSU is a respectable team, although, Alabama hasn’t proved to be as dominant as everyone thinks because of their weak schedule. Meanwhile, Ohio State has beaten more than respectable teams, for example, Number 9 Penn State (Number 2 when they played), Number 18 Michigan State (Number 12 when they played), and Number 6 Wisconsin (Number 4 when they played).  Ohio State also won a conference championship when they beat Wisconsin for the BIG Ten title.

Many people argue that Ohio State should not be in the playoffs because they have two losses. OSU’s first loss was against Number 2 (Number 5 when they played) Oklahoma 31-16. Ohio State had a devastating second loss later in the season when they lost to unranked Iowa 55-24. On the other hand, Alabama only has one loss and it was against Number 7 (Number 2 when they played) Auburn. Many people say it is not Alabama’s fault that they had a weak schedule. This statement is very true, but, Ohio State has proven to be a more dominant team than Alabama because of their BIG Ten Championship and their much tougher schedule. I truly believe that Ohio State is the more deserving of the playoff spot and a better team than Alabama. So, in my opinion, Ohio State should be facing Clemson at the All-State Sugar Bowl on January 1st, 2018, not Alabama.