Football Playoff Committee Picks Best Four Teams, But Process Flawed

The college football playoff selection committee, composed of thirteen supposed "experts" in the sport, have made their decision on which teams are in...and which are out...for this year's inaugural major college football national championship playoffs.  As it incredibly turns out, the four teams I thought merited inclusion got in...but the process leading to this outcome was dismaying.  For one, I don't for the life of me understand why somebody with no football background like Condoleezza Rice was put on this committee other than that it was a cynical political choice.  If they had wanted a woman to be on it, there are many, many women out there much more knowledgeable and qualified in the sport.  That being what it was, though, I don't know how Ms. Rice voted; for all I know, she and I saw things eye-to-eye.  But what really bothered me about this committee was the whimsical, lackadaisical way in which they would elevate and demote teams over the weeks leading up to this final selection...in particular regarding Florida State (FSU) and Texas Christian University (TCU).  Even though FSU went the entire year undefeated and is the defending national champion, this committee, just the week before today's final vote, had lowered them to 4th in the rankings and placed TCU, which had already lost (to Baylor) this year, ahead of them.  Then this past Saturday, the Seminoles squeaked by 37-35 in their conference championship game and the Horned Frogs (of TCU) clobbered their conference opponent Iowa State 55-3.  In the meantime, Ohio State, which had been #5 the week before, demonstrated their worth to be in the playoffs by annihilating ranked Wisconsin 59-0 in their conference championship game...and with only their third-string quarterback, a truly impressive performance.  So Texas Christian once again fell behind Florida State, and also Ohio State, leaving them out of the playoffs.  But wait, Baylor jumped ahead of them, too!  So as far as TCU is concerned, they're in one week at #3, win their scheduled conference regular season game in a big rout, and then find themselves knocked down to #6!  Well, from my point of view, TCU never should have been ranked that high to begin with (and should have also always been behind Baylor, who had beaten them)...and letting them jump ahead of FSU was pure nonsense!  I actually was beginning to wonder to myself whether this committee wasn't going to exclude the undefeated national champions from the playoffs as well.  They may have come up with the correct final lineup, but the weekly committee-generated rankings leading up to this result have left me feeling very little confidence in the committee format.  I was left with the impression, right or wrong, that the committee members were full of themselves and their "power". Instead, I would have preferred that college football had retained the previous BCS ranking system and simply extended it from two to four teams for the playoffs.  Now we're going to have to wonder every year who's playing favorites or promoting special agendas...