If the committee didn’t have to seed them that high. They would’ve seeded them 11 and had them play at Ohio State in round 1. I’m not saying that’s where they should’ve been seeded, hindsight shows they were better than that, but how the committee viewed them.

Forcing conference champs into the top 4 messed up the seedings is all. It pushed Ohio State to 8, gave Penn State an easy quarterfinal, etc.

Just out of curiosity, here’s what could’ve happened:

Byes: 1. Oregon 2. Georgia 3. Texas 4. Penn St

5 Notre Dame vs
12 Clemson

6 Ohio State vs
11 ASU

7. Tennessee vs
10. SMU

8. Boise St vs
9. Indiana

Then:

1. Oregon vs
8. Boise St

2. Georgia vs
7. Tennessee

3. Texas vs
6. Ohio St

4. Penn St vs
5. Notre Dame

I would not expect all 4 lower seeds to win in that scenario.