The Peak of the Four-Team Playoff: College Football 2014

I bought a new television that arrived the same day the 2014 college football season started. That’s how excited I was.

After decades of debate, college football would finally have a playoff in 2014.

From week one through Championship Saturday in December, the drama around the playoff built and built, as the new car smell never wore off.

The season started with one of the best opening weekends ever, which commenced at 6 p.m. on Thursday before Labor Day when Texas A&M played at South Carolina to christen the SEC Network. Remember Kenny Hill? The Aggies QB threw for 500 yards and was compared to Johnny Manziel, before they lost five games and he transferred at the end of the season.

That opening weekend included two games at the Georgia Dome, featuring Ole Miss and Alabama. Those two teams would play a big role in 2014. The opening weekend also featured far more interesting games than past years, including Ohio State at Navy and LSU vs Wisconsin, because we all foolishly believed the strength of non-conference schedules would be more valued in the playoff era.

The headliner on that first Saturday was a classic game between defending champion Florida State and Oklahoma State at Cowboys Stadium. The game was capped off by Jameis Winston’s…