Grading the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s first 12-team bracket: How did they do? [Video]

Move over, brand recognition. Welcome, most-deserving team. The selection committee’s decision to sidestep Alabama (9-3) in favor of SMU (11-2) in the final College Football Playoff Rankings was a brave call — and the right decision — on Selection Sunday. The report card’s final grade is satisfactory after the committee avoided a disruptive precedent that would’ve been set had the three-loss Crimson Tide, who failed to reach their conference championship game, been handed the “last team in” distinction.

The Mustangs, whose setbacks this season came against two opponents with double-digit wins and not Vanderbilt or Oklahoma, did what was necessary to maintain their stance inside the top 12 by erasing a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter against Clemson (10-3) only to lose as time expired.

College Football Playoff chair Warde Manuel has a difficult job. He’s the weekly mouthpiece for a committee tasked with justifying …