During the BCS era, and the first nine seasons of a four-team college football playoff, it was fun to root for chaos during the first weekend in December. For one thing, an SEC team, or maybe even two, were almost assured to get in. For another, a west coast team was usually a long shot. And finally, we've grown tired of Alabama, Ohio State, and in past years, Clemson. A team without any losses, though, was something we wanted to see no matter who they were.

This year, going into championship weekend, there were four undefeated teams. With this being the final year of the Pac-12 conference, and with the college football playoff expanding to twelve teams next year, the planets were aligned. Georgia, Michigan, Washington, and Florida State were all unbeaten. Also, if those rankings held in that order, the Rose Bowl, for one last time, would match up the Pac-12 against the Big Ten. Michigan and Washington on New Year's Day, with Georgia and Florida State squaring off in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans New Year's Night. Perfect. At least we thought.

It turns out there were not one but two shots that knocked everything off kilter. Georgia lost to Alabama in the SEC title game, and Texas, who beat Alabama this year, routed Oklahoma State to win the Big 12. Florida State won their game, but it was ugly, but they are still undefeated, and should be in, right? But if Florida State is in, and Texas beat Alabama, how does Alabama get in? Could there be a playoff without a member of the SEC?

When the dust settled Saturday night, there were three undefeated teams (Michigan, Washington, Florida State), but when the playoff teams were announced Sunday morning, only two of them made it. The Seminoles were left out because the team's quarterback broke his leg. Committee Chair Boo (that's his name, not the sound he hears from FSU fans) Corrigan told ESPN that because of that injury, the team was not what it was during the first eleven weeks, and called the injury “a major factor” in the decision to leave them out. Without Jordan Travis, FSU beat Louisville 16-6. Their previous game was a 24-15 win over Florida. Not enough points, apparently. Corrigan was not asked how close the final vote was.

A heartbroken Travis tweeted that he wish his leg was broken earlier in the season, so fans (and the selection committee) could see what a great team they were. Coach Mike Norvell was more direct, saying he was "infuriated and disgusted." Norvell wrote, in part, "What happened today goes against everything that is true and right in college football. A team that overcame tremendous adversity and found a way to win doing whatever it took on the field was cheated today. It's a sad day for college football."

So Texas is in, and Florida State is not. No one on the ESPN selection show mentioned this, but it seems that even if Georgia had beaten Alabama, Florida State might still be out. If you took Corrigan at his word, and the QB injury was the reason they didn't take Florida State, Georgia would have been the one seed, and Texas fourth. Never in the ten years of a four team playoff has an unbeaten 'power five conference' school, not made the playoff, until now. An SEC school has also gotten in every year, and that continues.

Like all of us who were not in the committee room, how can we not draw the following conclusion? Alabama beat Georgia, but Texas beat Alabama. How could we possibly take Alabama but leave Texas out? I know, we'll disqualify Florida State. Their quarterback is hurt, so we have better matchups without them, and SEC fans are happy. So what if Alabama lost to Texas, and almost lost to Auburn (a poorly defended pass on the final play won it), they're in, Texas is in, and we'll make sacrificial lambs out of FSU.

We learned way back during the TV show Get Smart that chaos is a bad thing. We may have wished for it in college football seasons past, but we got it this year, and look what happened. With three undefeated teams, and a case for five excellent one-loss programs, the committee had a difficult decision. They made the worst one.

Final Pac: The Pac-12 championship game, played Friday night in Las Vegas, was the best game of the weekend, and I wish I had put money on it. Although Washington beat Oregon during the regular season, the Ducks were nine point favorites. Washington won 34-31. It's now really interesting to think if Oregon would have gotten in if they had won...It's been announced that Oregon State and Washington State, the only remaining members of the conference, will be de-facto members of the Mountain West next year, much like the agreement Notre Dame has with the ACC. Both the Cougars and the Beavers will play six MWC opponents, five games from the four remaining conferences, and one game against an FCS (formerly Division I-AA) school. With conference championship games so lucrative, Oregon State should automatically play Washington State for the Pac-Two title.

I love LA?: If you wonder why a lot of southern Californias still haven't completely warmed up to NFL football locally after not having a team for 20 years, Sunday was a good reminder. In the CBS 10am TV window, most of the country received Denver at Houston, two teams with some playoff buzz. We got Chargers at New England, which might have been the worst game in the league in several years (Chargers won 6-0). In the 1:25pm slot on Fox, everyone in the nation except Los Angeles and Cleveland got the 49ers at Eagles, a showdown between the top two NFC teams. Browns-Rams, only shown in LA and the state of Ohio, turned out to be a decent game, but even though San Francisco rolled over Philly, there were a lot of disappointed viewers who were stuck with the local team on TV. What made it worse was that KTTV (the Los Angeles Fox affiliate), carried the kickoff of the Niner game. It was about a minute-and-a-half later that someone realized the mistake and pushed the proper button.

Winter (meetings) wonderland: For those of us who don't pay to get the MLB Network, it is disappointing to see the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader in Sports dial back its baseball coverage. MLB's Winter Meetings are underway in Nashville, and instead of a nightly program filled with reports and interviews, ESPN's coverage today was just a two-minute bottom-of-the-hour hit on Sports Center. The meetings began Sunday, with former manager Jim Leyland being elected to the Hall of Fame, and there's also been one major trade, with Seattle sending former top prospect Jarred Kelenic and pitcher Marco Gonzalez to Atlanta. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also said in an interview that Mookie Betts should be the team's regular second baseman next year. The top story is free agent Shohei Ohtani, and several outlets are reporting that he could make his choice of which team to sign with before the end of the week. Ohtani and his camp have been mum about the whole process, but the Dodgers are believed to be the leading contender.

Familiar face: Just a little while ago, I was eating dinner and watching the New Orleans Pelicans-Sacramento Kings game on TNT. With my face in my food, I heard them mention Trajan Langdon as the general manager of the Pelicans. I looked up to see him on camera. Langdon and I were in Idaho Falls together in 1997. I was working for the minor league baseball team, and he was playing third base. It was essentially just his summer job, and he was only there a few weeks because he had to get back to college where he was a star basketball player at Duke. Langdon had a brief NBA career, playing three seasons in Cleveland. I lost track of him after that but he spent several years playing in Europe—in Italy, Turkey, and even Russia. Now he's one of only 30 NBA GMs. Good to see the guy ended up doing okay.

Congratulations to my cousin Mikenna Dudley who became a first-time mommy on Sunday. Tate Benjamin Dudley was born in Salt Lake City at 6:41am local time, weighing in at 8 pounds, 7 ounces. Tate, Mikenna, dad James, and Grandma Korey are all doing well. A baby boy is rare in this family, and I can't wait to meet him.