College Football Playoff picks: Most ESPN experts like Buckeyes to repeat
Call me an outlier here, or devil's advocate, what ever. I do think there's something that needs to be weighed in here.
When these guys were making picks, it wasn't so much a case of them picking who they thought would be the best four in the nation. A lot of their picks were based on who they saw being able to maneuver their schedule the easiest and find "grace" in the eyes of the committee.
Just as one example, few had Bama in the final four because they saw the teams in the back-half of the schedule. A lot assumed Bama would face eight, nine teams in the top 25/30. Very few saw Bama recording a 9-1 record versus those teams in the top 30. (Sagarin rankings.)