By Patrick Magarian ’18, Contributor

In what has been one of the most fascinating College Football seasons in recent history, controversy has definitely not been at a premium. Arguably the most heated debate is over the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s choice to place the Alabama Crimson Tide as the final team in the playoff over the Ohio State Buckeyes. Fans from all around the nation are contributing their opinions in a multitude of ways, and truthfully, there doesn’t seem to be a clear and correct answer. Both Alabama and Ohio State have strong resumés and it seems the entire nation is torn between the two. However, neither team really deserves that coveted fourth and final spot. Though most may find it farfetched, if one truly compares the resumés, it is clear that the USC Trojans deserved the final spot in the College Football Playoff.

Following Alabama’s National Championship and USC’s poor performance against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, it is difficult to give any sort of credible argument in favor of the Trojans, however the Playoff and Cotton Bowl were played after the College Football Playoff Selection. Thus, it cannot alter any arguments. To select the four playoff teams, the Selection Committee looks at the regular season records of the top teams. The argument for Alabama was that they had a better record than Ohio State, and their only loss was on the road against #6 Auburn. Moreover, Ohio State had one terrible loss in a 31 point defeat to an unranked Iowa Hawkeyes team. The argument for Ohio State was that they won their conference championship and had a very difficult schedule, playing three games against Top-5 ranked opponents. Neither of those can be said for the Crimson Tide, whose best win was over #17 LSU, who failed to make the SEC Championship game, and who chose to schedule teams such as Mercer and Colorado State.

Regardless of what one thinks about Alabama or Ohio State, USC deserved to make it more than either of them. Like Ohio State, USC won their conference championship over a very strong Stanford Cardinal team and challenged themselves in the non-conference portion of their schedule with games against perennial powerhouses Texas and Notre Dame. Furthermore, like Alabama, USC had no bad losses. Their two losses came on the road vs. #16 Washington State and #13 Notre Dame. Frankly, any argument made against Ohio State or Alabama cannot be made against USC. They check all the boxes, yet were not selected. After seeing their Cotton Bowl game vs. Ohio State, virtually nobody outside Pasadena can say they wish the Trojans were selected. However, it is hard for anybody to argue against USC’s resumé.