A deserving 12

The official College Football Playoff bracket will come out Sunday during the CFP Selection Show on ESPN from 12-3 p.m. The following is a list of the teams I'd put in there, and where I'd slot them, going off the CFP qualifying parameters:

1-Indiana 12-0. Best team I've seen all year, capped by Saturday night's 13-10 win against then-No. 1 Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. Point blank, the Hoosiers were better.

2-Ohio State 12-1. I actually came away far more impressed by the Buckeyes in their one loss than I did in any of their 12 victories. A repeat as national champions is not out of the question.

3-Georgia 12-1. Honestly, I think Ole Miss is the best team in the SEC, but the Bulldogs won the conference title Saturday and beat the Rebels earlier in the season.

4-Texas Tech 12-1. Giving the Red Raiders the nod here over Ole Miss strictly because they hold a Power 4 title (Big 12) and it doesn't. Team's 3 best wins all came against teams from Utah.

5-Ole Miss 11-1. It will be interesting to see if the Rebels make Lane Kiffin kick himself for leaving Oxford. Imagine them achieving what his supposed reason for taking the LSU gig was.

6-Miami 10-2. Truly believe Notre Dame is better now and over the course of the season, but no point in debating the head-to-head argument. Both should be in.

7-Notre Dame 10-2. Irish had no biz being ranked ahead of Miami? Try they had no biz being ranked behind Oklahoma and Alabama, examples A and B of "living strictly off brand/rep."

8-Texas A&M 11-1. Can't argue the record, but the Aggies did play with fire an awful lot during the season before ultimately getting burned in their regular-season finale.

9-Oregon 11-1. Truth? Just not all that impressed. But, again, can't ignore the record and the Ducks did beat 3 solid teams down the stretch in Iowa, USC and Washington.

10-Oklahoma 10-2. Ugh. Sooners are just dreadful. Boring and just bad on offense. But they have a great defense and they beat their ugly twin, Alabama.

11/12-Tulane 11-2/James Madison (12-1). Take your pick as to whether Tulane (American champ) or JMU (Sun Belt) was the best the Group of Five had to offer. Doesn't matter. One gets there for that, the other will for being higher rated than the ACC champ (Duke) to round out the requirement of 5 conference champs in the playoff.

Why not Alabama? Frankly, didn't have the Crimson Tide in my 12 even before they got boat-raced on Saturday. They're soft and they easily could have lost 4 more games on top of the 3 on their ledger.

Why not BYU? The Cougars' 2 losses came against Texas Tech, but they're another team that easily could have lost 4, if not 5, more games on top of those. A lotta smoke and mirrors with 11 wins.

Why not Texas? The most ridiculous crying comes for the Longhorns' entry. Losing at Ohio State ain't why they're out. Losing at 4-8 Florida (and getting demolished at Georgia) is.