The Indiana Hoosiers, Miami Hurricanes, Ole Miss Rebels, and Oregon Ducks all punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff semifinal round on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, creating what's been a well-received final four for the sport.
Yahoo Sports' Dan Wolken likes the remaining field because everyone in it earned their spot on the field. Three of them, as Wolken notes, wouldn't have gotten the same opportunities in the sport's prior setup, be it the four-team CFP that existed from 2014-2024 or the BCS structure before that.
"I guess it’s a question of taste but I love this final four. You know why? Miami, Ole Miss and Oregon wouldn’t have been in a four-team playoff or BCS. The teams who got there earned it on the field. They weren’t doomed by brand bias. We asked the question and they answered," Wolken wrote.
Oregon, despite entering the season as one of the top teams and remaining that way through a one-loss season, flew under the radar until they dominated the Texas Tech Red Raiders 23-0 on Thursday.
Miami was also being written off after multiple losses and not being the most relevant ACC team in their strange conference championship picture that was determined by means other than traditional ones; hence, the 7-5 Duke Blue Devils making the game and winning it.
Of course, Pete Golding taking over for Lane Kiffin and leading the Rebels after the latter left for the LSU Tigers was enough for some to pencil in the Georgia Bulldogs into the Fiesta Bowl. Some thought they were at risk of dropping from the CFP field altogether after the Florida State Seminoles were punished in 2023 because of quarterback Jordan Travis' leg injury. Their ascension is probably the best story in the field.
Meanwhile, the brand bias comment is an interesting one, since many feel one particular team, which looks like it never deserved it, was a product of brand bias.
Keith Gaddie, Hoffman Chair of the American Ideal, professor of political science in the AddRan College of Liberal Arts at TCU, and author of Bragging Rites: College Football’s Disputed Titles, plainly stated as much last month after the 2025/2026 field was announced.
"The biggest insight is that there is always a brand-tradition bias (‘pointing to your logo’) which inherently favors blue bloods, legacy blue bloods and recent dominant programs. The sport favors its favorite," Gaddie said to a question asking, "As college athletics undergo significant change, from conference shifts to postseason restructuring, what historical patterns from disputed-title eras provide the most insight into today’s landscape?"
It's not hard to figure out who he was talking about. Justice worked itself out in that regard, too.
Ball don't lie: Alabama couldn't benefit from brand bias in CFP on the field
The Alabama Crimson Tide will get to say they not only made the 2025/2026 CFP field but also won a game on the road in a tough SEC environment. What they will not get to say is that they won it all, because Indiana's 38-3 destruction of the Tide will be the lasting memory from the 2025 season in Tuscaloosa.
While Alabama benefitted from a brand bias to make the CFP field, well, ball don't lie. They never had a chance against the Hoosiers. and looking back, a potential rematch with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who, let's real, also would've beaten the Oklahoma Sooners, would've been box office.
Instead, the Rose Bowl had an ugly uniform matchup and Curt Cignetti proved about the Tide what we already knew beforehand.
At least 2026 started off the right way, to make up for the CFP selection committee's mistakes to end 2025.