Do OSU, IU, Miami have CFP advantage over TAMU, Ole Miss, Alabama, UGA, LSU, UT?

The 12-team College Football Playoff field leaves even more room for teams to feel like they've been snubbed from the postseason than the four-team field did from 2014 to 2023. And it's going to rear its ugly head again this year after how last season's field took shape.

Last year, several three-win SEC teams, like the Alabama Crimson Tide, Ole Miss Rebels, and South Carolina Gamecocks, felt that their strength of schedule should've superseded the Indiana Hoosiers' for a CFP spot. Those fanbases felt justified in that when IU took a 27-17 loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish -- a game in which the final score did justice to the Hoosiers, since it wasn't as close as the final score indicated. The thought was that Indiana got to the big dance with wins over tomato cans, then couldn't handle themselves against a legitimate Power 4 contender.

IU is back in the spotlight this year, being seen as a member of the sport's "Big Three" of title frontrunners alongside the Ohio State Buckeyes and Miami Hurricanes. Even though Indiana just knocked off the Oregon Ducks 30-20, their mettle is being questioned. As is The U, which has defeated the Fighting Irish, USF Bulls, Florida Gators, and Florida State Seminoles. Three of those matchups were against ranked teams, to be clear. Ohio State has just one ranked win, against the then-No. 1 Texas Longhorns, and wins over supposedly inferior competition; though the Washington Huskies appear to be on the doorstep of a return to relevancy at 5-1. Somehow, the head-and-shoulders-above-everyone defending national champs, and who they play the rest of the way, is being used as a talking point.

The Buckeyes, Hoosiers, and Hurricanes have already taken the world by storm with undefeated records and impressive showings against superior competition, but some SEC talking heads believe they have an unfair advantage heading into the CFP over the TAMU Aggies, Rebels, Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, and Tennessee Volunteers.

Of course, Big Ten people are pointing out that the non-SEC "Big Three" are right on par with the entire SEC as it pertains to ranked ones.

What's the truth, though?

College football is too dynamic to have these conversations

Have we learned nothing from the Longhorns, Penn State Nittany Lions, and Clemson Tigers being ranked No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4, respectively, in the preseason polls? We're really having conversations about remaining matchups against ranked teams in mid-October?

To be clear, Penn State being bad is why these conversations are happening. That was supposed to be a tougher matchup than anyone in the SEC outside of Texas, judging by these kinds of conversations that were taking place roughly a month-and-a-half ago.

But there could be another Nittany Lions out there, ready to lose three straight and fire their coach. That could happen to Alabama or LSU at any time, given how their fanbases feel about Kalen DeBoer and Brian Kelly.

Also, one of OSU, IU, or The U could be upset once, if not several times, during that time span. We may have a whole new outlook on who's the cream of the crop very shortly.

And if/when that happens, we can look back at these debates and laugh at them, just as we're laughing at the idea that Texas, Penn State, or Clemson ever really had a chance at winning it all this coming January.

College football media members have agendas. They have proud alma maters. They work for the exclusive broadcast partner of one of the conferences.

It's not a stretch to say politics/the culture war also effects the lens in which people view the sport. Feelings matter in college football, seemingly more than any other sport when it comes to deciding a champion.

Let's just allow the games to play out before getting sucked into a back-and-forth on social media with someone halfway across the country that will age like milk.