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Playoff matchups offer intrigue, but will they actually be competitive?

The College Football Playoff selection committee led us on a labyrinthine journal to a flawed result – but that discussion now is part of the past.

The field of four is set, and it's time to appraise what the committee has given us.

The matchup storylines are juicy. The question is whether they're competitive.

The early report from Las Vegas is no. Southeastern Conference champion Alabama is a 9½-point favorite over Big Ten champion Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl – a bigger favorite than the Crimson Tide was at home against a Mississippi State team that the committee held in much lower regard. In the Rose Bowl, Pac-12 champion Oregon is an 8½-point favorite over Atlantic Coast Conference champion Florida State – the first time the Seminoles have been an underdog since early in the 2011 season.

While there are doubts about whether the games will be good, there is no such doubt about the storylines.

In the Sugar Bowl we have the two kings of college football coaching facing off again: Alabama's Nick Saban against Ohio State's Urban Meyer. They are the only active coaches with multiple national titles – four for Saban, two for Meyer. Saban took LSU to the mountaintop, then did it again three times at Alabama. Meyer won his titles at Florida, and now has his own chance to do it at a second school.

Urban Meyer shakes hands with Alabama's Nick Saban after a Crimson Tide win in 2008. (AP)
Urban Meyer shakes hands with Alabama's Nick Saban after a Crimson Tide win in 2008. (AP)

They had some unforgettable meetings when Meyer was the coach at Florida – particularly back-to-back clashes in the SEC championship game in 2008 and '09. Meyer's Gators won an epic toughman contest with Saban's Crimson Tide in the 2008 league title game, on their way to winning the national title. The following year, Saban's super-prepared team won in an upset romp on its way to the national title – a loss that helped land Meyer in the hospital and began the end of Urban's tenure in Gainesville. He had a two-day Christmas retirement in '09, then un-retired and coached one more year at Florida – an 8-5 disappointment that included a 25-point loss to Saban in Tuscaloosa, Meyer's worst loss as a head coach. (There was a 31-3 loss to Alabama in 2005 that was vacated because of NCAA sanctions.)

Meyer and Saban overlapped in the SEC for only four seasons. But during that time they won three national championships.

Meyer came to the Big Ten with one expectation: to bring the league's flagship program up to the SEC's level, and help drag the rest of the downtrodden conference back to competitiveness. This will provide a yardstick.

The last two times the Buckeyes played an SEC opponent in a national title setting, they were outclassed. The first time was the 2006 national championship game, when No. 1 favored Ohio State was embarrassed by a Florida team coached by Meyer. The difference in speed and athleticism was pronounced, and that was the case the following year when LSU easily defeated the Buckeyes in the title game.

Meyer has recruited the kind of athletes who theoretically can stay on the field with the best of the SEC. But the question is whether the guy who began the season as his third-string quarterback will be ready for what Saban throws at him.

Cardale Jones stepped in last week for injured J.T. Barrett – who stepped in for an injured Braxton Miller in August – and made this playoff berth possible. Jones threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns in a stunning rout of Wisconsin, lessening any misgivings the committee may have had about inviting an Ohio State team that wouldn't be capable of playing up to the previous level attained with Barrett at quarterback. It was, beyond a doubt, the greatest one-game relief appearance in college football in 2014.

Meyer and offensive coordinator Tom Herman will have more than three weeks to further prepare Jones. But Saban will have the same amount of time to throw a gameplan at a guy making his second start. And aside from games in which his team is sulking – the 2009 and '14 Sugar Bowls – Saban always has a team ready to a razor's edge off long prep time.

Advantage – major advantage – to Alabama.

While the Sugar Bowl showcase will be the coaches, in the Rose it will be the quarterbacks. By then, it should be a matchup of the two most recent Heisman Trophy winners.

Florida State's Jameis Winston won the award last year. Oregon's Marcus Mariota is the prohibitive favorite to win it this Saturday.

Can Jameis Winston and Florida State keep pace with the high-flying Ducks? (AP)
Can Jameis Winston and Florida State keep pace with the high-flying Ducks? (AP)

Mariota has had a vastly superior season to Winston: his passer rating is 140 points higher; he's thrown 14 more touchdowns; he's thrown 15 fewer interceptions; and he's rushed for nearly 600 more yards. Mariota has been consistently excellent all season, whereas Winston has struggled notably for long stretches. And the only negative headline Mariota has generated involved a speeding ticket, whereas Winston has been immersed in bad press for a year.

But Winston had his cleanest game in two months Saturday in the ACC championship game, throwing three touchdowns and no interceptions in a victory over Georgia Tech – his first game without a pick since Oct. 11. For a guy who seems to need an almost desperate situation to bring out his best, Winston may thrive trying to match Mariota in a game the Seminoles seemingly can't win without him playing extremely well.

Florida State's offense has benefitted from the emergence of freshman running back Dalvin Cook, just as Oregon's has benefitted from the emergence of freshman running back Royce Freeman. They will be vital (if somewhat overlooked) elements to this game.

Pay attention to tempo as well. Florida State often has played at its best offensively when playing fast – including using tempo to wear out Georgia Tech. But playing fast also plays right into the hands of the Ducks. If the game is going to be a full-game sprint with a ton of plays and possessions, the pressure on the Florida State defense will be immense.

Advantage – major advantage – to Oregon.

The matchups are set. The storylines are attractive. The ratings will be high. But will the games be good? That remains to be seen.