Rankings, Tournaments, and Playoffs

So many teams and so little room at the top. Which team becomes the national champion in U.S. college football rests on rankings, which reflect the opinions of poll participants (and, nowadays, also computer ratings).

This year, Ohio State plays for the national title in the championship bowl game. And its opponent will be Florida rather than Michigan because the “experts,” in their voting, judged that Florida would be the more worthy opponent.