Thanks to Arizona State, there was one competitive game in the first two rounds of the College Football Playoff.

Cam Skattebo and the Sun Devils captivated the college football world all season, and they did it again in the Peach Bowl in a thrilling 39-31 double-overtime loss to Texas.

The other seven CFP games so far?

Snoozefests.

Much has been written about the flawed CFP seeding process and bracket, but what has become crystal clear after the first eight games is that the committee struggled mightily to identify the 12 best teams.

Indiana, ACC Didn’t Belong In CFP

Indiana had no business being in the CFP. The Hoosiers’ best win was a 20-15 home victory over Michigan where they were dominated on the line of scrimmage and finished with 40 yards rushing — on 28 carries. They did not beat a ranked team and finished with just two wins over teams with winning records — Michigan (8-5) and Nebraska (7-6).

Then there’s the ACC. The Atlantic Coast Conference took an unprecedented beating in the postseason, going 2-11 in bowl games — including two double-digit losses in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

Somehow, SMU received an at-large bid in the CFP as the No. 11 seed — and got destroyed 38-10 by Penn State in a game that was never competitive.

Clemson didn’t fare much better. The Tigers received an automatic CFP bid after beating SMU in the ACC championship, then lost 38-24 to Texas in a game they trailed 28-10 at halftime and surrendered 292 yards rushing.

BYU, Ole Miss Should Have Made CFP

The Big 12, meanwhile, was the only Power 4 conference to receive just one CFP berth — from automatic qualifier Arizona State.

BYU (11-2) clearly deserved a berth. The Cougars beat SMU on the road early in the season and they took Arizona State down to the wire in a thrilling 28-23 loss in Tempe. BYU should have been the No. 11 seed in place of SMU.

Ole Miss (10-3) deserved to be in as well. The Rebels passed the eye test all season and were a much better team than Indiana. They had one of the best wins of the regular season in a dominant 28-10 victory over then-No. 3 Georgia, and they would have given Notre Dame a great game.

Are The Four Best Teams In CFP Semifinals?

You can make an argument that Ohio State, Texas and Arizona State are the three best teams in college football.

Ohio State boasts the infamous “$20 million roster” and the Buckeyes have looked like an NFL team in the first two rounds of the CFP, outscoring Tennessee and Oregon 83-38.

Texas has the best defense in college football and its only two losses are to Georgia. Arizona State likely would have beaten Texas if a missed targeting call was properly flagged at the end of the fourth quarter — and that would have been ASU’s seventh consecutive win. The Sun Devils dominated the line of scrimmage against the nation’s stingiest defense, racking up 214 yards rushing and 510 total yards.

Notre Dame and Penn State have obviously earned their way in to the semifinals, but both teams have significant offensive flaws. Neither team has a fighting chance against either Ohio State or Texas in the national championship.

Hopefully the CFP semifinals are entertaining, but if the first two rounds have taught us anything, it’s that the committee has a lot of work to do.

And the committee should thank Arizona State for rescuing the first 12-team CFP.

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