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The fallout from this year’s College Football Playoff bracket continues just days after the selection committee ignited controversy with its at-large bid teams.
The main culprit? Alabama earned the No. 9 seed despite being blown out by the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game to fall to 10-3 on the season.
Many thought the Crimson Tide’s loss meant both Miami and Notre Dame would get in. Instead, the selection committee opted to leave out the Fighting Irish and assigned the Hurricanes the No. 10 seed, followed by conference winners Tulane (No. 11) and James Madison University (No. 12).
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Robert Griffin III on ESPN Monday Night Football Countdown put SoFi Stadium. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
For FOX Sports analyst and 2011 Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III, the selection committee simply “got it wrong this year,” and his thoughts revolve around some bias.
“The SEC bias is clear. You’ve got five SEC teams in it, and I think most people would agree that after looking at this and looking at the numbers and looking at recent trends over the last three years, the SEC just isn’t as dominant as it used to be,” he told Pakinomist Digital after helping USAA give two military veterans new vehicles the weekend before the 126th Army game. “The Big Ten has caught up, the Big 12 is a more competitive league top to bottom than they get credit for. I thought the committee could have done the easiest thing to make the most people happy because it was within their parameters.”
What was the “easiest thing possible” in Griffin’s eyes? It was to include both Miami and Notre Dame, because now he feels BYU, which went 11-2 this season after being blown out in the Big 12 Championship Game by No. 4 Texas Tech, was punished.
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Meanwhile, Alabama earned a shot at a national title despite a similar record and one more loss than the Cougars.
“If you want to punish BYU, punish Alabama,” Griffin explained. “Alabama has an extra loss, they were both blown out in their conference championship games. Move them both out. That way you put both Miami and Notre Dame in and you avoid the whole conversation about head-to-head and all that. They did the worst thing you could do: they punished BYU and then put Miami over Notre Dame even though neither team played. [in a conference championship] and made them jump over each other. It made no sense.”
Griffin added that one problem for BYU was that they were never in the top 10 in previous rankings leading up to the selection.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, center, gestures from the sideline during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Stanford, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Stanford, California. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)
But one of the national conversations is whether the selection committee can be trusted going forward. Of course, an expanded playoff format means some teams will just have to fall out eventually, but Griffin sees bias in the process, as do many others.
“When you talk about having confidence in the committee, in my opinion the committee has too many good men on it for them to make this colossal mistake,” he said. “It’s not just, ‘Oh, there might be some SEC bias.’ There is clearly SEC bias. I’m not mad at JMU, I’m not mad at Tulane. They did what they had to do based on the rules. They won their games, they deserve to be there.
“This illusion that we’re trying to field the top 12 teams in the country — that’s not true, man. It’s never been about the top 12 teams. It’s about the 12 teams they can justify fielding, and I think they got it wrong this year.”
Notre Dame has since declined any bowl game invitations, while BYU will play in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against Georgia Tech.
Griffin was back in Baltimore, where he spent the remaining years of his NFL playing career, to show honor through action in the tradition of the annual Army-Navy Game by gifting two recycled rides with USAA, the official Salute to Service partner of the NFL.
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, center, looks forward to a replay with officials during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Cincinnati, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
HELPING THOSE WHO SERVE US
Cryptological Technician Petty Officer First Class Jamil Lewis, currently serving in the Navy, and veteran Patrick Huber, Specialist 116th Infantry Regiment, Army National Guard, were both surprised by Griffin with the brand new vehicle at the Inner Harbor in front of the USS Constellation.
Coming from a military family himself with his mother and father serving in the Army, Griffin has long enjoyed his partnership with USAA and couldn’t be happier to help with this.
“I’ve been so honored to partner with USAA. We’ve been partners together for the last 13 years and I’m a guy who likes to do real, authentic partnerships. Military brat, mom and dad both served in the Army. So I’m a ‘Go Army, beat Navy’ guy – 31 years to be able to see how the last 3 years have been able to do that over the last 3 years. do things to get our military members to know they are not forgotten, that means something to me,” he explained. “If it does anything for me, it’s to do something for these families that we’re impacting, to make their lives a little bit easier. It’s not a free car. I say that because, yes, they didn’t have to pay money for it, but there were sacrifices for us and our freedoms to be able to get this type of treatment. We want them to know, ‘Hey,'” he appreciated.
(Left to right) Mark Steiding of Kenwood Auto Body, NFL legend Robert Griffin III (RGIII), SPC Patrick Huber (veteran of the US Army National Guard), USAA Senior Vice President Rob Braggs and Dale Moss of NABC Recycled Rides pose at USAA’s Army-Navy Game NABC Recycled Rides Car De Gifting in Baltimore, De Gifting, Wednesday. 2025. (Edwin Remsberg)
Griffin said Huber, a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan, made sure to take a crack at him during their time together on the Washington Commanders, who the Baylor product was drafted by.
And Griffin also loved watching Lewis’ nine-year-old son, one of his five children, “go ballistic” when he realized what was happening.
“They got a free car to the point where 30 minutes after the event he’s still in the passenger seat,” Griffin said of Lewis’ son.
