The expansion of the College Football Playoff to twelve teams was a welcome upgrade to the sport. Yes, SEC types still chirp that Alabama didn’t get in, but hey: try beating (checks notes) Vanderbilt (seriously?) or scoring more than three points at Oklahoma. I mean, you are embarrassing the conference more than Tennessee did on Saturday night.
As Nate points out, the games were played on home campuses where fans of northern teams didn’t have to navigate the airlines to get there. Students were able to attend, and by all accounts, played in passionate environments. They got that right.