Agreed on the minor point. But again, that actually helps reduce the "mulligan" or "double mulligan" likelihood, albeit at the expense of the increased likelihood that an unworthy conference champ will get in.
But I'd argue that the Oklahoma loss actually DID keep OSU out. Had OSU beaten Oklahoma, they most assuredly would have gotten in over Alabama. Of course, that gives them another marquee win. But let's say OSU hadn't scheduled Oklahoma, replacing them with, say, Syracuse. A 12-1 OSU with a win over Syracuse and the loss to Iowa probably STILL would have gotten in over Bama. Yes, their loss was worse, but their conference championship would have likely elevated them.
So what the committee is basically telling teams is "schedule easier OOC because it'll help you get in." OSU scheduled tough OOC and ended up getting penalized for it.
The takeaway from 2017 is that we'll likely see fewer marquee OOC matchups, not more, as the committee has basically shown that # of losses is a lot more important than OOC SOS.
I think if you make the conference championship an auto-bid, helmet teams might be willing to take on more OOC chances since they know those games will prepare them better for conference play where they really need to be on top.
The problem is that it is a double-edged sword. If you have auto-bids for P5 Champions then maybe marquee teams will take on more marquee OOC opponents but the games won't matter.
I want good OOC games that matter!
That is a tougher nut to crack.
For all the PSU fans bellyaching about Ohio State jumping them in 2016 I thought that was a good thing because I thought the CFP was sending a message that SoS matters. Ohio State's OOC win over Oklahoma in 2016 mattered and got the Buckeyes in ahead of PSU. I thought that was a good thing because I thought it would encourage helmet teams to play marquee OOC match-ups.
The problem is that when 2016 is viewed in conjunction with 2017 it doesn't look that way anymore. Instead, it simply looks like the P5 teams with the fewest losses will get in and if that is the case then the logical thing for a P5 team to do is, as Bill Snyder used to say, "Never Schedule a Loss".
I think you are right, all else being equal, if Ohio State had defeated some crap opponent in week two instead of challenging themselves and coming up short against B12 Champion (to be) and Playoff team (to be) Oklahoma, then Ohio State would have gotten in over Bama as a 12-1 B1G Champion with a weak OOC. I do NOT like that message being sent by the committee.
