Alabama proved once again that a four-team playoff is perfect for college football

We don’t need to water down these college football playoffs.

This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning WinSubscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. 

The Alabama Crimson Tide won their sixth national title under Nick Saban on Monday night with a 52-24 victory over Ohio State in a game that was basically over at halftime and was an absolute snoozer for most of the fourth quarter.

In winning the championship in such dominant fashion, Alabama proved once again that all the talk of adding more teams to the college football playoffs would, in the end, be pointless. Well, except for all the extra money that would be generated by more playoff teams and games and we know how much the NCAA loves money.

But when it comes down to the actual football that’s played on the field there is usually at least one team in these playoffs that is far and away better than everybody else. This year it just so happened to be Alabama once again, as the Crimson Tide blew out both of the teams they faced in the playoffs.

Debating about which other teams should make the cut in the playoffs is fun and all, but teams like Cincinnati and Texas A&M were not really going to contend for a title this year if had been given the chance. And that is likely true each season with the teams that feel like they were cheated out of opportunities.

When it comes down to it, four teams is the perfect number. Two of those teams will be able to give the No. 1 team their best crack at them and if they come up short, like Notre Dame and Ohio State did this year, then it’s easy to see that nobody else was going to do anything different.

The NCAA basketball tournament is a lot of fun, but it doesn’t always produce the best champion thanks to fluke upsets and off nights by some of the top teams. It’s watered way too down that has become built for entertainment, not truly reward the top team each year.

The college football playoffs have no fat. Well, maybe a little thanks to whenever Notre Dame somehow gets a shot at it.  Adding any fat (besides Notre Dame) will only water this thing down like the hoops tourney. The No. 1 team in football shouldn’t have to go around playing three or four games to win a championship.

Give them two games and be done with it.

Because chances are that’s all the champs will need to show everyone else that there is really only one team that we should be talking about.

And this year that team was Alabama, again.

Quick hits: Belichick turns down Medal of Freedom… Mayfield trolls Cowherd… Big Ben apologizes… And more.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

– Bill Belichick explained perfectly why he will not be accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Trump.

– Baker Mayfield appeared to troll Colin Cowherd after the Browns’ win over the Steelers.

– A new video showed a teary Ben Roethlisberger apologizing to Maurkice Pouncey at the end of Sunday’s loss to the Browns.

– Tom Brady shared a hilarious photoshopped image of he and Drew Brees ahead of this Sunday’s playoff showdown between the two legendary QBs.

– You need to see this photo of Kawhi Leonard’s huge hands.