If TCU faced Alabama 100 times, the Crimson Tide would win the lion’s share of the meetings.

That’s what happens when the nation’s most talented team by a wide margin, according to the 247Sports Talent Composite ratings, faces college football’s 32nd most talented team.

Oh, and the Crimson Tide’s leader is only the best head coach to ever do it: Nick Saban. And their quarterback is the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.

If Georgia coach Kirby Smart or Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, under the influence of highly potent truth serum, had to choose whether to face Alabama or TCU, both would choose TCU 99 1/2 times out of 100. That half is only to account for the possibility of mishearing the question.

Vegas oddsmakers? Saban was right when, during his politicking media tour late Saturday night to plead his team’s case, he pointed out that the Crimson Tide would be favored, perhaps heavily, over a TCU team that was more likely to make the field. (Hint: It did.)

Alabama is among the sport’s biggest brands in its most respected conference versus a TCU program that rejoined the ranks of major conference members only a decade ago and has a shade more than 10,000 undergraduate students as one of the smallest schools in the Power 5.

Ohio State leapfrogs USC and edges Alabama for the final spot in the 2022 College Football Playoff.

They join Georgia, Michigan, and TCU in the national semifinals.https://t.co/AU9XbGyaDl

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) December 4, 2022

The College Football Playoff committee is ranking teams, but it is also casting a television show that seeks to make money. Including big brands is good for business.

But at some point, the games have to matter. The results have to matter. The resumes have to matter. Sunday, the Playoff’s 13-member selection committee officially agreed, batting away any suggestion TCU would be squeezed out in favor of juggernaut Alabama.

“As a committee, we looked at the full body of work,” chairman Boo Corrigan said. “Lot of respect for Kansas State in that room as well. That win kind of won the day for TCU to be the No. 3 team.”

The committee doesn’t hand out Playoff bids on signing day, even though the seemingly constant presence of Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama on its stage would suggest it does. As for why? On the most basic level, TCU lost once. Alabama lost twice, even though both losses came on dramatic final plays on the road.

And plucky ol’ TCU?

It beat two top 25 teams, the same number as Alabama. But it also beat a Kansas State team that finished in the top 10 and later returned the favor to become the Big 12 champion. Alabama? It didn’t have a top-10 win and beat only three teams with winning records.

TCU beat five.

Alabama often receives the benefit of the doubt in a million ways by way of its pedigree and talent and the man on the sideline, but this Alabama team? This season? It spent far more time looking unremarkable than dominant. It lacked a win that made anyone sit up and take notice.

It narrowly survived a trip to Texas, with backup quarterback Hudson Card taking the majority of the snaps for the Longhorns. Card is now in the transfer portal. And Alabama committed 15 penalties in that game, which felt out of character at the time, but with 12 games complete, only seven FBS teams average more penalty yardage than Alabama.

Texas A&M, which finished 5-7, had a final play from the 2-yard line to beat Alabama but couldn’t capitalize. To be fair, the Crimson Tide played without Bryce Young in that game, but he was back for a narrow win over Ole Miss, which trailed Arkansas 35-6 at halftime a week later.

So yes, Alabama had the best losses of any team in the field, but it lacked the wins to merit serious consideration over TCU.

TCU had plenty of its own heart-stoppers this season — too many to count. But the difference is it won all of those games until Saturday. Alabama did not.

Results have to matter. Otherwise, what are we doing? Alabama’s body of work in 2022 meant it needed to wait until next season to compete in the Playoff for the eighth time. TCU deserved inclusion. Alabama deserved to be excluded for just the second time in Playoff history.

The committee recognized this. Its charge is to select the four best teams. But Sunday, it chose the four most deserving.

And the sport is better off for it.

(Photo of Max Duggan: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)