It’s been 4 1/2 years since the College Football Playoff system was established. The announcement of the new format to decide a national champion came months after Alabama destroyed Notre Dame, which marked the seventh consecutive year that an SEC team won it all.

Was the goal of the Playoff to prevent such dominance from one conference? Perhaps it was a possible benefit. By not leaving it up to computers in the old BCS formula and instead giving that opportunity to a selection committee with members from various regional and professional backgrounds, the system got a needed facelift.

The people in that room would decide which four teams deserved to play for a national championship. Whatever happened after that was out of their hands.

This year, that group decided that the SEC had two of the four most deserving teams in America. Contrary to what the misinformed conspiracy theorists believed, the selection committee had neither an SEC bias, nor would it benefit if 2 SEC teams made it to the national championship.

The SEC, on the other hand, would benefit plenty. For all those supporting the belief that the SEC is no longer the power conference in college football like it was back in 2013, it would be quite the statement.

It’d be even more impressive than when Alabama and LSU faced off in the January 2012 BCS National Championship, the only time two teams from the same conference met in a title game in the BCS era. Accomplishing that feat in the Playoff era would be that much more impressive.

Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Why?

The Playoff system was put in place to leave no doubt about a deserving national champion. Now, all of the Power 5 conferences have conference championships. By accepting two teams from one conference, the selection committee decided that one conference had two more deserving teams than two others.

As if that hurdle wasn’t big enough, there’s the semifinal aspect thrown into the equation. LSU and Alabama didn’t have that hurdle in January 2012. Alabama made the national championship despite having played just 12 games during the 2011 season (the LSU loss prevented an SEC Championship berth, just like the Tide’s loss in the Iron Bowl this year). To accomplish that feat this year, Alabama will have to beat the No. 1 team in the country just to reach the title game.

Georgia, on the other hand, will only make a national title game if it can knock off the Heisman Trophy winner in its 14th game of the season. Beating consecutive top-7 teams on neutral sites in win-or-go-home scenarios would be as battle-tested as it gets. No one would doubt Georgia’s credentials as a worthy national championship participant.

And on the flip side, nobody should doubt Alabama’s. For all the gripes about the Tide’s weak strength of schedule just to make the field, beating No. 1 Clemson on a neutral site would squash that debate in a hurry.

The beauty of the 4-team Playoff is that nobody can bark “SEC bias” if the conference does put two teams in the title game. Many did in after the 2011 season. Many did last Sunday when the selection committee put in Alabama ahead of Ohio State. They claimed that the Playoff system was supposed to eliminate this possibility.

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They, however, were wrong. If the goal was to make this about regional balance, we’d have automatic conference championship bids by now. We don’t. The goal is simply to put the four most deserving teams in a field to decide who the best team in America is. Period.

Of course, there’s always the other possibility. You know, the one where both SEC teams lose in their semifinal matchups and the conference is without a team in the title game for the first time since the inaugural Playoff year. Then, the narrative would be, “see, I told you the SEC was overrated.”

Win or lose, the SEC will still be the first conference to have put multiple teams in the Playoff. The Big 12 had only had one school (Oklahoma) make the field while the ACC (Clemson, Florida State), B1G (Michigan State, Ohio State) and Pac-12 (Oregon, Washington) each had two in the 4-year history of the system. And yes, the SEC has only had 2 teams (Alabama, Georgia) make the field, but doing so in the same year is no small feat.

Miami reminded us of that this year and Penn State reminded us last year. Even the SEC, which had 4 of the top 6 teams in the first Playoff rankings in 2014, reminded us of that.

That’s what would make an all-SEC national championship its best feat in recent memory. This isn’t about having a bunch of top-25 teams based on what the Associated Press voters think. It wouldn’t even be about having two teams in the championship based on what the selection committee thinks.

Keep in mind that Georgia is No. 3 and Alabama is No. 4. Under this Playoff format, No. 3 and No. 4 has the same chance every year. That’s the beauty of it. Nobody remembers seeds after the semifinal games kick off.

But an all-SEC national championship would be all sorts of memorable.