By just about any measure, the first College Football Playoff was a success. Both the semifinals, which were viewed by 28 million, and the championship (33 million) set all-time records for a program on cable television.

But before the before we close the book on the 2014 season and start looking ahead to Spring practice, here are five burning questions about the future of the CFP:

1) The numbers were great for …

Dallas–It was the morning after Ohio State’s 42-20 win over Oregon for the first national championship of the College Football Playoff. And as the media is wont to do in the age of Twitter, they tried to get Ohio State coach Urban Meyer to quickly turn the page to next year’s team, who’s turning pro, and what the future could hold for the Buckeyes’ program. Ohio State’s eighth national championship …

Dallas–Here are my top five story lines and a prediction for Monday night’s College Football Playoff title game between Ohio State (13-1) and Oregon (13-1):

1) The Ohio State defensive line: Oregon was averaging 49 points per game when the Ducks took on Auburn in the 2010 BCS championship. Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof was able to slow Oregon because defensive tackle Nick Fairley controlled the middle of the line of …

Dallas–When the creation of the College Football Playoff was announced, there was little doubt the first championship game would be here. Where else could it be but the biggest, shiniest, all-the-bells-and-whistles home of the Dallas Cowboys? There was no way that Jerry Jones, the Cowboys’ colorful/rich owner, was going to let it be held anywhere else.

In case you’re wondering, the next two CFP national championship games will be in Glendale, …

Since the end of college football’s regular seasons fans  have been spending a lot of time talking and tweeting and wringing their hands about players, coaches and teams that failed to live up to their expectations. We need a new head coach. We  need a new coordinator. If we could just get Coach X or Transfer Y then “we” would be playing for the national championship on Monday night. It …

Facts are facts. And the fact is that based on rankings, reputation and expectations, the SEC did not have a good bowl season.

Yes, the SEC won seven bowl games, which ties the conference’s NCAA record. But the 2-5 record of the SEC West, which included  losses by No. 1 Alabama, No. 7 Mississippi State and No. 9 Ole Miss is a fact.

With four teams (Mississippi State, Auburn, Ole Miss, Alabama) …

Five things we learned during a wild New Year’s Day:

1) It capped a bad week for the SEC West: With six of its teams spending time in the Top 10 and with Alabama at No. 1, the SEC West had been hyped as one of the best divisions “ever” during the 2014 season. All seven members had qualified for bowl games. At the close of business at the Sugar Bowl …