Another college football season has come and gone, and not quietly in our household.

This year marked a significant change in the way that the NCAA crowns its champion, mercifully ending the Bowl Championship Series era — or BCS era, for short — or without the C, for accuracy. Finally, college football fans got what they have long been clamoring for: a playoff system to determine the champion.

You can count me among those who think that the new College Selection Committee — which ranks teams throughout the season and gives final rankings of the top four teams after Conference Championship games have been played — was an upgrade over the previous, computer-generated rating system. I kept a close eye on those Selection Committee rankings as the season played out, and I was pleasantly surprised that the SEC bias that seemed endemic to the old system did not pervade the new rankings.

I also think the Selection Committee got it right when they chose Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State as their top four teams to compete in the playoffs. Their only controversial choice was Ohio State, which leapfrogged TCU and Baylor on Conference Championship weekend to earn the 4-spot. But that upgrade seemed justified partly because Ohio State pummeled Wisconsin 59-0 to win the Big 10 Championship, and partly because the Big 12, where TCU and Baylor both play, does not have a Conference Championship game.

A few days before Christmas, the bowl festivities began, with 39 college bowl games being played in all, counting the National Championship game. I am only slightly embarrassed to tell you that I watched the vast majority of these games, and a little more apologetic to the neighbors and especially to my tolerant wife for all the noise that I made while I was watching them.

One of the things that delighted me this year was the surprisingly mediocre performance of the teams from the vaunted — and, I would say, overrated — SEC. This year, SEC teams went a mere 7-5 in their bowl games, finishing 2-4 against ranked teams. Stunningly, the highly esteemed SEC West Division went only 2-5, while the lower-rated SEC East held up their end by finishing 5-0 in bowl games. By comparison, the PAC 12 had a better year, going 6-3 overall, with a modest 2-2 record against ranked opponents. But considering that two of those ranked opponents were teams that made the final four, that ain’t bad, folks.

Oregon fans can be proud of their Ducks, even though they came up short in the Championship game. Their first playoff game against Florida State was close until about halfway through the third quarter, but then the Ducks’ fast-paced offense and opportunistic defense put a whooping on Florida State for the rest of the game. The final result of 59-20 pretty much said it all.

Conversely, looking back on Oregon’s Championship game against Ohio State, while the final score of 42-20 probably expresses how thoroughly Ohio State’s running game dominated Oregon’s defense, it’s easy to forget the fact that with just a few seconds remaining in the third quarter, Oregon was down by only one point. I think that both Oregon’s players and their fans will probably remember this game as a matter of missed opportunities (especially a couple of key dropped passes) and an inability to establish and maintain Oregon’s typical rapid-fire pace on offense. Ultimately, Oregon fans have to give credit where credit is due to Ohio State’s running back, Ezekiel Elliot, who ran the ball down the Ducks’ throats all night for a total of 246 yards.

They say that “almost” only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, and Oregon’s players and fans might agree with that sentiment. But there’s no shame in coming in second, for the second time in the last five years in college football. Hang in there, Ducks, and hold your heads high.

John McColgan writes from his home in Joseph.