Tale of the tape

— -- As the inaugural College Football Playoff looms, it's time to start the overanalysis ... er, I mean, analysis ... of the four combatants. Time to begin the process of measuring the four would-be national champions, head-to-head-to-head-to-head.

Exactly what factors rank most important when it comes to these comparisons is up to the person who is doing the comparing. Some might want to talk straight X's and O's. Others might want to talk game control and QBR. But when our eyes glaze over during that, it might cause us to refocus elsewhere, to the nooks and crannies of each program that will eventually add up to create the true advantages to win a team's final two games of the season.

What am I talking about? I'm not entirely sure. I'm writing this with one hand on the keyboard and the other hand on a ladle of eggnog. But as with eggnog, no one is entirely sure what will add up to the correct mixture of a College Football Playoff champion.

Here's our best guess in a too-early CFP Tale of the Tape.

Offense

Advantage: Oregon

Final verdict

Alabama 3, Oregon 3, FSU 3, Ohio State 1

In the end, we give the tiebreaker to Alabama based purely on the magic of Nick Saban, who not only scowls at the media during news conferences, he does the same to fans entering Bryant-Denny Stadium and he does it in bronze. If he wins his fourth national title in six years, they might take that statue and dip it in gold. But wait ... that'd make him look like an Oregon helmet, wouldn't it?