We are prisoners of the moment, everyone. There's nothing more defined, nothing more easily debated, than what just happened.
Instead of what once did.
It is here where we introduce Ohio State, the team that saved its best game for its last game of the season — and somehow made the College Football Playoff selection committee forget about what happened the previous two games it played.
And its only loss.
"This team is playing as well as anyone in the nation," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said after his Buckeyes scored what seemed like a Georgia Tech over Cumberland victory in the Big Ten Championship Game.
Wouldn't you know it, the following morning, CFP committee chairman Jeff Long emphatically stated the way Ohio State "finished" was the deciding factor in the Buckeyes being chosen over Baylor and TCU for the fourth berth in the new postseason.
Saturday's 59-0 rout of Wisconsin was so impressive — even though Wisconsin had beaten no one of relevance this season, yet was a top-15 team, according to the CFP — it overshadowed TCU's 52-point win over Iowa State earlier that day. A result that somehow dropped the Horned Frogs to No. 6 from No. 3.
Ohio State's "finish" was so important, it overshadowed Baylor's victory over top-10 Kansas State and Baylor's win over TCU in October — the best win among the three teams vying for the final spot.
More than anything, Ohio State's "finish" ignored the reality that the Buckeyes were in fourth-quarter grinders against Indiana (4-9) and Michigan (5-7) the previous two weeks.
It's the power of the moment.
Because if you look at Ohio State's resume; if you examine the Big Ten's strength, there's no way Ohio State was a better choice than Baylor or TCU.
Long made a point to say strength of conference didn't factor into the decision (the Big 12 was significantly better than the Big Ten), and that "definitive" conference champions were a factor (TCU and Baylor were deemed co-champions in the Big 12 despite Baylor's head-to-head win).
That left the committee with one metric to judge the three teams: the eye test. Or what I like to call, the "because" metric.
Why is Ohio State playing in the inaugural College Football Playoff? Because the committee saw the Buckeyes as the best team of the three.
Why did these wise people think that way? Because Ohio State saved its best game for last, where style points mean everything.
Because Ohio State, in the heat of the moment, played its best game and made the committee's difficult decision much easier than it should have been. Because when you win that big with that much style in this beauty pageant of a demolition derby, you're hard to ignore.
Minutes after the pairings were announced, Long made it clear Ohio State had a decisive margin over No. 5 Baylor and No. 6 TCU. Anyone who watched those teams and analyzed those near-identical resumes, knows decisive is the last word to use.
Unless, that is, you're a prisoner of the moment.
The reality is Ohio State is probably the most complete team of the three, probably has the best chance to give No. 1 Alabama a test in (and maybe even win) the Sugar Bowl semifinal. The problem is the way the CFP selection committee got there.
You can't drop TCU to No. 6 after a 52-point win. All that does is underscore what we all knew all along: TCU didn't deserve to be No. 3 in the first place, especially with the loss to Baylor.
You can't look at Baylor's wins over No. 3 TCU, No. 9 Kansas State and No. 20 Oklahoma and think Ohio State's wins over No. 8 Michigan State and No. 13 Wisconsin define the Buckeyes' decisive advantage.
I'd be a lot happier if Long, as the committee spokesman, would have walked out of the room and said: After a night of comparing resumes and watching game video, we believe like Ohio State is better than Baylor and TCU.
Why? Because, that's why.
It's more genuine than the alternative. And not trapped by the moment.