The complaints and critiques have been endless.

The expanded College Football Playoff will hurt the regular season. The wonky seeding created lopsided results. Undeserving teams were selected.

The past few days, however, showed why this system works and was long overdue. We got two terrific semifinal games, and now two teams — Notre Dame and Ohio State — who likely wouldn’t have been selected to the playoff in the old system will decide a national champion.

In the 10 years of the old four-team playoff system, just twice did we get two semifinals in the same year as dramatic and entertaining as what Notre Dame-Penn State and Ohio State-Texas delivered. Two meetings that weren’t decided until late in the fourth quarter.