While watching Georgia beat Alabama for the College Football Playoff championship I went into a portal of my own Monday, one that transferred me to the ’00s and better times for University of Hawaii football.

That was the decade when UH played Alabama three times, winning one of their two meetings at Aloha Stadium (remember that place?). And Hawaii would have won the game at Tuscaloosa if they played five quarters instead of four. (When the Warriors lost in those days, coach June Jones would often say it was only because time ran out on them, and in a few cases, like this one, it was true.)

Yes, this was the time after and before Alabama was led by the two greatest coaches in college football history. They weren’t very good in ’02, ’03 and ’06 at least by Tide standards. But, still, it was Alabama.

And then there’s Georgia, and its first national championship since 1980, when the Bulldogs were led by one of the greatest players in college football history, running back Herschel Walker.

They’ve been very, very good many times since. That includes Jan. 1, 2008, when they met, and crushed, UH in the Sugar Bowl.

While it was clear the No. 5-ranked Bulldogs were far superior to Hawaii, which entered the game ranked No. 10, it is interesting to ponder some what-ifs, partly because 2007 might be the craziest season in the history of college football.

Consider this: Even after that blowout loss in the Sugar Bowl, the Warriors finished with the best overall record in the nation at 12-1. Actually, they were tied for that distinction … with a school you probably wouldn’t guess even if I gave you five chances: Kansas.

The No. 1 and 2 teams both lost in the same weekend three times, including the last two weeks of the season, when LSU, Kansas, Missouri and West Virginia all fell.

Those occurrences were among the reasons UH got to play in the Sugar Bowl. Of course, being the only undefeated team left in the country was part of it, but Hawaii’s schedule was so bad, astute observers were of the opinion the Warriors belonged nowhere near a BCS bowl game. A few (and not just UH fans) thought Hawaii should have been in the national championship game instead of two-loss LSU.

Those who thought Georgia should have been playing for the championship were obviously closer to the mark. The Bulldogs’ resume included four wins against ranked teams and they were riding a six-game winning streak, playing the best of anyone at the time. But early-season stumbles against unranked South Carolina and Tennessee kept them out of the title game.

It was all fitting for a wild season that started with one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history, Appalachian State winning at Michigan.

In the championship game, LSU beat Ohio State, a week later at the same Superdome where the Dawgs pounded the Warriors 41-10. UGA ended up ranked No. 2 in the AP poll and third by the coaches, with the Warriors 19th and 17th.

That was when they had the Bowl Championship Series. But you might as well have taken the C out from the middle of BCS, as computers chose the teams that would play for the championship. Going by whatever algorithm they used, Georgia was fifth.

Back to now. Since Cincinnati was the only team unbeaten this year, like UH in ’07, it made me wonder if Hawaii would’ve made a four-team playoff back then.

Of course not, even if we somehow erase the Sugar Bowl from our memories.

Cincy’s schedule wasn’t great by elite standards, but it was certainly better than UH’s in ’07. Cincinnati beat a pretty decent Notre Dame team this year, at South Bend.

UH’s best win was against Boise State, also pretty good, but at home.

And Cincinnati didn’t play two FCS schools, like UH did back then.

The Bearcats’ win at Indiana decreased in value as the season progressed and the Hoosiers ended up 2-10. But it was still a road win against a team from one of the Power Five conferences. UH ’07 didn’t have one of those; interestingly, Indiana was among the teams Hawaii tried to get a date with to improve its strength of schedule, but failed.

Much if not all of the credibility the then-called midmajor programs earned with Boise State’s upset of Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl the year before was lost with UH’s Sugar Bowl meltdown.

Fourteen years later, Cincinnati’s 27-6 loss to Alabama as the first Group of Five team to make the CFP playoff could have a similar effect.

Despite all that talk about playoff expansion last year, a strong argument can now be made by those who want to keep it at four since it’s very clear that the best two teams made it to the final.

That would be unfortunate for all Group of Five schools.

As for UH football specifically, some fans worry that would be a moot point, and this current mess could leave them with nothing but memories. This isn’t the first time we’ve all heard such rumblings, but even after 1961, when the season was canceled, the program has bounced back. Can it this time?