I personally think it’s awesome they do these midweek College Football Playoff rankings releases. It gives idiots like me and you a chance to scream, yell and cry about this fantastic sport. College football is so unique that it’s largely debate based to figure out the top four teams, which is why I’m mostly against expansion of the Playoff.
If the Playoff expands, it is likely going to include automatic bids for conference championship winners, which I am completely against. That’s how you get 9-3 teams over 11-1. Now if we expand to eight teams in the Playoff but keep the committee system we already have, I’m all for it.
College football does not have much structure for its Playoff system, and that’s the way we like it. The bad boys of sports don’t follow no damn rules. Just fight for what you want and scream until you get it. It’s the American way.
Let the debates begin.
LSU should be #1
LSU has wins over Florida, Auburn and at Texas. Ohio State has home wins over Cincinnati and Wisconsin. How is Ohio State ranked #1? LSU clearly has the best collection of wins in college football this season. I thought for sure the committee would go #1 LSU vs. #2 Alabama heading into this matchup for the 10th “Game of the Century” in the past 5 years.
Alabama and Clemson should be closer
Alabama and Clemson are the exact same team with the exact same resume. Their best wins are both probably Texas A&M, so I’m not sure what puts Alabama at #3 and Clemson at #5. I would have put Penn State at #3 since they actually have wins against ranked teams with Michigan and Iowa.
No Georgia love
I get it, they lost to South Carolina. That was a bad idea, but they have wins against Notre Dame and Florida. Not many teams in college football have better wins than that. In fact, nobody except for LSU. I would have had Georgia at #4. I love big wins more than I hate bad losses. Call me an optimist.
God bless the committee chair guy
One of my favorite things about the College Football Playoff rankings release show is talking with the chairman of the selection committee. This year it’s Rob Mullens, the athletic director at Oregon. You have no choice but to hate the answers no matter what Rece Davis asks. He said some things tonight that he’s going to contradict next week. That’s how this works. It’s a complete no-win situation because there is so much to look at to make these decisions, but I’m glad they put a face out there so we know who to hate.
You can do it PAC-12
At this time last year, the PAC-12 was already out of the College Football Playoff discussion. If either Oregon or Utah go unbeaten the rest of the way, they’re in the Playoff. They’ll probably get crushed in the semifinals, but they’ll be there dammit.
Rece Davis is fantastic
Who doesn’t like that guy? Everything he does on ESPN is excellent. I’m not sure his family situation, but he has to be the coolest dad of the neighborhood if he has kids. If you’re reading this, Dad, be more like Rece Davis.
Jesse Palmer
I’ll say it. He’s the best looking man in America.
Take THAT Minnesota
Minnesota is 8-0, and their coach just got a brand new contract extension. Congrats to the Gophers, but the committee understands what they have gone up against and put them at 17th. Have they played one team in the top half of college football yet? Minnesota’s best win might be Illinois, and the Gophers trailed in the fourth quarter against South Dakota State, Fresno State and Georgia Southern in the non-conference. I will apologize to Minnesota if they win this weekend against Penn State at home.
Still alive
I’ve got 16 teams still alive for the College Football Playoff. Here they are. The lowest-ranked team in the initial CFP rankings release that still has a chance is Wake Forest at #19.
ACC: Clemson, Wake Forest.
BIG 10: Ohio State, Minnesota, Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin.
BIG 12: Oklahoma, Baylor.
SEC: Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Florida.
PAC-12: Utah, Oregon.
Deceased
With 16 still remaining, that means 114 teams are out. Pour one out for these poor souls.
AAC: Cincinnati, East Carolina, South Florida, Temple, UCF, UConn, Houston, Memphis, Navy, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa.
ACC: North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Boston College, Syracuse, Florida State, Miami, Duke, NC State.
Big 10: Purdue, Rutgers, Nebraska, Northwestern, Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Iowa.
Big 12: Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, West Virginia, .
Conference USA: Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion, Western Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Rice, Southern Mississippi, UAB, UTEP, UTSA.
Independents: Army, Liberty, New Mexico State, UMass, BYU, Notre Dame.
MAC: Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Kent State, Miami (OH), Ohio, Ball State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan.
Mountain West: Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah State, Wyoming, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV.
Pac-12: Arizona, Oregon State, UCLA, Arizona State, California, Stanford, Washington, USC, Colorado, Washington State.
SEC: Ole Miss, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Florida.
Sun Belt: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Troy, Arkansas State, Louisiana, South Alabama, Texas State, UL Monroe.
Tell the Leader of Deceptive Speed what you think of this article or what you think of him as a person. Insults are always welcome. Send your angry words to him on Twitter @ImErikBuchinger or email erik@deceptivespeed.com