The first College Football Playoff rankings came out last week without much controversy. This thing is getting people angrier and angrier by the week, and we saw some major shakeups. Here are some of the takeaways and what people should be talking about throughout the week.
Right team at the top
LSU jumped into the top spot of the new College Football Playoff rankings. I thought they should have been there last week, but the Tigers have beaten Texas, Florida, Auburn and Alabama. It has to be one of the hardest schedules in the entire country and they are still unbeaten. LSU has the best resume in the sport, and it would be a shock if it is not part of the Playoff.
Minnesota still underseeded
Yes, I’ve been a Minnesota hater all year long, most recently declaring them as the worst 8-0 team in the history of organized athletics. Well now they’re 9-0 and I’m a believer. The Gophers played the #4 team in the country and handled them on Saturday. They had the largest jump into the top 10 in the history of Playoff rankings, but that’s not enough. I would put Minnesota at #4. Among all the top 10 teams, LSU is the only one to beat a team currently ranked in the top 10 aside from Minnesota, which took down the now #9 team Penn State. Give some love for MY Gophers.
How the hell is Alabama #5?
Guess how many top 25 wins Alabama has. Zero. It played one top 25 team at home and lost.
Penn State hate
The Nittany Lions had way too significant of a drop off down to #9. Penn State has two top-25 victories and just one road loss to the #8 team in the country. No idea how that comes out 4 spots lower than Alabama.
The Baylor/Clemson difference
Baylor has two road top-25 wins, while Clemson has zero top-25 victories altogether. Both are undefeated. Yet Clemson (#3) is 10 spots ahead of Baylor (#13). The committee is clearly taking previous seasons into account with this big of a difference. Swap the resumes and Clemson would be in the same spot if not higher.
Still alive
I’ve got 15 teams still alive for the College Football Playoff. The lowest-ranked team in the latest CFP rankings release that still has a chance is Michigan at #15. This is putting into account the absolute craziest of crazy scenarios. A few of these guys (Michigan, Wisconsin, Auburn, Florida) have less than 1% chance to get in but as Lloyd Christmas once said, “You’re tellin’ me there’s a chance.”
ACC: Clemson.
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 15 still remaining, that means 115 teams are out. Pour one out for these poor souls. The newest addition is Wake Forest. RIP, Demon Deacons.
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, Wake Forest.
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.
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