College Football Playoff Rankings

[Bigred_inSD]

The playoffs are already being influenced by the all mighty dollar. Not really Dame doesn't deserve their ranking, nor does alabama.

[AgMarauder04]

Neither does Baylor and their 109th ranked schedule.

[VA Husker Fan]

The playoffs are already being influenced by the all mighty dollar. Not really Dame doesn't deserve their ranking, nor does alabama.

So Osborne is corrupt, you say?

[brophog]

I guess I'm not alarmed by the SEC at this point.

 

A&M - Someone has to be ranked down there, and I'm ok with a lot of potential teams (as long as they out score their opponents). I suppose if I were a committee member I'd be asking others who they'd put in instead. Maybe swap order a bit down at the bottom?

 

Alabama is the one everyone really points to. But how do they compare to those that would take their place?

 

Vs Iowa: I don't think highly of Iowa and it's mostly because I've seen them too much. I give no team credit for Northwestern (see above), Pitt was a squeaker throughout, and Wisconsin gave them the game numerous times. Iowa should be fortunate to be ranked as high as they are. Bad offense in a league of bad offense.

 

Vs MSU: Sparty is just flat overrated. Too many close games, and a real lack of easy wins against a schedule that says that should be reversed. They've only left the state one time, and it almost resulted in an upset by Rutgers.

 

Vs TCU: If TCU were to finish undefeated, I say they're top 4. If not, it's hard to argue. Again, too many close games. Down 35-17 at half to a KSU team that is winless in league doesn't help them win votes.

 

Vs Baylor: Finish undefeated and their in. At the moment, though, Baylor has the best argument of these four vs a hypothetical Alabama. Yes they have a backwards schedule, but they really, really beat the crap out of them. A potential one loss Baylor vs one loss Alabama makes for an intriguing argument down the line. I don't know if I can say the same for these other three.

[SandhillshuskerW]

Neither does Baylor and their 109th ranked schedule.

The fact that they have a one loss Alabama team in front of four undefeated teams this year shows that there is starting to be some SEC bias in the playoff committee. I'm not saying that Baylor has a great schedule, but they are undefeated, which is hard to do these days. You also have to remember that strength of schedule is also subjective because they use rankings to determine that. I'm sure I used this argument last year a few times but I'll use it again. If A&M was still in the Big 12, would you be defending the SEC this much? If anyone says there isn't SEC bias, then they just don't want to see it and they never will. I also know that everything will work itself out in the end and there should only be one SEC team in the final rankings.

[mrandyk]

I believe they put thought into their number 1 pick, I was thinking Clemson had a shot at the top spot with their high SOS, but the rest might as well have been drawn out of a hat. Alabama and Notre Dame at 4 and 5? Both have a loss and just one win against the top 25, 19 and 22 respectively. If you're going to pretend to value SOS you have to have an undefeated Michigan State who has a better win than either of those teams ranked higher.

 

This playoff system is crap in my eyes until they expand to at least 8 and automatically include the conference champions. The whole thing is just garbage going down this list. Take a note from literally every other level of college football and put together a real playoff.

[brophog]

I believe they put thought into their number 1 pick, I was thinking Clemson had a shot at the top spot with their high SOS, but the rest might as well have been drawn out of a hat. Alabama and Notre Dame at 4 and 5? Both have a loss and just one win against the top 25, 19 and 22 respectively. If you're going to pretend to value SOS you have to have an undefeated Michigan State who has a better win than either of those teams ranked higher.

 

 

Some computer models don't have MSU high, either, though others have them very high. Sagarin 20, Massey 10. Both have Alabama number 1. But Colley has Alabama 11 and Mich St 1. The discrepancy is in method; Colley is exclusively based on wins (which I disagree with in data modeling) so undefeated teams naturally have higher rankings than 1 loss teams. Performance based methods don't favor MSU due to a poor offense and pedestrian margin of victory.

[Mavric]

1) Clemson
2) Alabama
3) Ohio State
4) Notre Dame
5) Iowa
6) Baylor
7) Stanford
8) Oklahoma State
9) LSU
10) Utah
11) Florida
12) Oklahoma
13) Michigan State
14) Michigan
15) TCU
16) Florida State
17) Mississippi State
18) Northwestern
19) UCLA
20) Navy
21) Memphis
22) Temple
23) North Carolina
24) Houston
25) Wisconsin

[Mavric]

[VA Husker Fan]

Iowa #5. Wow. But what the hey, it'll shake out for them or not.

[brophog]

This week's most overrated team is still Northwestern.

 

I'm sorry, but if you can't out score your FBS opponents then you're not number 18. (They're not really outgaining them, either)

This means the committee is putting all the weight on their record and the early win against Stanford.

 

The top 3 no one will complain too much about, unless you just really don't like the SEC (it should be noted that in the final rankings, on average 3 teams will stick out). People will complain about Notre Dame, though. It's easy to see why, but I don't care about Notre Dame. Their schedule gets relatively weaker compared to the Big Ten and Big 12. And if Stanford were to lose, say to Oregon, ND is out of bullets.

 

9-15 can go in about any order. Personally, I'd put Utah near the bottom of that stack, but that's starting to get picky. All of those teams would need quite a bit of help to make top 4, anyhow.

[brophog]

Iowa #5. Wow. But what the hey, it'll shake out for them or not.

 

The predicted rankings someone posted a few days ago had the same top 8 but Iowa and Okie St swapped, and I think a lot of people would agree with that. Here's a question though: if Iowa is being propped up by Northwestern, and Northwestern by Stanford (I think I've made my case they shouldn't be there otherwise) then do we see a chain reaction if Stanford loses this weekend?

 

I'd like to think the ratings weren't built on toothpicks like this, but the evidence kinda leans that way.

[WoodyHayes1951]

I know there were concerns about Big Ten West and scheduling but if Iowa is at #5 at this point then surely a 9-0 Nebraska team with their schedule could make a push for the top-4.

[brophog]

I know there were concerns about Big Ten West and scheduling but if Iowa is at #5 at this point then surely a 9-0 Nebraska team with their schedule could make a push for the top-4.

Absolutely, as our schedule (weak as it may be) is still superior to theirs and we share their best conference opponents.

[VA Husker Fan]

We didn't go 9-0 though, and Iowa did, so congrats to them for making the top 5.

 

But we're going to F that up for them before anyone has their turkey.