The expanded playoff has been a great addition to college football but the rankings still need my help.
The College Football Playoff rankings bring out the absolute worst in us. Much like politics, our perspectives and opinions boil down to tribalism. We reject reason and instead gravitate to what seems most beneficial to our feelings and beliefs. I love reason. Practicality is underrated. So allow me to offer a fair assessment of the College Football Playoff rankings.
To be blunt, the committee is doing it wrong. Once again, they are too obsessed with wins and losses and not the actual best teams from a macro view of college football. The conferences are not balanced, so the wins and losses cannot be weighed the same. The SEC is the best conference. If someone feels differently their opinion automatically loses 25% of its value. This is indeed a fact. Georgia and Alabama are better than Penn State and Indiana. They have the wins to prove it. Their losses hold up as well, especially in Georgia’s case. I also think Ole Miss and Tennessee should be ranked above Indiana but not Penn State. Why? Because both Ole Miss and Tennessee have a cringe loss. But Indiana doesn’t even have a loss. That is correct. If my 14 year-old son wrestled his 8 year-old brother 10 times and never lost, that wouldn’t automatically make him a better wrestler than his 14 year-old friend who is 6-4 against his twin brother. Opponent matters. If Indiana is as good as everyone wants us to believe, they will hang with or beat Ohio State on Saturday.
Also, why is everyone all-of-a-sudden a Hoosier? Booger McFarland fights for Indiana like he went there. His argument is the same every week. Indiana beat UCLA by more than Penn State did. Okay, and how did they both fair at home against Washington? Include multiple facts, not just the ones that serve you. Or why under Indiana’s resume do they list Washington as a “Key win” but not under Penn State’s? You can’t cry about Penn State’s schedule (35th) if you ignore Indiana’s (106th) or Notre Dame’s (82nd) or even Texas’ (38th). I’m not even mad about the Penn State shade. They deserve it. When you don’t beat top ten teams for over half a decade you become a victim to your own resume. Just be objective and fair. It’s fair to doubt Penn State, but not if you then ignore the warts of the other teams around them.
Then again, the subjectivity entangled with college football is what makes the sport so mesmerizing in a maddening sort of way. The expanded playoff format extends this madness threefold. More fan bases are involved in November. The season still matters for so many teams. The expanded playoff does a tremendous job of extending the season. Imagine what this year would like under the previous model. Only Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana and the top six SEC teams would be playing meaningful games from a playoff perspective. Now nearly half the games have playoff implications in one way or another. Penn State has essentially had a playoff game every week since losing to Ohio State. How you say? If they win they’re still alive. If they lose, they’re done. The same has been true of Colorado since late September. Notre Dame, too. The list goes on and on. I understand the naysayers in regards to the expanded playoff, but my biggest issue with college football was how early your season could end. And the, “each game won’t matter as much” argument was wrong as well. Did Georgia and Alabama hold back in their classic matchup? How about Oregon and Ohio State? The games still matter just as much, but now there are more big games. It’s been great.
Anyway, back to the rankings… if they really want to level the playing field as much as possible, start punishing teams that schedule more than one out of conference cupcake. Teams like Indiana and Texas can’t control the level of their conference record, but they can control scheduling Western Illinois and Charlotte (Indiana) or UTSA and UL Monroe (Texas). Penn State loves a couple cupcakes to start the season as well. I know these schedules are made years in advance, so announce now that in 2029 or 2030, out of conference schedule will be weighed heavily in the rankings. Force teams to schedule cross-conference matchups. I’d rather have a playoff field of multi-loss teams than one with undefeated bullies.
Because I know you’re dying to know, here is my top 12:
1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Alabama
5. Texas
6. Tennessee
7. Penn State
8. Ole Miss
9. Notre Dame
10. Indiana
11. SMU
12. Miami
*****
Thursday Night Pick; Browns +3.5