College Football has undergone several changes over the past four years so what’s one more?
The rankings, especially early in the season, must be more of a reflection of what we’re seeing and not just win/loss records. Allow me to explain.
My beloved Penn State Nittany Lions are 3-0 and currently ranked number 2 in all the land. Get outta here with that nonsense. Could Penn State actually be the 2nd best team in college football? Absolutely. Have they done anything to prove or earn that ranking? Nope. I’m sorry, but wins over Nevada, FIU and Villanova (at home no less) don’t amount to much in my eyes. If we want college football to be the best it can be, we cannot reward these tactics in the rankings.
Texas, Alabama, Tennessee and Michigan each have one loss on their resume. To the eyes alone, 2-1 is not as good as 3-0. However, each of those losses came at the hands of teams currently ranked inside the top 11 in the nation. The single loss against a ranked opponent should carry more weight than three wins over the garbage Penn State has faced to start the season. I would argue that 0-2 Notre Dame should be ranked higher than Penn State at this point. Why? Because I know for certain Notre Dame is a top 20 team based on what I’ve actually seen on the football field. Dropping the Irish 16 spots is childish stupidity. Don’t look at the records this early in the season. Look at the product. The rankings will work themselves out, but for these first handful of weeks let’s make the rankings make sense. Punish the teams that only play cupcakes. Let’s reward the teams that are actually capturing our interest and putting a solid product on our TVs.
I am in no way criticizing conference schedules because those are out of the schools’ hands, but the out of conference games are entirely up to the schools. Yes, these games are set years in advance, so maybe we need a grace period. Let’s look at Penn State’s non-conference schedule the next few seasons…
2026: Marshall, at Temple, Buffalo
2027: Syracuse, Delaware, Temple
2028: Ball State, at Syracuse, UMass
Give me a break. These wins should not count more than a respectable loss. The playoff field is too big now to be rewarding this kind of scheduling. Teams like Penn State should be punished in the rankings until they prove themselves against legitimate FBS opponents. Teams like the aforementioned Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan and Notre Dame should be rewarded for tougher non-conference schedules even it means an extra loss.
One more thing… Did anyone at Penn State even consider the ramifications of their schedule? Three cupcakes and a bye before welcoming Oregon to Happy Valley is poor strategy. Oregon’s speed is going to be a brutal wake up call for James Franklin’s team after a month of JV opponents. I understand you’re trying to play the rankings game but it won’t make your team better, and it should start having negative ramifications in the early season rankings.
We all have eyes. We can see who the better teams in college football are right now. Penn State has done nothing to earn their ranking. If the aim of the rankings is to best access the order of excellence in college football then garbage wins have to carry less water than respectable losses.
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I can’t criticize the current rankings without providing my own, so here is my top 12:
1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Miami
4. Georgia
5. Texas
6. Oregon
7. Texas A&M
8. Oklahoma
9. Florida State
10. Notre Dame
11. Alabama
12. Iowa State
(Again, these are my top 12 based on what we’ve seen on the field. Would I take Tennessee, Penn State, Michigan or Utah in a game over Iowa State? Yes, but we need to reward what we’ve actually seen. Iowa State has two wins over real football schools. The aforementioned four teams have one combined (Tenn. over Syracuse). Let the rankings work themselves out as the season goes alone. The cream will rise to the top. We don’t need to rush it.)
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Thursday Night Pick; Dolphins +12.5