The latest College Football Playoff rankings are out, and chaos is the new order.
From Notre Dame and Miami, to Alabama and Oklahoma, these rankings are full of storylines, surprises, and “wait, what?” moments.
Buckle up. Here are my takeaways from the third reveal of the College Football Playoff Rankings.
1. What exactly is going on in the CFP committee boardroom?
In a sport where so many are quick to say some games no longer matter, Miami’s win over Notre Dame was supposed to act as a definitive point for ranking one in front of the other. And since I’ve had to school you on this before, let’s be clear: head-to-head is the simplest criteria. It’s where one team beats another team, and therefore is declared the better team.
I wish I did not have to act like a grade school principal here, but this is what you’re going to get when Arkansas athletic director and CFP chairman Hunter Yurachek says this:
“When you look at Miami and Notre Dame and you really compare the losses of those two teams — Miami has lost to two unranked teams. Notre Dame has lost to two teams that are ranked and are top 13. And we really haven’t compared those two teams. They haven’t been in similar comparable pools to date. But Miami is creeping up into that range where they will be compared to Notre Dame if something happens above them.”
Holy smokes, kiddos! We don’t compare two teams separated by just four spots, each with two losses and basically the same conference schedule? Have we forgotten we actually play to win games?
2. Texas A&M is properly ranked, but can the Aggies handle the big stage?
What I question is the Aggies’ poise under pressure against teams better than the Gamecocks, even if the selection committee seems unfazed.
There are three great teams in college football, and the Aggies are one of them. However, after needing to put together a 27-point comeback to beat 3-7 South Carolina, I’m not convinced that Texas A&M is capable of winning a national title.
No doubt, the Aggies are among the most talented teams in the SEC. Quarterback Marcel Reed showed both his Jekyll — throwing for 439 yards and three touchdowns — and Hyde sides — tossing three first-half interceptions.
What I question is the Aggies’ poise under pressure against teams better than the Gamecocks, even if the selection committee seems unfazed.
3. Alabama sort of … kind of … controls its own destiny
Even after losing to Oklahoma, the Crimson Tide still have a clean path to the SEC Championship Game. Like Texas A&M, all the Tide really have to do is win their remaining SEC game to earn entry into the conference title game for the first time in the Kalen DeBoer era.
It gets a little more complicated for Georgia and Ole Miss, though.
The Dawgs could get a chance to repeat as SEC champions if Alabama loses to Auburn or if Texas A&M loses to Texas in the all-important rivalry week. Ole Miss would earn its first chance to win an SEC championship since 1963 with a victory against Mississippi State and losses by Texas A&M at Texas and Alabama at Auburn.
What’s great about this for Georgia and Ole Miss, though, is winning out makes them suddenly popular at-large picks for the selection committee on Selection Sunday. It’d be difficult to deny an 11-1 Georgia and 11-1 Ole Miss team. Meanwhile, Alabama might have to win the SEC Championship Game just to get into the CFP.
4. Oklahoma makes five for the SEC
The Sooners could end up with the most compelling résumé among 10-win teams, boasting top-25 victories over Michigan, Tennessee, Alabama, and Missouri. But a loss to Mizzou or LSU the following week would almost certainly relegate them to the same circle of hell Texas already inhabits: the dreaded “Almost There.”
As a three-loss team, the Longhorns would need to lean on their head-to-head victory against Oklahoma. But OU would have wins on the road against Tennessee and Alabama, while the Longhorns have just one top 25 win — Oklahoma — to show after being the preseason No. 1 team in the nation.
Even without Texas — or Vanderbilt or Tennessee or Missouri — that still makes five SEC teams ranked in the selection committee’s top 10: No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Georgia, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 10 Alabama.
If those rankings hold — and they very well could — the ACC and Big 12 could be looking at a playoff where just one of their teams gets in, while the Big Ten gets three and Notre Dame eats up an at-large. That doesn’t seem fair, and that’s because it isn’t.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him @RJ_Young.
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