College Football Playoff Rankings: The Stage is Set
The College Football Playoff Committee released its official rankings on Tuesday night. The playoff bracket and rankings changed slightly. The final bracket and rankings will come this week.
Each week, the narrative changes regarding the College Football Playoff. Full Press Media has reported that this is the made-for-TV playoff, not the college football one. Things are changing because the question is now, what does the committee do with these championship games?
There was so much chaos this past Saturday that Indiana's loss to Ohio St. does not matter. Ohio St.’s loss to Michigan will prevent them from making it to the home field in the first round. What about the teams with three losses? Do style points matter? What about strength of schedule, how you played all season?
If you were a team on the bubble and inside the Top 10, you would be safe and play in the playoffs. The top four seeds and the 12th seed are still up for grabs. But the question will be how will the losers fair in these games especially teams like SMU and Texas?
As Rowdy Roddy Piper used to say, “Just When You Think You Have All Answers, I Change the Question.” That is what the College Football Playoff Committee, aka ESPN, did on Tuesday night.
College Football Playoff Rankings, Dec. 3
Oregon (12-0) | Projected No. 1 seed
Texas (11-1) | Projected No. 2 seed
Penn State (11-1) | Projected No. 5 seed
Notre Dame (11-1) | Projected No. 6 seed
Georgia (10-2) | Projected No. 7 seed
Ohio State (10-2) | Projected No. 8 seed
Tennessee (10-2) | Projected No. 9 seed
SMU (11-1) | Projected No. 3 seed
Indiana (11-1) | Projected No. 10 seed
Boise State (11-1) | Projected No. 4 seed
Alabama (9-3) | Projected No. 11 seed
Miami (10-2)
Ole Miss (9-3)
South Carolina (9-3)
Arizona State (10-2) | Projected No. 12 seed
Iowa State (10-2)
Clemson (9-3)
BYU (10-2)
Missouri (9-3)
UNLV (10-2)
Illinois (9-3)
Syracuse (9-3)
Colorado (9-3)
Army West Point (10-1)
Memphis (10-2)
If we are putting it mildly, it's conference championship weekend, and the Big 12 continues to be disrespected. Arizona State should not be ranked behind teams with three losses because the Sun Devils are playing for a conference title. Again, their ranking does not matter because they can go past these teams with a win. It's the same with Iowa State.
The narrative of a Power 4 school being left out is gone. The question is, would UNLV if they were to win, get in over an Army team? That is the Group of 5 debate, but the Mountain West could get two teams in.
Could the ACC get two teams in if Clemson beats SMU? We know the SEC and Big Ten will have multiple teams in, and Notre Dame already punched its ticket to the playoff.
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Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban said it best: it should be the 12 best teams, and they want conference championships to matter, but right now, they don’t. You can make a case that some three-loss SEC teams are better than some Big Ten teams.
However, many of the teams on the outside or on the bubble have flaws, and those flows have been exposed. Now, these teams need help. Many are complaining that Alabama is at 11 when, realistically, they could be out of this thing entirely if chaos happens.
For the most part, this thing is set.