College Football Playoff Rankings

[SteelBuckeye]

The Committee's first rankings are out.

1. Clemson 6. Baylor
2. LSU 7. Michigan State
3. Ohio State 8. TCU
4. Alabama 9. Iowa
5. Notre Dame 10. Florida

As I said earlier when the SEC folks were crying about tOSU staying atop the AP Polls, tOSU is NOT ranked #1 by the committee. Their squeaker wins have ensured that they start out ranked at #3. Curious how 'Bama sneaks in at #4 and Notre Dame at #5 when there are undefeated Power 5 Conference teams ahead of them.

I do figure though that the SEC supporters won't have a problem with this. And aside from a mild curiosity, it doesn't faze me a bit since I expected a little of the old SEC bias to sneak in.

 

[DocScott]

Alabama at the 4 spot is bullshit. Baylor, Michigan State, TCU are deserving. Here's to LSU kicking *** on Saturday!

 

[Sarge]

I have OSU at #5 behind LSU, Clemson, Alabama and Baylor. I get that OSU is the defending champion, but that should carry no weight. They have struggled against some really ****** teams.

I imagine they will get in, but I doubt they defend and repeat.

 

[Vader]

None of this matters because most of those teams play each other. LSU and Bama play. OSU plays MSU. Baylor plays TCU. So all the SEC haters can stop bitching because none of the current teams are going to stay in the same position.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Alabama at the 4 spot is bullshit. Baylor, Michigan State, TCU are deserving. Here's to LSU kicking *** on Saturday!

But they're Alabama. You must have missed that point in their favor.

 

[SteelBuckeye]

I have OSU at #5 behind LSU, Clemson, Alabama and Baylor. I get that OSU is the defending champion, but that should carry no weight. They have struggled against some really ****** teams.

I imagine they will get in, but I doubt they defend and repeat.

If struggling against ****** teams is why you have tOSU at 5, you have to drop Bama out of the top 4 ... that loss to Ole Miss is looking pretty horrendous about now.

 

[jitter77]

Im looking forward to Baylor vs TCU that game could be 70-65. I think whoever wins that game will be in or should be in.

I think Baylor has been one of the more consistent teams, but I believe they lost their QB.

I really dont understand ND at #5.
I think you have to include the champs if they remain undefeated.
I hope LSU beats bama to knock bama out.
I think clemson will fall out of the top 4 they always seem to have potential but choke.
Im going with
LSU
OSU/MSU
Baylor
Sleeper pick at #4 Florida

 

[TDX27]

These rankings seem just like they did back in the day. Head scratchers for sure when the system was supposed to take the guessing out of it. No way Alabama and ND deserve to be in the top 5 with one loss - at least not at this point in the season. Maybe they could move up with a couple more wins but not right now.

 

[Sarge]

If struggling against ****** teams is why you have tOSU at 5, you have to drop Bama out of the top 4 ... that loss to Ole Miss is looking pretty horrendous about now.

It is more about what they have done since that loss. OSU continues to struggle. Plus, Ole Miss is ranked. Not a ranked team on that OSU schedule, besides Sparty and Michigan whom they haven't played yet. OSU may very well deserve to get in when it is all said and done. IN MY OPINION, they are #5 right now.

 

[GRBman]

No problem with the rankings at all... If you look at current resumes and who these teams have beaten so far, then it makes sense...and as some have already said, November is going to shake things out...

As for Alabama (and I'm NO fan of the Tide)... They have the home loss to Ole Miss...but they also have blow out wins vs Wisconsin (7-2, neutral site), @ Georgia (5-3) and @ Texas A&M (6-2). They have a couple of narrow wins vs. Arkansas (4-4) and Tennessee (4-4). If Bama wins out, they'll probably end up at #2. Oh, and enough with the "SEC Bias" thing...this committee doesn't care about what conference you're in..they look at the quality of the teams you are playing based on record.

I'm a Gator fan...Florida at #10 is fine with me. The Gators struggled to start the season (um, new coaching staff, new system) but have four quality (.500 or above) wins @Kentucky (4-4), Ole Miss (7-2), Tennessee (4-4) and Georgia (5-3). Schedule gets really soft the next three weeks (Vandy, SC, and cupcakeU) before the Seminoles come to Gainesville. The SECCG would potentially give Florida another very high quality win.

The B1G and BigXii have back-loaded their schedules so they are all going to start knocking each other off now. Ohio State in particular now has their toughest stretch of the season by far. Minnesota won't be easy (especially without JT Barrett) and then they get Sparty and Michigan back-to-back. Buckeyes are in easily if they win-out...same with Michigan State. Still a possibility for both to get in. Baylor, TCU and OkieSt. are all in control of their own destiny, but NONE of them can lose...especially Baylor and Oklahoma State, who play NOBODY out of conference. At least TCU has Minnesota...

Stanford and Notre Dame both control their own destiny...win-out and you're in... They play each other the final week of the regular season (Stanford will still have the Pac12CG).

I'm not sure Clemson will remain #1 even if they win-out. They to be rooting for North Carolina to win the remainder of their games...it would give the Tigers a much-needed quality win to try to hold that top spot.

 

[GRBman]

BTW - I don't really care what Virginia Tech's record is NOW, but that's a quality win for Ohio State. Going on the road in week 1 to Blacksburg is TOUGH. Buckeys get credit for that one as a quality win. Beamer had his team ready to play. Teams get better over the course of the season (Florida) and some teams fall off...VaTech... but we shouldn't penalize Ohio State for VaTech's record now. That's a Power 5 team.

 

[GRBman]

I have OSU at #5 behind LSU, Clemson, Alabama and Baylor. I get that OSU is the defending champion, but that should carry no weight. They have struggled against some really ****** teams.

I imagine they will get in, but I doubt they defend and repeat.

SEC Fan here to defend Ohio State...
Virginia Tech is a quality win... (see above post)
Northern Illinois is 6-3
Western Michigan is 5-3
Indiana is 4-4
Penn State is 7-2

That's 5 quality wins as the committee sees them.

 

[bmoritz]

I have OSU at #5 behind LSU, Clemson, Alabama and Baylor. I get that OSU is the defending champion, but that should carry no weight. They have struggled against some really ****** teams.

I imagine they will get in, but I doubt they defend and repeat.

And yet, they haven't lost a game, which is something Bama cannot claim, so.............

 

[GRBman]

Alabama at the 4 spot is bullshit. Baylor, Michigan State, TCU are deserving. Here's to LSU kicking *** on Saturday!

I'll give you Michigan State...

but who have Baylor and TCU played this year? yes, they are undefeated... WHO HAVE THEY PLAYED?

1 team... TCU played Minnesota...that's it.

 

[Stainless]

My alma mater was semi-competitive against LSU.

 

[Steelerfreak]

Again....this means nothing. With each conference represented here (ND excluded) they will all have their own round robin playoffs against each other. The bottom line is, which power 5 conference is being left out?

Of course I am in total favor of 4 of the 5 power conference favorites lose the title game for chaos to ensue.

Can't wait for 8 team bracket. How long are they tied into 4?

 

[nitsuj1225]

SEC Fan here to defend Ohio State...
Virginia Tech is a quality win... (see above post)
Northern Illinois is 6-3
Western Michigan is 5-3
Indiana is 4-4
Penn State is 7-2

That's 5 quality wins as the committee sees them.

The ones in bold are hardly quality teams though.

 

[GRBman]

The ones in bold are hardly quality teams though.

The COMMITTEE looks at a team's record, not their conference affiliation. Northern Illinois at 6-3 is seen as a quality team.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

TCU has a complaint but Baylor doesn't. Baylor just lost their heisman candidate QB for the season so #6 is totally on faith at this point.

One thing to note about these playoff rankings is that they are not slotted like the regular polls. The regular polls, teams are pretty much locked in and they only move up significantly if teams in front of them lose or if they beat Georgia or Texas A&M. For some reason Georgia and TAM are the nitrous button of the polls.

The playoff rankings are much more fluid and you will see winning teams drop multiple spots. If Baylor's new QB looks shaky, I can see them dropping out of the top 10. But that's not a problem because if they later beat TCU then they will be right back in the top 4 and it won't take weeks of crawling back up like in the normal polls.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Again....this means nothing. With each conference represented here (ND excluded) they will all have their own round robin playoffs against each other. The bottom line is, which power 5 conference is being left out?

Of course I am in total favor of 4 of the 5 power conference favorites lose the title game for chaos to ensue.

Can't wait for 8 team bracket. How long are they tied into 4?

Until the SEC gets left out.

 

[Vader]

Until the SEC gets left out.

Or like Big 10 people bitching last year when they thought OSU was going to get left out? Or like TCU fans when they got left out last year? You act as if SEC fans are the only ones who are bias. They aren't and your bias shows all the time. How can you blame them when you have the same issues.

 

[GRBman]

We are going to get to 8 at some point, just not until the university presidents and conference commissioners see it as necessary. Yeah, Baylor and TCU got left out last year but they could point to strength of schedule to justify that. The moment a team gets left out that is either undefeated or has a solid case, then the pressure will beging to build to go to 8 teams. Media types arguing against going to 8 because it would "ruin the regular season" are just idiots. 8 teams would make the regular season even better. You have a chance to get automatic bids PLUS 3 wild-cards...which blows the door WIDE OPEN for a Mid-Major (group of 5) team to get in...like a Memphis this year.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Or like Big 10 people bitching last year when they thought OSU was going to get left out? Or like TCU fans when they got left out last year? You act as if SEC fans are the only ones who are bias. They aren't and your bias shows all the time. How can you blame them when you have the same issues.

I was only half kidding but it's true. Fans don't count. If fans counted, the SEC would not have the power they do because of the power 5 areas, they have the fewest fans in their footprint, at least they did until their recent expansion.

Auburn getting left out years ago led to the BCS

It is about the noise that the media makes, mostly ESPN. ESPN has a vested interest in the SEC.

Last year Ohio State was nearly left out and ESPN was telling us that was correct. When we had the sham rematch of LSU vs Bama, all fans except SEC fans were upset. ESPN scolded us that we were dumb and had to accept the rematch because they know what is best.

If the SEC gets left out, ESPN will go full retard in their outrage.

And let's face it, there are only 2 conferences with real power, the Big Ten and the SEC. The other 3 conferences are followers. The Big 12 could have been a major conference but they allowed Texas to strong arm them all which led to TAM and Nebraska leaving.

If the Big 12 had real leadership, not only would they have kept TAM and Nebraska, but they would have added teams. They probably could have poached a few teams like Florida State and Miami who would probably rather play in the south than play up in Syracuse and Boston.

The ACC is weak too. They allow Notre Dame to get the benefit of being in the ACC (taking one of their guaranteed bowl spots) but none of the costs (sharing their TV money).

So yes, we are stuck with 4 teams until the SEC or Big 10 get left out. The SEC will get quicker result due to the additional pressure of ESPN going out of their minds.

 

[MTC]

I was only half kidding but it's true. Fans don't count. If fans counted, the SEC would not have the power they do because of the power 5 areas, they have the fewest fans in their footprint, at least they did until their recent expansion.

Auburn getting left out years ago led to the BCS

It is about the noise that the media makes, mostly ESPN. ESPN has a vested interest in the SEC.

Last year Ohio State was nearly left out and ESPN was telling us that was correct. When we had the sham rematch of LSU vs Bama, all fans except SEC fans were upset. ESPN scolded us that we were dumb and had to accept the rematch because they know what is best.

If the SEC gets left out, ESPN will go full retard in their outrage.

And let's face it, there are only 2 conferences with real power, the Big Ten and the SEC. The other 3 conferences are followers. The Big 12 could have been a major conference but they allowed Texas to strong arm them all which led to TAM and Nebraska leaving.

If the Big 12 had real leadership, not only would they have kept TAM and Nebraska, but they would have added teams. They probably could have poached a few teams like Florida State and Miami who would probably rather play in the south than play up in Syracuse and Boston.

The ACC is weak too. They allow Notre Dame to get the benefit of being in the ACC (taking one of their guaranteed bowl spots) but none of the costs (sharing their TV money).

So yes, we are stuck with 4 teams until the SEC or Big 10 get left out. The SEC will get quicker result due to the additional pressure of ESPN going out of their minds.

The SEC and Big Ten are the matchups everyone wants to see. I would still like to see some Pac 12 vs SEC match ups as well. Pac 12 is kinda weak though. USC is no longer a respected program, Oregon is not as good as before, Utah was a fluke

 

[bmoritz]

Or like Big 10 people bitching last year when they thought OSU was going to get left out? Or like TCU fans when they got left out last year? You act as if SEC fans are the only ones who are bias. They aren't and your bias shows all the time. How can you blame them when you have the same issues.

All fans are biased, I agree with you. The problem is, the committee and the media have time and time again proven to have an SEC bias. And yes, people are rightfully sick of it.