CFP ranking discussion - M stays at #4

Submitted by lhglrkwg on November 13th, 2018 at 7:17 PM

Well, rankings are out and the top 10 held serve.

  1. Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. Notre Dame
  4. Michigan
  5. Georgia
  6. Oklahoma
  7. LSU
  8. Wazzu
  9. West Virginia
  10. Ohio State
  11. UCF
  12. Syracuse
  13. Florida
  14. Penn State
  15. Texas
  16. Iowa State
  17. Kentucky
  18. Washington
  19. Utah
  20. BC
  21. Mississippi State
  22. Northwestern
  23. Utah State
  24. Cincinnati
  25. Boise State

Florida and Kentucky continue to be laughably overrated.

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J.

November 13th, 2018 at 7:40 PM ^

Of course "they" will, whoever "they" are.  They could just decide to re-rank their teams.  There are no rules here.

I don't think the playoff committee is trying to screw Michigan or trying to get two SEC teams in.  I think they're just trying to rank teams 1-25, which isn't all that easy a thing to do.

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J.

November 13th, 2018 at 7:57 PM ^

Georgia?  I don't think that's really in doubt, whether they're #4 or #5 at the moment.  IMO, the teams that control their own destiny entirely are Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia; if any (or 2/3) of those win out, I think they're in.  I don't believe Notre Dame or Michigan can say the same thing, because I think it's possible for either of those two to win out and get left out of the playoff if Georgia beats Alabama.  Only two of Alabama, ND, or Michigan could go in that scenario (assuming Clemson and Georgia win out), and there are arguments for each ending up on the short end of the stick.

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J.

November 13th, 2018 at 10:10 PM ^

Your choices are to leave out a 12-1 Alabama team with a drubbing of a top-10 team in their stadium -- but little else except a massively good eye test; a 12-1 Michigan team with (one hopes) a similar drubbing of a top 10 team in their stadium, plus a conference championship, a home shellacking of a ranked PSU team, a sweep of a (probably still) ranked Northwestern team, and a dominant win at MSU, which may or may not move the needle; or a 12-0 Notre Dame team with wins vs. Michigan at home, vs. Syracuse in Yankee Stadium, and at Northwestern.

There are cases to be made for each of them.  If they will leave out a 13-0 UCF team -- and they will -- they could leave out a 12-0 Notre Dame team.  I'm not saying it's likely, but I am saying that Notre Dame doesn't control its own destiny.  (If you insist upon head-to-head as the end-all, be-all factor, replace Michigan winning out with Oklahoma or OSU or WVU or whomever floats your boat).  Georgia, Alabama, and Clemson -- I think they do.

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mlaw17

November 13th, 2018 at 8:42 PM ^

Seriously, this is the most absurd team ranking. There's not a single subjective (AP/Coaches) or objective (S&P, etc.) ranking system that puts them anywhere near 7.

WTF is the committee thinking/doing? It's not for TV ratings because LSU doesn't have any more ranked games. Also, they're out of the CCG.

Maybe Joel Klatt is right and the committee is protecting Alabama's place in the playoffs. That seems like the only logical reason.

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J.

November 13th, 2018 at 10:36 PM ^

The College Football Playoff committee has ultimate authority.  They answer to nobody.  Why the secrecy?

If they want to have an all-SEC final, because Paul Finebaum said so, why not just issue a Top 10 of Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Kentucky, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Michigan?

Alternatively, even if LSU were 25, what would prevent them from keeping Alabama in the top 4 with a loss?  They can't get fired.  The Cotton Bowl isn't going to refuse to host the game they come up with.  They don't need cover for any decision they make.

There's no conspiracy here.  There's no need for one.  The people on the committee really think LSU is the 7th best team in the country.  Occam's razor, my friend. :)

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umchicago

November 13th, 2018 at 10:31 PM ^

The committee is protecting AL and GA by ranking LSU at 7.  That way if GA beat AL, they can say AL has a similar loss and bigger win than UM.  same would go for GA.  They are definitely creating a way to leave UM out, even if they run the table.

Hopefully, TexAM beats LSU next weekend.  The committee will be out of SEC teams they can throw into the top 10, or even top 15.

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mfan_in_ohio

November 13th, 2018 at 7:41 PM ^

Kentucky is bad.  They are 48th in S&P+, above South Carolina and below Buffalo.  Their best nonconference opponent is Saturday against Middle Tennessee State, who is ranked 74th, 5 spots below Tennessee.  Considering that their last 5 games have included 3 losses (2 to currently unranked teams) and a reffing gift win over Missouri by 1, I wouldn't be surprised if they lose that game.  

Kentucky got absolutely pounded by Tennessee.  Tennessee has now beaten the following teams: 

East Tennessee State, UTEP, Charlotte, Auburn, Kentucky.  The non-conference wins are over an FCS team and two teams ranked lower than Rutgers in S&P+ (yes, there are teams ranked below Rutgers).

Tennessee losses: West Virginia by 26, Florida by 26, Georgia by 26 (impressive consistency here), Alabama by 37, and South Carolina by 3.  

Tennessee is absolute ass, and they beat Kentucky by three scores.  Kentucky is not worthy of a top 20 ranking.

(Note: that last paragraph may be relevant to discussions about Ohio State, but they have 1 loss, not 3, and Purdue is way better than Tennessee.  OSU at #10 is about right.)

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SlickNick

November 13th, 2018 at 7:43 PM ^

Gotta love Mississippi State hanging in there at 6-4 with 3 of their wins coming over power houses  Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana Tech, and the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns! But you know, SEC!

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BLHoke

November 13th, 2018 at 7:46 PM ^

Wait... Didn’t Kentucky win @ UF by 2 scores, beat Miss St more convincingly than the Gators & lose to Georgia by a smaller margin???

Not a whole lotta critical thinking applied after the top 4 I’m guessing.

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M-Dog

November 13th, 2018 at 7:49 PM ^

If two SEC teams get in by Alabama losing and ND gets in because they are undefeated, then three P5 conferences will be shut out of the CPP.

That won't stand.  The whole system will be shit-canned.

 

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B1G Winning

November 13th, 2018 at 7:54 PM ^

Pollack pretending he knows anything about football.

”It’d be like Michigan State/Alabama a few years ago.”

Bullshit, cuck.  He’s snuggled up pretty cozy to Kirby Smart.

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mfan_in_ohio

November 13th, 2018 at 8:28 PM ^

Comparing 2018 Michigan to 2015 MSU is an embarassment. 

In 2015, half of MSU's wins were by 7 points or less, including their win over Rutgers and the dropped punt snap game.  They had a horseshoe up their ass all season, and it finally fell out against Alabama.  They gave up over 20 points 9 times in 14 games, and in their loss during the regular season they gave up 12 points to a 5-7 Nebraska team in the last 2 minutes to lose.

2018 Michigan has scored fewer than 38 points only 3 times in 10 games, and has given up 20 or more points only 3 times, with the largest being the 24 scored by Notre Dame.  Only one win (Northwestern) has been by fewer than 14 points.  Michigan has dominated its schedule starting in the second half of Week 1.  

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