Playoff committee sending a message
Well, well. It seems as though Jeff Long might be smarter than we thought.
He hadn’t come off as the sharpest tool in the first two weeks of the college football playoff committee releasing its Top 25 rankings, but the committee chairman and Arkansas athletic director saved a bit of face Tuesday.
The new rankings are out, and a few major jumps and drops occurred, along with this: Apparently, it really does matter who you play over the course of a season.
“We don’t think it’s our job to send messages,” Long said when asked how strongly the committee might consider nonconference schedules when casting votes. “Our rankings will do that.”
Translation: Damn straight. They’re sending a message.
The committee’s Final Four as of today: Mississippi State, Oregon, Florida State and Texas Christian.
The first two out: No. 5 Alabama and No. 6 Arizona State.
Our top six today: Mississippi State, Florida State, Oregon, TCU, Alabama and Arizona State.
Reading between the numbers: A one-loss Oregon jumped an undefeated Florida State into the No. 2 spot, and TCU jumped Southeastern Conference power Alabama and into the semifinals, which tells us the committee is also questioning how good the Seminoles really are and that it agrees with us that TCU’s resume is stronger than that of Nick Saban’s team.
That, and it’s fairly obvious whichever side wins out between Oregon and Arizona State will guarantee a spot in the playoff for the Pac-12.
Should be worried: Baylor. The Bears might have jumped from No. 12 to No. 7 by routing Oklahoma, but they still are three spots behind fellow Big 12 Conference member TCU, a team Baylor beat 61-58 on Oct. 11 in Waco, Texas. Could it have something to do with the fact Baylor’s nonconference schedule strength of Southern Methodist, Northwestern State and Buffalo ranks last nationally? Message sent.
Should be worried, II: Ohio State. The Buckeyes impressed by finally beating someone decent (Michigan State) and rose to No. 8, but there are too many one-loss teams ahead of it to believe Ohio State controls its own destiny to make the playoff without getting major help from others.
What were they smoking in the committee room?: I don’t care that Texas A&M beat Auburn. The Aggies also lost 59-0 to Alabama and survived Louisiana-Monroe 21-16. Texas A&M has as much business being ranked 24th as Justin Bieber did casting that curse on the Steelers.
Thanks for checking in: Notre Dame and Auburn.
Best reaction tweets on this week’s rankings: From @TimSullivan714: Best part of college football playoff is Alabama fans hyperventilating about interim rankings.
From @YahooForde: Oregon over Florida State. Well, now. Pac-12 getting a lot of love in the committee room.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on “Gridlock,” ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.
