I think my biggest frustration with the committee right now is how they are talking out of both sides of their mouth. As an engineer, I just want the rankings to make sense, even if I don't fully agree with the criteria. Here's what I would love to ask the committee.
1) Why are Baylor and Ohio State currently ranked ahead of Oklahoma State?
Only reasonable answer: something to do with "eye test" (tosu) or how badly you have beaten inferior opponents (bu), certainly not based on resume
2a) Why is Iowa ranked ahead of Baylor?
Only reasonable answer: something to do with Iowa's resume being better than Baylor's (quickly ignore eye test and margins of victory)
2b) What changed in the last week to move Iowa (previously 9, now 5) ahead of Baylor (previously 6, still 6)?
Only reasonable answer: nothing, other than admitting you had overlooked Iowa's resume last week because there were too many undefeated teams still. Perhaps some nonsense about how Wisconsin is now #25 when they weren't last week.
As others have said, the main issue with the committee is that they are not using a clear set of criteria. It's one thing to have an ambiguous set of criteria to select team #68 over #69 for the NCAA tournament or to seed teams. It's quite another to use arbitrary criteria to pick team #4 over team #5 for the college football playoffs.
Rankings should be based on resume to date only...otherwise, what makes each college football game so important? Once the top 4 resumes are determined at the end of the year, then (and only then) should opinions of who is the better team (i.e. the "eye test") be used in an effort to properly seed the 4 playoff teams.
My off-the-cuff rankings, based on resume to date, would be:
1) Clemson
2) Oklahoma State
3) Iowa
4) Ohio State
5) Baylor
6) Notre Dame
7) Alabama
8) LSU
9) Florida
10) TCU
11) Houston
12) Stanford
If I were to seed among these top 4 (which I would NOT do until season's end), I would go with Ohio State #1, Clemson #2, Oklahoma State #3, and Iowa #4.
In reality, if the season ends with 3 P5 undefeated teams (Clemson, Oklahoma State/Baylor, Iowa/Ohio State), and if Alabama and Notre Dame win out, the real debate should be between Alabama and Notre Dame for the 4th spot, although I'm doubtful it would be. Nonetheless, with all of that said, put me in the group that thinks no matter what else happens, if either Baylor or OSU go undefeated, they will be in the playoff.
With all of that said: Go Pokes...beat ISU!
1) Why are Baylor and Ohio State currently ranked ahead of Oklahoma State?
Only reasonable answer: something to do with "eye test" (tosu) or how badly you have beaten inferior opponents (bu), certainly not based on resume
2a) Why is Iowa ranked ahead of Baylor?
Only reasonable answer: something to do with Iowa's resume being better than Baylor's (quickly ignore eye test and margins of victory)
2b) What changed in the last week to move Iowa (previously 9, now 5) ahead of Baylor (previously 6, still 6)?
Only reasonable answer: nothing, other than admitting you had overlooked Iowa's resume last week because there were too many undefeated teams still. Perhaps some nonsense about how Wisconsin is now #25 when they weren't last week.
As others have said, the main issue with the committee is that they are not using a clear set of criteria. It's one thing to have an ambiguous set of criteria to select team #68 over #69 for the NCAA tournament or to seed teams. It's quite another to use arbitrary criteria to pick team #4 over team #5 for the college football playoffs.
Rankings should be based on resume to date only...otherwise, what makes each college football game so important? Once the top 4 resumes are determined at the end of the year, then (and only then) should opinions of who is the better team (i.e. the "eye test") be used in an effort to properly seed the 4 playoff teams.
My off-the-cuff rankings, based on resume to date, would be:
1) Clemson
2) Oklahoma State
3) Iowa
4) Ohio State
5) Baylor
6) Notre Dame
7) Alabama
8) LSU
9) Florida
10) TCU
11) Houston
12) Stanford
If I were to seed among these top 4 (which I would NOT do until season's end), I would go with Ohio State #1, Clemson #2, Oklahoma State #3, and Iowa #4.
In reality, if the season ends with 3 P5 undefeated teams (Clemson, Oklahoma State/Baylor, Iowa/Ohio State), and if Alabama and Notre Dame win out, the real debate should be between Alabama and Notre Dame for the 4th spot, although I'm doubtful it would be. Nonetheless, with all of that said, put me in the group that thinks no matter what else happens, if either Baylor or OSU go undefeated, they will be in the playoff.
With all of that said: Go Pokes...beat ISU!
