Alabama crushed Notre Dame 42-14 in the 2012 BCS Championship Game amid a scintillating atmosphere a year before Clemson outlasted Ohio State in a 40-35 Orange Bowl shootout. Iowa ended the 2009 season ranked 10th in the final poll. The Buckeyes at No. 3 make sense. “But anyone near the top of this poll today should not throw a party and no team should be down in the dumps because they aren’t ranked high”. Baylor is beating their tomato cans by an average of 36 points per game, while the Cougars pound their opponents by 29.
Advertisement
Of course, being atop the first rankings didn’t mean much a year ago. The Wolverines are followed by a trio of SEC teams: Mississippi, Texas A&M and Mississippi State. They are the result of games that have been played thus far. The best thing the committee can do is exactly what they’re doing, and that’s allow bias to influence their decision.
Baylor and TCU, both of the Big 12 Conference, got left out of last season’s playoffs and are facing that possibility again.
Michigan State’s best win is over committee No. 17 Michigan and the Spartans don’t have a loss. Will the Tigers get a chance to grasp it at the end of the season?
Seeing Baylor and TCU locked out of the top slots in the initial rankings sends a real message: strength of schedule matters.
Those Irish were fresh off a close road loss to Jameis Winston and Florida State, an ACC team, and went on to fall in three of their last four regular-season games.
They looked as if they logged a huge nonconference victory against Oregon, but the Ducks have turned out to be in a down year.
The Hawkeyes (8-0, 4-0), are one of three Big Ten Conference teams in the top 10.
Alabama’s conference, the SEC, leads all leagues with six of the Top 25. Notre Dame has a few nice wins against USC and at Temple, but the centerpiece of its resume is a 24-22 loss at Clemson in a monsoon.
The committee was not impressed by Group of Five teams last season. It’s the first week of November, not the first week of December. This isn’t one of the polls, which tends to slot teams and rarely deviate from those relative rankings unless teams lose. Keep in mind that UCLA controls their own destiny in the Pac-12 South Division and if they win out and manage to capture the Pac-12 title, they could have a shot at the Top 4. So, it isn’t time for anyone to jump on the panic button yet.
Advertisement
“It’s exciting to be back as we kick off the second year of the College Football Playoff”, said selection chairman Jeff Long.
