“Baylor did not make the top four despite being No. 2 in both the coaches and Associated Press media polls”.
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Clearly, neither record nor past performance shackled the committee. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter. We want instant gratifications, though. Oklahoma State is undefeated as well and beating both Baylor and TCU would certainly vault them into the CFP conversation.
There are a lot of land mines, on the other hand, among No. 6 Baylor’s remaining games: at Kansas State, vs. Oklahoma, at Oklahoma State, at TCU, vs. Texas. Those teams will get their chances to move up in the coming weeks.
Iowa and Michigan State probably deserved better just based on their relative strength of schedule to this point. The Spartans have five wins over.
Alabama beat Georgia 38-10 in Athens. The committee suspected Florida State wasn’t for real but couldn’t justify dumping a crowned champion riding the nation’s longest winning streak. If that was the one comparable result, then fine, Alabama over Florida is a tough but understandable decision. There’s no way in the world that the Crimson Tide should be ranked in the top four. The Buckeyes have a middle-of-the-pack strength of schedule and have been shaky at times this year, although they have looked strong the past couple of games.
In any case, my guess at the College Football Playoff (which is not at all a guess, because rules) and the New Year’s Six Bowl if the season ended today (which it doesn’t) and these rankings were used (which they will not be). 104! 104! Get outta here, Jeff Long.
Let’s take a look at just how incredible Baylor’s offense has been this season.
Each team has beaten one reasonably competent opponent (Baylor over Texas Tech and Houston at Louisville).
If you’re looking for this season’s Ohio State, which went from 16th in the first poll to making the playoff, Oklahoma could be the team to pick.
Baylor (7-0) is averaging 61 points a game but has one of the weakest schedules in major college football. I think they deserve it. I think you can make an argument for a couple of other teams. They also re-established the fact that they are in love with the SEC.
You know who doesn’t? 500 or better, and has one loss on the year in its season opener against Northwestern. Since then, the Cardinal have wins against then No. 6 USC on the road and No. 18 UCLA at home. It appears the committee is taking a deeper dive into a few schedules while discounting others entirely. The first rankings also had an expected SEC flavor (more on that later) as LSU was #2 and one-loss Alabama was #4.
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The Seminoles, 7-1 and ranked No. 16, visit Death Valley on Saturday, where a Clemson victory would clinch the ACC Atlantic Division and berth in the December 5 ACC Championship game in Charlotte, N.C.
