Category: Columnists

5 Biggest Off-Field Things That Matter: College Football Cavalcade

If you thought the 2020 offseason was wild, welcome to 2021. Here are five key things happening that will shape your college football life.

If you thought the 2020 offseason was wild, wait until you get a load of your 2021. Here are five key off-field things happening that will shape your college football life.

College Football Cavalcade: 5 Biggest Off-Field Things That Matter

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …

This is the one column that doesn’t return just about everyone on both sides of the ball.

If you thought the 2020 offseason was weird, just you wait for what you’re about to get in 2021.

Will we get spring ball again? Will we be able to plan on fans being in the stands? How will the protocols continue to work?

And – oh yeah – sorry to have to go here, but when it comes to mass gatherings, no one wants to spend the next seven months having to care about the words “soft target” unless it’s referencing some mediocre receiver.

This will likely be done again later on this offseason – yeah, that whole Name Image and Likeness thing just got conveniently blown off – but for now, here are 5 big off-field things this offseason that matter.

5. Oh you COVID, you …

You best believe that we’re getting a 2021 college football season that’s going to be much better than the 2020 version.

The offseason, though …

If college football was able to play last year when everyone was guessing about the right and wrong ways to do this, there’s no chance we’re not getting at least what we had last season …

But with fans.

It was ugly at times, it was unscrupulous, it was occasionally unseemly, and it was all totally hypocritical considering the bullmess that college administrator types and athletic directors pushed, but we got our college football.

Now all these colleges want to start making money again, and that means they’re going to want fans giving them their money. Oh yeah, and they’re also going to want regular schedules and contracted games they can rely on so they can start collecting that ticket revenue as soon as humanly possible.

The desperation for some semblance of normalcy is everything for college football programs, especially for coaches who live on routine, predictability, and … The Process. Unfortunately, it’s doubtful that everything snaps back right away.

Coaches want their spring ball back, they want to know what and who they’re dealing with, and they want to worry about football and not testing, protocols, and distancing. However, they might still have to still live with all of that and more for a little while longer.

Outside of a new sheriff in town up at the very top, it’s not like anything has changed or improved COVID-wise over the last few months. Maybe the vaccinations will trickle down to the fittest people in our country – 18-to-23-year-old athletes – at some point this summer, but will it happen by March?

Nah, but that doesn’t mean teams aren’t going to be practicing. It just might not be like normal again quite yet.

On the plus side, the predictions for a season aren’t dire, unlike they were last season. However, expect spring football to be weird to non-existent depending on the school.

And with that …

NEXT: Schedules are likely going to return to near-normal

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Why Is It SO Hard For Tennessee To Find A Head Coach, 5 Candidate Ideas: Daily Cavalcade

Why is it so hard for Tennessee to find a superstar head coach? Here’s part of the reason why, along with 5 candidate ideas.

Why is it so hard for Tennessee to find a superstar head coach? Here’s part of the reason why, along with 5 candidate ideas.

College Football Daily Cavalcade: Tennessee head coaching search

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …

Over the last four years, Kentucky has won ten more games than my should-be-amazing SEC East football program.

You used to be beautiful, Tennessee.

Tennessee should be a superpower.

It has the fan base, the facilities, and the will to do whatever it takes to become a yearly player in the College Football Playoff chase. That’s a good thing.

It also has the high expectations of recent success – even if it’s a few decades ago. That’s a bad thing.

No one cares about what happened eight minutes ago, much less back in 1998, but Tennessee is one of the handful of programs to win a national title in the BCS/College Football Playoff era.

Really, you can do this. Name the schools with a national championship over the last 23 years.

Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Florida State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Auburn, Florida, Texas, USC, Miami …

Tennessee.

It’s one of those programs that should be amazing, but just can’t quite get that dog to hunt.

It doesn’t have a problem recruiting.

It was eighth in the 2020 Rivals recruiting rankings. It was 13th in 2019, 20th in 2018 – there was a coaching issue then – 15th in 2017, 15th, in 2016, and 5th in 2015 and 2014. No, the recruiting isn’t at Alabama’s level, but it’s close enough to the pin.

It doesn’t have a problem with money, attendance, or … anything.

It should be an A-list job with A-list candidates lining up to take it, but it’s just not, and why?

Because of everything just listed.

Tennessee is supposed to win SEC and national championships, but so is Alabama. So is Florida. So are Georgia, LSU, Auburn and Texas A&M – that’s life in the SEC.

No, Tennessee isn’t in the West, but Alabama is its annual rivalry game from the other division, and that’s sort of a problem having lost 12 in a row in the series and 13 of the last 14.

The Vols have lost four in a row against Florida and 15 of the last 16, and they’ve dropped four in a row to Georgia and nine of the last 11.

To put this into perspective, since 2013, Tennessee owns one more win over Georgia and Florida than Vanderbilt has.

So all Tennessee needs to do is 1) find a coach who can recruit in the top ten every year, 2) beat Alabama, Florida and Georgia, and 3) do it all with the expectations of a base that knows and feels this is a powder keg program ready to blow up. Oh yeah, and 4) at least get to the SEC Championship on a regular basis, even if that hasn’t happened since 2007 and the last conference title was in …

1998.

If that wasn’t enough, there’s that little concern about possible NCAA sanctions coming.

Two words: Boo. Hoo.

Sanctions, schmanctions. Bending recruiting rules in the SEC? Really? I have to explain how we pay the bills around here?

Start winning again, Tennessee.

Tennessee is going to require a certain type of coach who wants all of those challenges. It’s going to require a superstar name or a top prospect who can handle all of the expectations, all of the pressure, and all of the possibilities.

Any coach worth his salt wants this gig, but Tennessee has a really, really, really hard time finding that guy.

So with that in mind, here are my five suggestions ranging from the stupid-dreamy to the realistically obvious – and none of them are interim head man Kevin Steele. And no, outside of one guy who’ll probably get the job, I’m not interested in simply recycling coaches who might have had an SEC job at some point.

NEXT: 5 Candidate Ideas For The Tennessee Head Coaching Job

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College Football Awards 2020: Who Won? Who Were The Best Players?

Who won all of the top college football awards on the big night to honor the best and the brightest from the 2020 season? 

Who won all of the top college football awards on the big night to honor the best and the brightest from the 2020 season? 

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

2020 Home Depot College Football Awards

Bednarik Award

Who were the best defensive players in college football?

And The Winner Is …

LB Zaven Collins, Tulsa

2020 Bednarik Award Finalists

LB Zaven Collins, Tulsa
CB Patrick Surtain, Alabama
LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame

Fiu’s Ballot: 1) Collins, 2) Owusu-Koramoah, 3) Surtain

Best Player Not On Ballot: DE Tarron Jackson, Coastal Carolina

CFN’s Five Best Defensive Players of 2020

1. LB Zaven Collins, Tulsa
2. LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame
3. DE Tarron Jackson, Coastal Carolina
4. LB Joseph Ossai, Texas
5. CB Patrick Surtain, Alabama

Bednarik | Biletnikoff | Bronko Nagurski | Butkus
Davey O’Brien | Doak Walker | Thorpe
John Mackey | Lou Groza | Outland | Ray Guy
Heisman  | Maxwell | Walter Camp

NEXT: Biletnikoff Award, Nation’s Top Wide Receiver

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Michigan State lands grad transfer QB Anthony Russo from Temple

Russo, who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, was a three-year starter at Temple, appearing in 26 games.

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Most of the attention on Wednesday centered around the early signing period opening for the class of 2021 recruits, but there was another big football-related announcement for Michigan State — a new graduate transfer quarterback.

Anthony Russo, a grad transfer quarterback from Temple, announced on Wednesday that he will be coming to MSU next season. Chris Solari of The Detroit Free Press reported that he has one year of eligibility remaining and will be immediately eligible to play next season.

Russo, who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, was a three-year starter at Temple, appearing in 26 games. He has a completion percentage of 59.6%, 6,287 passing yards, 44 passing touchdowns and 32 interceptions in his career. Russo also has seven career rushing touchdowns.

This past season, Russo started the first three games of the season but then missed the next two because of a shoulder injury and the final two games after being placed on the COVID-19 protocol list.

Russo will join an interesting competition next spring for the starting quarterback position. As of right now, that will include junior Rocky Lombardi, redshirt freshman Payton Thorne, junior Theo Day, freshman Noah Kim and incoming freshman Hamp Fay — who will be enrolling early this spring.

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College Football Playoff Rankings: 10 Quick Takes From The Penultimate Top 25

10 quick reactions and what we learned from the from the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings of 2020d

10 quick reactions and what we learned from the from the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings of 2020.  

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– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

10. Yeah, it really is all about the top four in the College Football Playoff, and potentially the top 12 for the bigger bowls, but how much fun is this if you’re San Jose State?

Out of all the bad things going on in the world, and after all the down years by the big names, one of the toughest of all programs to win at is unbeaten, in the Mountain West Championship, and in the College Football Playoff Top 25 at No. 24.

9. The College Football Playoff committee sort of put itself in a bind when it comes to the Group of Five’s New Year’s Six spot.

If it really believes that Louisiana is 19 and Tulsa is 23, if Coastal Carolina destroys the Ragin’ Cajuns in the Sun Belt Championship, and Cincinnati struggles in any way in the AAC title game against the Golden Hurricane, the 11 Chanticleers need to move ahead of the 9 Bearcats, otherwise.

8. It doesn’t really matter, but Georgia probably deserves a little more love than the 8. There might not be an amazing win, but its losses were to Alabama and Florida away from home, JT Daniels wasn’t the starting quarterback yet, six of the last seven games have been away from Athens, and the team is playing really, really well.

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7. I don’t think Cincinnati or Coastal Carolina or any Group of Five team deserves to be anywhere near the College Football Playoff – playing one good game isn’t the same as playing a weekly Power Five schedule – but it still totally and completely stinks that there’s NOTHING any of these teams can do to be in the top four.

I’m done honking about Iowa State – it’s playing really well – but if you’re unbeaten Coastal Carolina, and you’re the only team to beat the team – Louisiana – that beat the CFP 6 Cyclones in their house, and you’re ranked 12, you’re rightly ticked.

6. Very, very quietly, Indiana might be cemented into a New Year’s Six game. Oklahoma or Iowa State will lose in the Big 12 Championship, the committee almost certainly won’t put two Group of Five programs – Coastal Carolina and Cincinnati – in, and Northwestern at 14 likely won’t beat Ohio State to take a second spot for the Big Ten.

5. Relax when it comes to USC at 13. It only moved up two spots, and no, there’s no reason to give 5-0 Ohio State any more credit at No. 4 than the 5-0 Trojans are receiving, but remember – it’s all about winning the Power Five conference championships. Also, what do we know about the College Football Playoff committee? It loves bright shiny objects. What does that mean?

USC – when it comes to the committee – is probably coming into the Pac-12 Championship down 30. It has to annihilate the Ducks. Which leads to …

4. Enough. We have GOT to eliminate the concept of the eye test. Anyone who uses those words when analyzing college football teams can’t properly verbalize why some team is ranked as high as it is.

Analysts say “eye test” as a crutch because it doesn’t mean anything. The eye test is almost always an excuse for a bad resumé.

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3. Freaking out that your team is close to the top four and not in? Let me try to help. In the first seven years of the College Football Playoff rankings, only one time – 2016 with Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Washington – were the top four in the penultimate rankings. In five of the other six years, a team ranked 5th-8th got in.

Auburn in 2017 was the only No. 2 from the penultimate rankings to get knocked out, and TCU in 2014 – despite obliterating Iowa State – was the only No. 3 to get shoved aside.

2. Why are we just assuming Texas A&M is only the fifth-best team?

Yeah, Clemson didn’t have Trevor Lawrence and it still almost beat Notre Dame on the road – there’s no real argument against the Tigers – but Texas A&M lost a game on the road to Alabama. That’s it.

The argument could be made that Clemson doesn’t have a win as good as A&M’s win over Florida – but this isn’t an anti-Clemson argument. A&M getting trucked by Bama 52-24, and no one wanting to see a rematch in the College Football Playoff, isn’t a reason to potentially leave it out of the top four.

1. This is actually going to be a lot more boring than we’re making it out to be.

Ohio State almost certainly isn’t losing to Northwestern. The committee has been hell-bent on making sure this team is in, and that’s not about to change.
Alabama is in no matter what. Florida could dominate in a win and the Crimson Tide would still have one of the four best resumés.

The ACC Championship winner is in, and if it’s Clemson by 10ish or fewer, there’s no real argument and there we go.

Alabama vs. Notre Dame in the Sugar, and Clemson vs. Ohio State in the Rose.

Any variance on that gets Texas A&M in ahead of a two-loss Big 12 champ, and while the idea of USC would be fun … nah. Too big a leap at this point.

But that’s why they play the games – and wait until Sunday for the rankings that matter.

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Florida Loses To LSU: What Does It Mean For The College Football Playoff? Who’s The Big Winner?

LSU beat Florida 37-34 in one of the biggest shockers of 2020. What does it all mean for the College Football Playoff? Who’s the big winner?

LSU beat Florida 37-34 in one of the biggest shockers of the season. What does it all mean for the College Football Playoff? Who’s the big winner?

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– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

LSU hit its kick, Florida didn’t, and it turned into a shocking 37-34 Tiger win to throw the College Football Playoff situation into a tailspin.

So …

What Does It All Mean For Florida?

Florida is out of the College Football Playoff.

Maybe.

There might be a way the Gators could slide on into the CFP if they annihilate Alabama in the SEC Championship, and if Notre Dame blows out Clemson in the ACC Championship and/or Northwestern shocks Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship.

No, Cincinnati isn’t getting in, and no, a two-loss Big 12 champion wouldn’t get in over a two-loss Florida that beats the one of ones in Alabama.

The Gators blew it. All they had to do was win this against a mediocre-to-bad LSU, and the CFP was there for the taking against Bama. That’s all but gone.

The big winner is …

The ACC.

Florida’s loss all but locks Notre Dame into the College Football Playoff no matter what – check that; barring some 41-3ish wipeout, and then things get crazy – and it allows for Clemson to possibly sneak in at the 4 seed if it loses to the Irish in a replica of the earlier season classic.

Notre Dame’s big fear was a loss to Clemson, an Ohio State win, and a Florida upset over Alabama. If that happened, the Irish would’ve almost certainly have been out. That’s off the table now.

– Week 15 Scoreboard, Results, Predictions

The other big winner is …

Texas A&M.

The Aggies need to clear up the traffic ahead of them, and that included Florida – even though the Gators, because they controlled their own destiny, were a spot lower in the College Football Playoff rankings.

They still have that win over Florida, so now they need 1) Florida to beat Alabama in a close game – making that win over the Gators to be that much stronger, and/or 2) Notre Dame to obliterate Clemson – knocking out a two-loss Tiger team – and/or 3) a Northwestern win over Ohio State.

It’s not an easy path, but the Florida loss takes away the likelihood of it being Alabama, Clemson, Florida, and Ohio State or Notre Dame if the Gators beat Bama.

Besides the ACC and Texas A&M, the other big winner is …

USC.

No, it’s not going to happen, but with the big comeback win over UCLA, the Trojans are still somewhat alive in the College Football Playoff hunt.

It would take a whole lot of minor miracles, and a philosophical debate in the CFP committee room, but there still might be some love and respect thrown USC’s way if Alabama, Notre Dame and Ohio State win to make it possible for four unbeaten Power Five champs to be in.

Florida losing makes it easy to move USC up from 15 to around 9ish – at least there will be some movement.

Besides Florida, the big loser is …

The SEC.

The conference had a chance of getting two teams into the College Football Playoff, but now it’ll likely be just one.

More than that, though, the SEC Championship becomes a bit of an exhibition. Alabama is in the College Football Playoff as long as it doesn’t get destroyed, and Florida winning probably doesn’t matter.

What does it all mean for the College Football Playoff?

Actually … nothing.

The original projection was that Florida was going to lose to Alabama and go to the Orange Bowl. The bigger change is that it’s going to be against North Carolina and not Miami playing in Hard Rock Stadium.

If the Gators don’t go to the Orange, they’re still going to end up in a New Year’s Six game, and so will Georgia and Texas A&M. All three were originally likely to be in, anyway.

So after all of that, the original call still stands. Assume it’s Alabama vs. Notre Dame in the Sugar, and Ohio State and Clemson in the Rose.

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College Football Playoff Rankings Reactions: 5 Things We Learned, The Deep, Deep, DEEP Sleeper Is …

Five reactions and what we learned from the from the third College Football Playoff rankings of 2020. Who’s the big sleeper in this?

Five reactions and what we learned from the from the second College Football Playoff rankings of 2020.  

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– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– 15 Best Wins So Far
– Ohio State is in the Top 4
– New Year’s Six Situation
– What it all really means

5. Rapid-Fire First Reaction To Latest College Football Playoff Rankings

How is Indiana still just 12? The Hoosier were 12th last week, rocked a then-CFP-ranked Wisconsin in Madison, and the only loss is to Ohio State. Meanwhile, Oklahoma lost to a bad Kansas State team – okay so it was different then with a healthy starting QB – at home, and is 7-2 and stayed at 11.

The College Football Playoff committee really is going with the recency thing. Iowa State lost 31-14 to Louisiana and dropped the date to an Oklahoma State team that has done nothing since. However, the team is playing better, and blowing out West Virginia is better than it looks. On the full resumé, Iowa State doesn’t deserve the 7, but …

I get the anti-Georgia argument – there just aren’t a whole lot of good wins – but the No. 9 Bulldogs’ two losses are to Alabama and Florida, and now they’re better with JT Daniels at quarterback, Iowa State’s two losses are to Louisiana and Oklahoma State.

Northwestern wasn’t punished enough for that loss to Michigan State. The Cats are hanging in there at 14, even though the Spartans got destroyed by Ohio State last week.

The one under-the-radar that really matters … Iowa at 16 up from 19. Now, if it beats Wisconsin this week, a game against Ohio State takes on a bigger significance. If the Buckeyes aren’t playing in the Big Ten Championship, and they beat a 15ish-ranked Iowa, that’s about the same rankings-wise as beating Northwestern in the title game.

Coastal Carolina and BYU swapped spots. The Chanticleers are 13 and Cougars are 18. Now, if CCU goes unbeaten and wins the Sun Belt title, it’s right on the edge of New Year’s Six consideration no matter what Cincinnati does.

– 15 Best Wins So Far
– Ohio State is in the Top 4
– New Year’s Six Situation
– What it all really means

NEXT: The deep, deep, DEEP sleeper now is …

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College Football Cavalcade: Really, What If Florida Wins The SEC Championship?

What I think, know and believe about the college football world. What happens if Florida wins the SEC? All in the College Football Cavalcade

What I think, know and believe about the college football world. What happens if Florida wins the SEC Championship and Notre Dame wins the ACC title? All in the College Football Cavalcade.

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Sorry if this column sucks, it’s not my fault …

But it does apologize for not using better judgement after being filmed eating sushi off a nude model – the cultured culinary art of Nyotaimori – and it further apologizes for the horrible incident with the wasabi.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– Check out all the past Cavalcades

– What Happens If Florida Wins?
– I Think, I Know, I Believe
– Picks of the Century

I promise, there’s a non-sucky payoff here …

The whole point of college football being played is to have fun, and we’ve had none of that – at least not guilt-free.

Now that we’re just over a month away from – shockingly – getting through this season and moving on to 2021, it’s okay to say it.

This season sucks.

The Big Ten sucks.

Most of the SEC teams suck.

The Pac-12 sucks – but the games don’t.

The Big 12 sucks. (two words: Sun Belt)

The only reason the ACC doesn’t suck – one word: Liberty – is because Notre Dame is in it and doesn’t suck.

Penn State sucks. Michigan sucks. LSU sucks. Oregon sucks. Florida State sucks. Wisconsin sucks – at least the offensive side.

And almost all of the big games have sucked, too.

Alabama at LSU should’ve stopped the sports world in its tracks.

Sucked.

Florida at Tennessee should’ve been a breakthrough moment for the Volunteer program.

Sucked.

Notre Dame vs. Clemson didn’t suck, and DJ Uiagalelei certainly didn’t suck, but it sort of sucked that Trevor Lawrence wasn’t playing.

Oklahoma vs. Texas didn’t suck. Florida vs. Georgia sucked.

Penn State at Michigan didn’t totally suck, but it was sad.

Indiana at Ohio State didn’t suck, but Michigan at Ohio State? Oh, that’s going to triple-suck, and it’ll suck even more if Michigan is unable to go.

It sucks that the Pac-12 has been the most entertaining conference this year by a mile, and no one seems to know the games were played – oh, wait, that has nothing to do with 2020.

It sucks that we have to go through the motions of pretending that Group of Five programs might actually be considered for the College Football Playoff, and it sucks that we all have to be jerkweeds by always pointing out that there’s a difference between playing a schedule full of almost all Power Five programs and a schedule with no games against the big boys.

That last paragraph sucked.

It sucks that we’ll have a Rose Bowl with no fans – if it’s even played in Pasadena – a bowl season with 11 games having to tap out, and a College Football Playoff with just close family members in attendance.

And it sucks that after all of the craziness, all the cancelations, all the disruptions and all the hoops everyone had to jump through to make this season happen, what do we have?

Clemson will win the ACC, Alabama will win the SEC, Ohio State will win the Big Ten, Oklahoma will win the Big 12, and USC will win the Pac-12.

It sucks that we went though all of this only to have a group of Power Five champions that your cousin – “from Bahhh-stin” – could’ve come up with back in March.

Wait … that actually doesn’t suck.

You know what sucks? Cinderella upsets in March Madness. Show me some Central Grand Valley State win in the first round and I’ll show you an 82-48 Duke win in the second round.

Show me a college football outlier in the College Football Playoff mix, and I’ll show you Alabama 38-0 over Michigan State and Alabama 24-7 over Washington.

But all this is about to change.

You, the college football fan, for all of your sins and for all of your infinite patience, have the potential to get the mother of all College Football Playoff debates.

Throw in that America is about to wake up to a whale of a Heisman race – I’ll dive into that next week – and get ready for what’s coming, starting with this one big question.

No, really. What happens if Florida wins the SEC Championship and Notre Dame takes down the ACC?

What happens if Florida beats Bama in a classic, Ohio State wins, and Clemson beats Notre Dame? Only four of these five kids can get on the ride.

I promise, the rest of your 2020 college football season isn’t going to suck.

Let’s go …

– What Happens If Florida Wins?
– I Think, I Know, I Believe
– Picks of the Century

NEXT: What really happens if Florida wins the SEC Championship?

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College Football Playoff Rankings Reactions: 5 Things We Learned, Best Wins, New Year’s Six Situation

Five reactions and what we learned from the from the second College Football Playoff rankings of 2020.  

Five reactions and what we learned from the from the second College Football Playoff rankings of 2020.  

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– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– 15 Best Wins So Far
– Ohio State is in the Top 4
– New Year’s Six Situation
– What it all really means

5. Rapid-Fire First Reaction To Latest College Football Playoff Rankings

The College Football Playoff committee still can’t get Louisiana right. As predicted, the Ragin’ Cajuns received a token ranking of 25 after being left out last week, but there’s still a gigantic gap between them at the bottom, and where they’re supposed to be ahead of Iowa State. The Cyclones are at 9, even though they have two losses, one of them is to Louisiana, and Coastal Carolina (18) is unbeaten and beat Louisiana.

Beating Texas just isn’t that big a deal. It shouldn’t have been enough to move the Cyclones from 13 to 9.

The committee has always had a blind spot to tough losses. Auburn was ranked last week, lost to the-be-all-end-all No. 1 Alabama team, and now it’s out – like it’s Auburn’s fault that it played Bama.

So, if beating Texas on a last second missed field goal was SO good that it earned Iowa State a move up from 13 to 9, then why move Texas from 17 to out of this thing entirely? How much worse is Texas now than it was last week before it lost a nail-biter to the supposed No. 9 team?

And THAT’S the problem with Ohio State being No. 4. You can’t say that you think Ohio State is the fourth-best team in the country – despite doing NOTHING to earn that distinction – and then drop a team like Auburn from 23 to out of this, and Texas from 17 to out, because of a loss to a top team by the committee’s own rankings.

Ohio State absolutely could be one of the four-best teams – and if the committee really believes that, fine. But then apply the same measure to everyone else, and don’t punish teams just because they lost to someone fantastic.

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Wisconsin being 16 is an absolute gift. Looking great by beating Illinois and Michigan shouldn’t be enough to earn a spot this good.

The committee is supposed to take injuries into account. It really still thinks Indiana is the 12th-best team in college football without Michael Penix?

The eye test desperately has to be eliminated from the College Football Playoff process. Now.

– 15 Best Wins So Far
– Ohio State is in the Top 4
– New Year’s Six Situation
– What it all really means

NEXT: Technically, the 15 best wins of 2020 are …

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College Football Cavalcade: The Ohio State College Football Playoff Problem

What I think, know and believe about the college football world, and the Ohio State playoff problem. All in the College Football Cavalcade.

What I think, know and believe about the college football world, the Ohio State College Football Playoff problem, getting rid of coaching problems, and the legitimacy of the season, all in the latest College Football Cavalcade.

Sorry if this column sucks, it’s not my fault …

If I miss one more column, I won’t be eligible for the Big Ten Championship. You’d get Northwestern vs. a Michael Penix-less Indiana for your 2020 title, and then you’d be sad.

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– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– Check out all the past Cavalcades

– Fiiiiine, put Ohio State in
– I Think, I Know, I Believe
– 5 Footballey Opinions
– Sure-Thing Picks of the Century

Wait … so giving up 491 passing yards and five touchdowns against the one decent team you played is a bad thing?

Let’s say Purdue had the best offense in the Big Ten with a great group of receivers and a future NFL starting quarterback.

Not crazy, right?

Let’s say the Boilermakers also had the league’s worst pass defense by a mile – giving up 31 more yards per game than the second-worst Rutgers pass D.

Also, let’s say they’re among the worst in the country at generating tackles for loss, allow the second-most sacks in the conference, only hit 2-of-5 field goals, and was last in the league in punting – to be fair, though, net punting is a misleading stat.

What if I told you that Purdue was 4-0, but three of its wins came against teams that aren’t going to finish with a winning record and have gone a combined 4-13 overall so far? The other win was against Indiana by seven in a wild shootout – it was a win, but the defense totally melted down and the great quarterback was outplayed, giving up three interceptions.

Also, there are two more games remaining against teams that won’t finish with a winning record, and if Purdue can’t play both of them, it won’t be able to play in the Big Ten Championship.

Would Purdue be considered an automatic pick for the top five in the latest College Football Playoff rankings? No, but top ten yes and probably the top eight.

If Purdue finished 5-0 and didn’t win the Big Ten Championship – much less if it went 4-0 – and considering its resumé with just one okay-not-great win, in a million, gajillion, bazillion years would it be considered for the College Football Playoff?

HAY-ELL no.

Now take all of that and replace Purdue with the words Ohio State, and ask yourself why America is so willing to give a free College Football Playoff pass to the Buckeyes.

Has the program earned the benefit of the College Football Playoff doubt? Not really, at least compared to Clemson and Alabama it hasn’t – 2014 was seven seasons ago and OSU hasn’t won a CFP game since.

Is it because of the talent level? LSU has NFL talent. So does Miami, and Auburn, and Texas A&M, and Florida, and North Carolina. Ohio State might have more, but that’s not supposed to mean anything in the College Football Playoff discussion.

Is it because of the always murky “eye test” that so many like to use as a default fallback when they can’t come up with a real reason? Here’s what I get whenever I’ve made this argument …

“Come on … you KNOW this is one of the four best teams … “

Actually, no. I don’t.

I mean … okay, yeah, of course I do – I can’t bring myself to believe this isn’t at least one of the six-or-so best – but this Buckeye team is hardly a be-all-end-all juggernaut who has to be in the CFP to give the tournament any sort of legitimacy.

Have you really watched Ohio State? It’s not even close to as strong as the 2019 version. It’s obviously great, but everyone looks very good when playing very bad teams.

And let’s stop playing nice-nice here – if Indiana is your one bullet in the argument gun, there’s a problem.

Alabama destroyed Georgia, Texas A&M, and Auburn. Florida has a win over Georgia. Texas A&M has a win over Florida. Notre Dame beat Clemson, and Clemson handed Miami its only loss in an ugly blowout.

Ohio State beat Indiana 42-35.

So if Ohio State has to miss one more game and isn’t eligible to go to the Big Ten Championship, give me the playoff argument.

Give me exactly why Ohio State deserves to be honored with a top four spot in the final College Football Playoff rankings based on what it accomplished on the field this 2020 season.

If you actually believe whatever talking points fit your narrative, then you just lost Ohio State’s 2017 argument to get into the College Football Playoff over Alabama.

Now, with ALL of that said …

NEXT: FIIIIIINE …

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