College Football Playoff Rankings Reaction, Top 20
20. Minnesota Golden Gophers 6-2
Bowling Green 14, Minnesota 10 … apparently it didn’t happen. Nothing to see here. The only other loss was to Ohio State, and the great win came against … Purdue? That’s it. There’s absolutely nothing else on the resumé. Maryland? Nebraska? It’s a good top 25 in all, but this is the one whiff.
19. NC State Wolfpack 6-2
It’s an interesting ranking considering Pitt is at 25. The losses to Miami and Mississippi State are more acceptable than the Panther loss to Western Michigan, but there aren’t a slew of great wins. Beating Clemson in overtime is nice, but that’s about it.
18. Kentucky Wildcats 6-2
You can see the committee’s process with some of this – like ranking Iowa right behind Wisconsin. They debate each spot, and reason that two teams belong in a general area, and then go with the head-to-head from there. The wins over Florida and LSU might have been enough to put UK in the top 15, but …
17. Mississippi State Bulldogs 5-3
The 31-17 win over Kentucky just happened. The loss to Memphis was weird – bad punt return call, close game – and losing to LSU hurt, but the win at Texas A&M and the victories over UK and NC State overcame the losses. However … Arkansas has three-losses, too, and they were more acceptable.
16. Ole Miss Rebels 6-2
The committee almost never gives credit for two acceptable losses, but it did that here – to a point. The Rebels should be a little higher considering the losses were on the road to Alabama and Auburn, and the wins over Arkansas, Tennessee, and LSU were all solid.
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15. BYU Cougars 7-2
BYU rolled through the Pac-12 teams on the slate – going 4-0 against Arizona State, Utah, Washington State, and Arizona – but there’s one massive problem. The College Football Playoff committee gave absolutely no love or respect to the Pac-12 – others than Oregon.
14. Texas A&M Aggies 6-2
Texas A&M 41, Alabama 38 … Texas A&M 41, Alabama 38 … Texas A&M 41, Alabama 38 … Texas A&M 41, Alabama 38 … that’s all. If the committee is going to love Alabama enough to put it No. 2, then … Texas A&M 41, Alabama 38 … it’s A&M’s only decent win, but it’s a biggie.
13. Auburn Tigers 6-2
Good job, College Football Playoff committee. It gave the appropriate respect for what that loss to Penn State was at the time, was cool with the loss to Georgia, and respected the wins over Ole Miss, LSU, and Arkansas.
12. Baylor Bears 7-1
It could be argued that the ranking probably should be higher than Notre Dame considering the win over 15th-ranked BYU along with wins over Texas and Iowa State. It doesn’t really matter that much – the Bears will realistically be in if they win out, just like it is for …
11. Oklahoma State Cowboys 7-1
The Cowboys have the win over the Bears, but the loss to Iowa State on the road in a close battle was enough to keep them out of the top 25. Like Baylor, as long as Oklahoma wins out – which probably means beating Oklahoma twice – everything will be fine.