4. Sun Belt 3, Big 12 0
Coastal Carolina opened the season with a dominant 38-23 win at Kansas. Okay, that’s nice, but beating Kansas is about as difficult as ordering Subway.
That same day, an Arkansas State team that’s 3-6 – with losses to Texas State and Troy on the schedule – beat Kansas State in Manhattan.
Kansas State beat Oklahoma at Oklahoma.
When Arkansas State was doing its thing, and just before Coastal Carolina went off, Louisiana was handing Iowa State a 31-14 win in Ames.
Iowa State beat Oklahoma.
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Since then, Coastal Carolina has gone unbeaten, including a win over Louisiana – handing the Ragin’ Cajuns their only loss of the year.
Oh sure, Oklahoma looks stronger now, and Iowa State has improved as the season has gone on, but maybe it’s because they’re playing in a Big 12 conference loaded with a boatload of mediocre-to-bad teams.
Was Louisiana ranked? No.
Was Coastal Carolina ranked ahead of Oklahoma or Iowa State? Very no.
This was the PhD level test for the College Football Playoff committee and its first rankings, and it flunked very, very, very hard.
– Rapid-Fire First Reaction
– The known unknown
– The Cincinnati situation
– What it all really means