Tag: cfp rankings

Week 12 CFP Implications: Static at the top, chaos at the bottom

Looking at the national College Football Playoff picture after Week 12, a few things are becoming very clear. Let’s start at the top.

This past week, all 25 teams ranked by the CFP selection committee were in action. With so many games, a trend that has been slowly developing over the year came to full fruition.

We haven’t seen many upsets at the top of the game this year. And while we have seen some matchups of Top 15 teams–mostly involving Auburn or Michigan–we have yet to really see top teams get upset, or matchups between serious contenders. (Yes, we have had a few, most notably Alabama-LSU, but there have been far fewer than in most years.) That will change over the final few weeks of the season, whether due to scheduled matchups or conference championship games.

While there haven’t been many upsets at the top of the rankings. We’ve had plenty at this bottom. This past week, three of the committee’s teams ranked 19-25 lost, plus a pretty weak display from Cincinnati, for the second time in three weeks. Don’t be surprised if the committee drops the Bearcats a little after this performance.

What that leaves us with is essentially a two-tier ranking system. And while we can subdivide each tier further, the breakdown of the tiers will be very important.

The Top 17 teams are basically locked into those spots. LSU, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, Utah, Minnesota, Penn State, Oklahoma, Florida, Auburn, Baylor, Wisconsin, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Iowa will be the Top 17 teams from here on out. A shocking upset could knock one of these teams out, sure, and Baylor could fall out on its own by losing two of its final three games (to Texas and then again in the Big 12 Championship Game). Other than that Baylor case, though (and assuming no one does something crazy like lose to Northwestern or an FCS team), these 17 teams will be ranked the rest of the way, no matter what, and will like be the Top 17 the rest of the way.

From 18 on down, though, is anybody’s guess. We could see AAC teams stay in, though they’ve been less impressive as the season has gone on. Also, Cincinnati and Memphis still have to face each other. Appalachian State and Boise State can stay ranked by winning out, but one more loss will end any rankings the rest of the way. Maybe SMU slides back in this week.

After that, though, what’s left? What teams are we looking at to be ranked in the back section of the Top 25? Pitt, Virginia, and/or Virginia Tech could slide in, though Pitt plays Virginia Tech this week, and Virginia faces Virginia Tech next week, so only one of those three, at most, will likely be ranked by season’s end. Are we looking at Iowa State, with as impressive a four-loss resume as we’ve seen in a while?

17 teams have basically locked up their year-end rankings, with two weeks left in the regular season. The other eight spots in the Top 25, though, are entirely up for grabs. Who does this help most? Quite clearly, the Pac 12.

Next… How this helps the Pac 12

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Kirk Herbstreit ranks college football’s top-four teams

Where is Georgia football in Kirk Herbstreit’s top-four teams.

Kirk Herbstreit ranked college football’s top-four teams on Sunday morning, following an action-packed Saturday in the top-ten.

His rankings actually stayed the exact same, though, seeing as how none of the drama happened at the top, leaving Georgia football at No. 4 after the Dawgs beat Auburn.

I see nothing wrong with that. There was not really a scenario for Georgia to move up and it definitely did not deserve to move down either. No. 4 is a great spot for UGA.

As for Alabama staying at No. 5, I agree with that one, too. I’d leave the Tide where they are until they prove that the Tua Tagovailoa loss is going to hurt as much as we expect it to.

Here is Herbstreit’s top-four and next two in.

 

Predicting College Football Playoff rankings – Does Georgia football move?

Does Georgia football move in our predictions of the new College Football Playoff rankings.

On Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed on ESPN. Between now and then, the committee will have a lot to discuss regarding the 5-10 positions.

As for 1-4, it’s pretty set in stone.

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LSU, Ohio State, Clemson and Georgia all took care of business. The Dawgs definitely had the most impressive win of the weekend among those teams, a road win vs No. 12 Auburn, but it should remain at four as the three undefeateds ahead of it still have a 0 in the loss column.

There was some drama on Saturday.

1-7 all won their games, but in Tuscaloosa the Tide surely are not celebrating after hearing the news that Tua Tagovailoa dislocated his hip and will be out for the remainder of the season.

The highest ranked team to lose was No. 8 Minnesota, which fell to Iowa.

No. 9 Penn State survived a scare from Indiana but held on to win by a touchdown.

And No. 13 Baylor was handed its first loss of the season via an epic comeback from Jalen Hurts and Oklahoma.

With everything in mind, I will attempt to predict what the committee will do on Tuesday.

These are not my rankings, but a prediction of what the rankings will look like

1. LSU

2. Ohio State

3. Clemson

4. Georgia

5. Alabama

I think the committee is going to give Alabama the benefit of the doubt until the Tide prove they don’t belong. If Alabama loses to Auburn, it’ll obviously move down. So they’ll just wait and see. 

6. Oregon

7. Utah

8. Oklahoma (jumps Penn State)

9. Penn State

10. Florida

This would give Georgia one win over a team in the top-10, Florida. Additionally, I predict Auburn will fall to No. 17 and Notre Dame, after destroying Navy, will move to no. 13.

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Ohio Sate Football Buckeye Battle Cry: Should the Buckeyes be ranked ahead of LSU

It’s Friday and that means another version of our Buckeye Battle Cry roundtable. Should Ohio State still be ranked ahead of LSU? We discuss.

One of the things we like to do here at Buckeyes Wire is debate. We’re good at it, even when we’re wrong. Each Friday, we’ll throw out a topic that seems to be in the news and provide a round table forum of discussion. Sometimes it’ll be two writers, sometimes more. Sometimes it’ll be hotly debated, sometimes more civil.

Heck, sometimes it’ll be outlandish, but it’s fun nonetheless.

You can even get in on the act by going to our Facebook or Twitter page (at the bottom of this article) and providing your own input, but beware — we do like to respond and hash it out, so be ready for some debate yourself.

This week, we discuss the latest College Football Playoff Rankings, specifically at the top. Ohio State was displaced by LSU and we’re asking our writers if the Buckeyes should still be ranked ahead of the Bayou Tigers.

We’re going to let Brock kick this one off …

Next … Brock Netter, what say you?

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Watch: Alabama football players react to finding out CFP rankings

Alabama football players were not thrilled with their position behind UGA football in the College Football Playoff rankings.

The College Football Playoff committee had a big decision to make in the latest edition of their rankings.

To value Georgia’s two good wins and one bad loss over Alabama’s no signature wins and one forgivable loss?

Ultimately, the committee placed Georgia at No. 4 in the rankings, meaning if the Playoffs were to begin today the Dawgs would be in.

Alabama checked in at No. 5. Some argue that the Tide should have been ranked at 4, some are fine with the committee’s decision and then there’s a decent sized portion of the college football community who actually think Nick Saban’s team is not even deserving of being the second highest ranked one-loss program.

Bama lost a close game to LSU, which is now No. 1 in the nation. The final score showed Alabama lost by five, but it really did not feel that tight throughout the full game.

Despite that, and the fact that Georgia has two top-25 wins to Alabama’s zero, Bama players were not pleased to find out they sit behind Georgia in the newest rankings.

Watch as they react to the rankings. Volume up.

“As you look at No. 4 and No. 5 and the discussion around those two teams: two really good teams, obviously one-loss teams,” committee chair Rob Mullens said. “We just saw Alabama had a tough loss against LSU, but when you compare that against Georgia’s resume and the two big wins that Georgia had…”

UGA, CFB Twitter reacts to latest CFP rankings

The Georgia Bulldogs landed fourth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. UGA checks in as the first one-loss team thanks to their big wins over Notre Dame and Florida. Behind the Bulldogs are in the order: Alabama, Oregon, Utah, …

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The Georgia Bulldogs landed fourth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. UGA checks in as the first one-loss team thanks to their big wins over Notre Dame and Florida. Behind the Bulldogs are in the order: Alabama, Oregon, Utah, Minnesota, Penn State, and Oklahoma.

This week the Dawgs take on twelfth ranked Auburn in what should be a defensive battle. Barring a collapse, Georgia is heading to the SEC Championship Game to play Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers.

Following the release of the CFP Rankings, their were quite a few takes on who should be ranked where. Here’s some of the best ones:

This would be a nightmare scenario for the CFP Committee:

Thus scenario would be even worse if Ohio State lost to Penn State who went on to win the Big Ten.

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Ohio State gets leapfrogged by LSU in latest CFP Rankings, but is that the right call?

The CFP Committee is supposed to rank the best teams, not the teams with the best resumes. Ohio State drops to No. 2 and it’s not right.

We all saw it coming from a mile away. By way of its win on the road against Alabama, the LSU Tigers have moved ahead of Ohio State and grabbed the No. 1 spot in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings. The Buckeyes checked in at No. 2.

So much for looking at things objectively and railing against the national narrative. It’s one thing for it to happen with the narrow-minded AP and Amway Coaches Polls, but it’s another for the so-called smartest minds in football to do it with an unbiased eye.

I agree that there’s something to be said about the resume the Tigers have put together with four Top 25 wins and all, but at some point it seems like a bit of a cop out. Do you reward the most deserving team, or the better team? Ohio State has been more dominant than any other team out there, yet it drops to LSU because of the Alabama and SEC curve yet again.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Teams that play well against Alabama are given preferential treatment time and time again. A two-loss Georgia team appeared ahead of a one-loss Big Ten Champion Ohio State in the last set of CFP Rankings last year. And now, simply for beating the Tide, LSU gets the benefit of the doubt and leaps over the Buckeyes for the No. 1 spot.

The advanced metrics for Ohio State have been setting records.You couple that with the Buckeyes’ total domination on the field, and it feels like the CFP fell in line with popular opinion because LSU being better than Alabama means it’s better than anyone else.

Hogwash.

It’s time to ask the question of whether this Ohio State team, if having an SEC logo on the front of its jersey, would have dropped. If Alabama would have been this dominant in recent years, I’d bet the farm that there’s no way, no how, it would drop from the No. 1 slot unless it lost. I mean, Ohio State put up 73 freakin’ points against Maryland, hasn’t played a game close yet, has the nation’s best defense, and a top five offense.

Better yet, Ohio State leads the country in yards allowed per game, points per game given up, points scored per game on offense, and yet it still gets leapfrogged because a team from the SEC beat Alabama. OSU looked utterly dominant against a Power Five opponent last game despite missing its best player.

There’s not one thing Ohio State could have done better than what it has to date to be the No. 1 team in the country other than by drinking sweet tea and having grits and bologna sandwiches for breakfast.

It’s a good thing we have four teams that make this playoff because it’ll take a little of the SEC bias out of the equation. Or so we hope.

You have to do better College Football Playoff Committee and quit drinking the SEC Kool-Aid. Just you wait though until the SEC gets two teams in all the fun yet again.

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College Football Playoff Rankings week 12: Does Texas make it?

Where does Texas rank in the week 12 edition of the College Football Playoff rankings

Last week, the first College Football Playoff top 25 rankings were released, and the Longhorns were not listed.

The second CFP rankings were released on Tuesday night, and Texas is in.

Coming in at the 19 spot in week 12’s rankings, Texas is looking to make a final push for the Big 12 Championship. But both Baylor and Oklahoma are ahead of them in the conference standings. Texas will face Iowa State this weekend before traveling down to Waco, TX to face the Baylor Bears.

Here are the complete CFP rankings for week 12:

With Penn State and Alabama both falling over the weekend, the top four teams look completely different. The final stretch of the 2019 college football season is shaping up to be a good one.

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College Football Playoff rankings revealed – where is Georgia football?

Where’s UGA football in the newest College Football Playoff rankings?

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The College Football Playoff rankings were revealed on Tuesday night and Georgia checked in at No. 4

The full top-ten looks like:

1. LSU

2. Ohio State

3. Clemson

4. Georgia

5. Alabama

6. Oregon

7. Utah

8. Minnesota

9. Penn State

10. Oklahoma

This Saturday when Georgia takes on Auburn, it will be No. 4 vs No. 12 on the Plains.

To date, Georgia has two signature wins over Florida and Notre Dame and will look to add a third this weekend, which would also clinch the SEC East for the third consecutive season for the Dawgs.

Florida ranked No. 11 while Notre Dame is sitting at No. 16

With Alabama losing to LSU, the big question was whether or not the committee valued Bama’s combo of no signature wins and a forgivable loss over Georgia’s big wins and a bad loss.

That question was answered tonight.

Should Ohio State still be ranked at the top of the CFP Rankings this week?

Both Ohio State and LSU will have a case to make when it comes to being ranked No. 1 in the next College Football Playoff Rankings.

After totally dismantling Maryland this past week in a 73-14 win, does it still warrant Ohio State being ranked No. 1 this week in the College Football Playoff rankings? On Saturday Ohio State put up the most points against any Big Ten team since 1950. That — in itself — is quite impressive.

But the Buckeyes weren’t the only team that put on an impressive showing.

With the huge win against Alabama and four top 25 wins, LSU has a good argument to be number one when the rankings come out Tuesday night. The Tigers’ resume that includes high caliber wins  is tough to argue, but it poses the question of what the committee values the most? Pure dominance or wins against ranked opponents? In other words, is it best resume, or most dominant and impressive team via the eye test and metrics?

We digress and discuss …

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Next … LSU’s case

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