Five Gut Reactions to The First Set of 2016 College Football Playoff Rankings

By Eric Seger on November 1, 2016 at 8:08 pm
Some takes on the initial College Football Playoff rankings.
@CFBPlayoff/Twitter
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Guess what friends: It is that time of the year again. Time to complain and get mad online about rankings that in the grand scheme of things, don't really mean too much.

Even though temperatures rose above 80 in Columbus on Tuesday, the initial set of College Football Playoff rankings is here!

Ohio State checks in at No. 6, two spots out of the Playoff if it started this weekend. Alabama is No. 1, followed by Clemson, Michigan, Texas A&M (?) and Washington.

Below are five gut reactions upon seeing the first set of rankings. I plan to do this every Tuesday night, so I'm sure you'll be happy to tell me my #takes are #bad.

Let's get to it.

The Big Ten Is In Excellent Shape

Everyone pretty much expected it but the fact the Big Ten has four teams in the top 10—No. 3 Michigan, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 8 Wisconsin and No. 10 Nebraska—is great news for the conference's chances to make the Playoff. The committee showed some major love to Penn State for its 24-21 victory over Ohio State two weeks ago too, slotting James Franklin's Nittany Lions 12th.

Kirk Herbstreit called that final bit "a shocker" and I share the same feelings. Penn State got worked by Michigan in Ann Arbor, barely beat Minnesota and lost to unranked Pittsburgh. I guess going to West Lafayette and dropping a deuce on Purdue means more to the committee than me (which is all that matters).

“Penn State has played a strong schedule,” College Football Playoff committee chairman Kirby Hocutt said on ESPN. “Obviously, a great win over Ohio State. Four of their six wins have come against teams with a winning record. We've taken a lot of looks at the schedule they've played and very impressed with their improvement.”

That's fair but those four victories against teams with winning records are Temple, Minnesota, Maryland and Ohio State. I sure hope "wins against teams with a winning record" changes to "wins against the top-25" in the committee's eyes before it's all said and done.

However you view Penn State, they sit in the same spot as Ohio State, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Michigan. Win out and you're (probably) in the Big Ten Championship Game. If you win that, chances are good you make the Playoff.

Texas A&M At No. 4—What?

When I prepared the story to run upon finding out where the committee slotted Ohio State, I anticipated the Buckeyes at No. 5 just ahead of Louisville and then Texas A&M. The committee has more faith in Kevin Sumlin's Aggies than I do, however, even with a 19-point loss at Alabama on their résumé.

I get that loss is what is helping Texas A&M the most but as the committee showed in its first two years, who you beat that is more important than who you lose to. Losing to Alabama is basically like a victory, so that helps move the Aggies up. A victory over a then-really bad Auburn team helps, but outside of that the only one that does anything for me is UCLA. That is because I think Tennessee is trash (just like the rest of the SEC outside of Alabama) and Texas A&M barely beat Butch Jones' Volunteers.

“The committee in our mind believes Texas A&M has played a stronger schedule at this time of the season over Washington,” Hocutt said.

He added that the committee doesn't look at conference affiliation in its room when deciding the rankings, nor margin of victory.

Uh, that second part is a problem.

Oklahoma is Ohio State's Best Friend

Already a given after the Buckeyes beat the Sooners 45-24 in September, as long as Oklahoma keeps winning Ohio State's résumé gets better and better. The Big 12 didn't get a whole lot of respect on Tuesday and frankly it shouldn't have. At No. 14, Oklahoma is its highest rated team.

The Sooners are unbeaten in conference play and are my pick to win out and take the Big 12 crown again. Baylor could beat them next weekend and change that but I am not sold on the post-Art Briles Bears.

With that in mind, however, the Big 12 needs some serious help if it wishes to put a team in the Playoff for the second consecutive year.

Lamar Jackson Needs Clemson's Help

Jackson is brilliant, and Louisville's quarterback is the current runaway favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. He helped the Cardinals escape at Virginia last Saturday with a late touchdown pass.

But Louisville's close loss to Clemson puts it in a similar situation as Ohio State last year. Both of those teams are in the same division of the ACC, so even if the Tigers fell they still hold the tiebreaker over Jackson's Cardinals. Just like Michigan State did last year for beating Ohio State.

As it stands right now, the most exciting and explosive talent in the country doesn't look like he'll get a chance to play on the game's biggest stage. At least this season.

Row The Boat!

P.J. Fleck and the Western Michigan Broncos are this year's Houston Cougars. Tom Herman led Houston to a 13-1 mark last season including a two-touchdown win over Florida State in the Peach Bowl.

The No. 23 Broncos are 8-0 (and playing Tuesday night against Ball State) and are the Group of Five's best chance to crash the party in the College Football Playoff. Even if they finish unbeaten (they should), it is unlikely they make it into the top-4, however. The Group of Five's chance at doing that died when Houston lost to Navy.

But hey, you do you, Coach Fleck. Row That Boat and make sure your iPhone is charged for when calls start flooding in with offers from Power 5 programs.

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