Road to Jerry World: CFP Top 8

It's difficult to objectively rank Mich State, Oregon, Arizona. Mich state played well then collapsed on some busted coverages. Game was closer than score. I watched Oregon get spanked at home by an AZ team that looked like TCU. I then watched the same Arizona team lay an egg at home vs a mediocre or above average USC team. the PAC 12 is a mess.

The SEC is not playing great football this year. None of the teams have looked particularly dominant. A Univ of Miss team that had been penciled in for the playoff was exposed by a mediocre LSU team. auburn escaped by the skin of their teeth from KSU. Alabama isn't quite Alabama this year.

Nothing I've seen convinces me Notre Dame is less than a top 5 team. They went on the road and nearly won vs FSU.

This is a year of non-dominant teams. If not for the terrible end to the TCU/Baylor game they would be ranked in the top 3 for certain.

Here are the correct rankings:

So ND beat a potentially mediocre FSU team and that convinces you? But your subjective review of Alabama and Ole Miss losses means they shouldn't be highly ranked? Basically you judge, jury and executioner of quality of loss?
 

Is there some reason these are being released now? Is the MBB committee going to start releasing midseason brackets?
 

How about their bowl performance over the past few years? Maybe they beat each other up every year then roll in the bowls because they are that good?

Bowl performance over the last few years does not impact who is on this year's teams. I'm just meaning I like rankings that are on the basis of "what have you seen this year" when ranking the teams. Obviously it's a small sample size and will change but that's just my personal way I like to look at teams. More in the here and now rather than the past. It's definitely difficult to rank teams across conferences vs. each other since they don't have cross-over games. We'll see more though as the season progresses how much they value perceived conference strength.
 

How about their bowl performance over the past few years? Maybe they beat each other up every year then roll in the bowls because they are that good?

I find it interesting that ESPN rarely if ever mentions that the SEC was 0-2 in their BCS bowls last season. Why is that?
 

I find it interesting that ESPN rarely if ever mentions that the SEC was 0-2 in their BCS bowls last season. Why is that?

What was their overall record? Not just BCS. I rarely hear what any conferences overall record was in BCS bowls from ESPN.
 


Bowl performance over the last few years does not impact who is on this year's teams. I'm just meaning I like rankings that are on the basis of "what have you seen this year" when ranking the teams. Obviously it's a small sample size and will change but that's just my personal way I like to look at teams. More in the here and now rather than the past. It's definitely difficult to rank teams across conferences vs. each other since they don't have cross-over games. We'll see more though as the season progresses how much they value perceived conference strength.

I agree with you. I just question what ND has done to deserve being somehow clearly better than Miss or Alabama.
 

Records vs. current Top 25

This tells me Oregon should be in the top 4 ahead of Ole Miss:

25. Louisville (0-1)
24. Duke (0-0)
23. ECU (0-0)
22. UCLA (1-2)
21. Clemson (1-2)
20. West Virginia (1-2)
19. LSU (1-2)
18. Oklahoma (1-2)
17. Utah (1-0)
16. Ohio State (0-0)
15. Nebraska (0-1)
14. Arizona State (0-1)
13. Baylor (1-1)
12. Arizona (1-0)
11. Georgia (1-0)
10. Notre Dame (0-1)
9. Kansas State (1-1)
8. Michigan State (1-1)
7. TCU (1-1)
6. Alabama (1-1)
5. Oregon (2-1)
4. Ole Miss (1-1)
3. Auburn (2-1)
2. Florida State (2-0)
1. Mississippi State (2-0)

Also of note, Notre Dame is the highest ranked team without a win over a current top 25 team.
 

I agree with you. I just question what ND has done to deserve being somehow clearly better than Miss or Alabama.

I don't think ND deserves to be rated higher. As mentioned, they haven't beaten anyone. I do think they are better than Kansas St. and Auburn but both those teams have better wins. Earlier in the year it looked like ND was going to have a very tough schedule. I think at one point they had six teams on their schedule that were in the top 25 but several of those teams have struggled (UNC, USC, Stanford). Of course that doesn't matter at this point though.
 




I agree with you. I just question what ND has done to deserve being somehow clearly better than Miss or Alabama.

There's no way I put ND above them. Almost doesn't cut it for me. They're next best win is against a Stanford team that definitely isn't the team of old
 

B1G got plenty of grief from ESPN, ACC & Notre Dame not so much

I rarely hear what any conferences overall record was in BCS bowls from ESPN.

I heard the BCS records plenty from ESPN, and the truth is the Big Ten didn't bomb anywhere near the way ESPN portrayed it. The Big Ten was 13-15 in BCS bowl games, certainly not SEC-like (17-10), but going just under .500 in the elitest of bowl games is hardly an embarrassment. That's a better winning percentage than the Big XII (10-12), ACC (5-13), and Notre Dame (0-4).

Yet I rarely heard ESPN rip the ACC for its dreadful record in the biggest bowl games. Until the ACC went 2-0 last season, they were 3-13 in BCS bowl games, yet it was the Big Ten getting the lion's share of the grief from The World Wide Leader? Don't know why that was the case, but over the years I've watched enough of ESPN's college football coverage to know that was the case.
 

To summarize all the arguments: it's a beauty contest and since I feel Team X is better than Team Y because they beat Team Z...is this not the transitive property run amok.

This format is a disgrace. I've said it before but only conference champions should be eligible. It's a de facto playoff. Notre Dame, BYU can join conferences.

The argument that past bowl seasons should color the rankings is insane. Mississippi State lost to Northwestern 2 years ago. Should that be considered? Teams evolve season to season, a few key players is all it takes in many cases to rise or drop dramatically.
 

I find it interesting that 2 cupcakes are in position to play in the playoff at this point.
 



The argument that past bowl seasons should color the rankings is insane. Mississippi State lost to Northwestern 2 years ago. Should that be considered? Teams evolve season to season, a few key players is all it takes in many cases to rise or drop dramatically.

Agree with you 100% on that. Past history should have no bearing on who gets selected, just as it is with the men's basketball selection committee. The only season that matters is the current season. I'm confident that's how the CFP Committee will look at it, too. (that's where we disagree, I think) Am especially looking forward to seeing the rankings after several of these SEC teams have 2 or more losses. That's when I think it'll really get interesting, and the heat will be turned up.
 




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