CFP Rankings

[Slasher]

Alabama at 2 is an absolute joke. Wisconsin with 3 losses is a massive joke. It's pretty obvious they rank the handful of teams they want ranked, and then fill the back half with teams those handful of teams beat so they can justify their **** rankings. CFP is the biggest joke in sports.

 

[giddyup]

Alabama at 2 is an absolute joke. Wisconsin with 3 losses is a massive joke. It's pretty obvious they rank the handful of teams they want ranked, and then fill the back half with teams those handful of teams beat so they can justify their **** rankings. CFP is the biggest joke in sports.

Agreed. They don’t even bother trying to defend it. It’s a joke.

 

[don356]

How Oregon ended up in the top 4 must somehow be tied to Nike. I don't ever recall a team who has lost to a sub .500 team smelling that kind of ranking, particularly in the P10. That's almost comedy. I didn't see anyone the past week who had them anywhere near the top 4.

 

[Palatine]

They will never share the money with non-P5 teams.

 

[Vowelguy]

How Oregon ended up in the top 4 must somehow be tied to Nike. I don't ever recall a team who has lost to a sub .500 team smelling that kind of ranking, particularly in the P10. That's almost comedy. I didn't see anyone the past week who had them anywhere near the top 4.

Stanford is a bad loss but winning at Ohio St is probably the best win of any team this year.

 

[don356]

Stanford is a bad loss but winning at Ohio St is probably the best win of any team this year.

Ohio St.'s best win is against a 3 loss Psu team at home. There is no way on earth a p10 team with a loss to a team with a losing record belongs in the top 4. The "best win" this year is easily A&M beating Bama.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Cincinnati's problem will be body of work....

Cincy SOS is 94 without a lot of room for improvement.

Georgia is 24 and will play Alabama in the CCG.
Alabama has one loss but SOS is 18 and will play Georgia in CCG
Notre Dame is 7-1 with an SOS of 8
Ohio State is 7-1 with an SOS of 43
Michigan State is 8-0 with an SOS of 43

How is ND's SOS #8? I looked at their schedule/opponents records about a week ago and the majority of their opponents were 3-4 or 4-4 (maybe some of them were still to be played) but #8 SOS surprises me.

 

[Nostical]

LOL. Now 0-infinity

Give me a break. No way Cincy should be behind Ohio State. I missed the rationale of the committee. They were more concerned about the voices at OSU and Oregon had they put them behind Cincy—but they knew either MSU or more likely OSU would likely be eliminated as would Alabama vs UGA. So they’ll let the games ahead bring Cincy into the top 4.

 

[Vowelguy]

How is ND's SOS #8? I looked at their schedule/opponents records about a week ago and the majority of their opponents were 3-4 or 4-4 (maybe some of them were still to be played) but #8 SOS surprises me.

I don’t put huge stock in SOS ratings in FB because there aren’t that many observations and I think unconventional combinations can come up strong. I suspect ND has done well because its schedule is mostly above average but not great teams, and no real losers. (Well maybe Toledo but even they have a few wins.)
So basically a bunch of B-level opponents for the most part. Averaged together it comes out pretty high.
Most schools have some A level combined with several D and Fs which weigh the average down.

 

[Jimdish255]

How is ND's SOS #8? I looked at their schedule/opponents records about a week ago and the majority of their opponents were 3-4 or 4-4 (maybe some of them were still to be played) but #8 SOS surprises me.

Notre Dame should win out which is good for Cincy but bad for the committee who might like to sneak them in. Oregon is good despite a bad loss.

But I'll go with:

Georgia
Michigan State
Cincy
Oklahoma

as undefeateds based on best wins

Then:

Oregon
Bama
OSU
Michigan
Wake Forest
Notre Dame

They had to push Cincy down now which is a total fraud on the system. Except the system was rigged to do just this.

 

[Nostical]

I'll go with:
Georgia
Michigan State
Cincy
Oklahoma

I’d even go for Georgia, Mich St, Cincy, Alabama.

 

[don356]

Another interesting thing is how much love Michigan/Michigan St. gets. I believe another Nike school. Neither one of those teams really beat anybody good in ooc schedule. Msu did get Miami of Florida, but they're unranked and have struggled to get to 500. I guess Harbaugh's best win is Wisky who ND handled pretty easily in Chicago. Msu only beat an IU team who by then was on their backup qb by 5 while Cincy beat them by 14 when their starting qb was still healthy. It's the rare year where there are some common opponents. However, putting Cincy and even Oklahoma behind those two is iffy, particularly in the case of Oregon. Oregon has looked awful in a number of their wins. Bottom line if you're going to put in a top 4 a team that has lost, it HAS to be to a top team, not a 3 an 5 conference team. Reading on twitter i saw Luke Fickell was pretty quiet about it, but his comment about asking if Gary Barta ever played football is classic stuff. He's the classic case of Ncaa pimp.

 

[freescooter]

Cincy's problem is that Indiana (2-6) is bad and Notre Dame has a weak schedule.

Cincy’s problem is the Committee wasn’t picking them any way, any time. They dismantled Norte Dame on the road. And like UCF a few years ago, none of those teams want to face the Bearcats. They really should just tell everyone that 2 SEC teams one Big 10 and one B12/PAC are invited

Alabama could lose again and will still be in. Same with Ohio State. Both are required for ratings.

Cincinnati's problem will be body of work....

Cincy SOS is 94 without a lot of room for improvement.

Georgia is 24 and will play Alabama in the CCG.
Alabama has one loss but SOS is 18 and will play Georgia in CCG
Notre Dame is 7-1 with an SOS of 8
Ohio State is 7-1 with an SOS of 43
Michigan State is 8-0 with an SOS of 43

Strength of schedule is about the most bogus metric out there. I’s sole purpose is to allow things like Cincinatti to be kept out. FWIT there have actually been academic analyses of it and it is not a valuable predictor of much of anything. Only an excuse. Applies equally to basketball where it is abused to allow bids to go to bad teams and insure teams from P5 conferences to get higher seeds than they deserve. It also includes an inherent bias, like Alabama having a tough schedule, despite the fact that they really haven’t beaten much. There “big” win was over Mississippi Who lost to AAC Memphis and held on to beat a decidedly average Arkansas.

 

[billybud]

If Alabama goes, it will because they will have beaten the best team in the country, Georgia. And beaten four teams in the current top 25 and played five...

Cincinnati has played Notre Dame.....It is a heck of a lot easier to win your one top 25 game than to wade through five of them.

It is what it is....Alabama would blast through Cincinnati's schedule...Heck, even FSU took the Irish to overtime.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The only surprise I see here is that they didn't try to finger a way to put Cincinnati eighth. A month from now, if they have to select a G5 school as one of the four it would be an apocalyptic event in their eyes. They will do anything they can to prevent this.

Over the remainder of the season, quite a few candidates from P5 conferences will drop, solely due to the fact that some will play each other. They needed sufficient wiggle room to allow this to happen without Cincinnati ending up as a too four school. Putting them in the top four now would not afford them the opportunity to drop them out later in the season.

What I find most humorous is the current discussion about Cincinnati having "bad wins". This is a concept that only applies to G5 schools. Oklahoma barely escaped Nebraska and Texas yet the only school that needs to apologize is Cincinnati for not annihilating Navy and Tulane.

The cartel will change their opinion of Cincinnati once they join the B12 (subject to change as soon as the B12 is dropped from power conference status).

 

[Vowelguy]

It’s funny the way folks get bent out of shape over initial rankings. Many games to be played, which will sort much out.

Cinci s path is clear: Bama and Oregon lose and they’re likely in. Assuming Cats take care of business.

 

[Vowelguy]

What I find most humorous is the current discussion about Cincinnati having "bad wins". This is a concept that only applies to G5 schools. Oklahoma barely escaped Nebraska and Texas yet the only school that needs to apologize is Cincinnati

Uhhhhhhhhh
Where is undefeated Oklahoma?

Oh right. 8th.
Yeah no punishment there.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

It’s funny the way folks get bent out of shape over initial rankings. Many games to be played, which will sort much out.

Cinci s path is clear: Bama and Oregon lose and they’re likely in. Assuming Cats take care of business.

Are you sure about that? Most pundits have been saying that the hole (due to strength of remaining schedule) is far too deep for Cincinnati to climb into the top four.

 

[Get a Job]

Am I the only one who thinks the committee is actually doing their best to rank the teams based on the teams' relative quality? Of course the process is going to be flawed and plagued with biases, but I don't think one needs to resort to theories about the committee trying to please TV executives to explain the results. In other words, I think the rankings would be just as controversial if TV and money were not involved.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Uhhhhhhhhh
Where is undefeated Oklahoma?

Oh right. 8th.
Yeah no punishment there.

From last night through this morning I've seen five different reviews that all stated (due to some teams ahead of them facing each other and a B-12 title allowing them to leapfrog others) that if the Sooners win out they will be in the playoffs. Nobody said the same about Cincinnati.

Do you truly believe that (shy of a number of very chaotic and highly unlikely upsets) there is any chance Cincinnati could finish the season in the top four?

 

[rentfan90]

Give me a break. No way Cincy should be behind Ohio State. I missed the rationale of the committee. They were more concerned about the voices at OSU and Oregon had they put them behind Cincy—but they knew either MSU or more likely OSU would likely be eliminated as would Alabama vs UGA. So they’ll let the games ahead bring Cincy into the top 4.

The head of the FWAA is an ESPN employee who stared a jihad against Cinci last week. Herbstreit even said during the show they have danger from behind.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

I don’t put huge stock in SOS ratings in FB because there aren’t that many observations and I think unconventional combinations can come up strong. I suspect ND has done well because its schedule is mostly above average but not great teams, and no real losers. (Well maybe Toledo but even they have a few wins.)
So basically a bunch of B-level opponents for the most part. Averaged together it comes out pretty high.
Most schools have some A level combined with several D and Fs which weigh the average down.

Great points you make. I guess the only solace we have is that to some small degree at least the final four have to play each other on the field and we get a "true winner". If they expand the playoff then it will get "truer". Until then (and even then to some degree I suppose) we will have to deal with the BS of the cartel, media outlets fanning the flames of over rating teams that bring in the most eyeballs and clicks, etc.

 

[McLovin]

It’s funny the way folks get bent out of shape over initial rankings. Many games to be played, which will sort much out.

Cinci s path is clear: Bama and Oregon lose and they’re likely in. Assuming Cats take care of business.

Bama can lose to Georgia in the conference title and still get in IMO. Oregon could lose, but there also is a chance Cincy gets leap frogged by a team like Wake or Oklahoma. They really need every top 10 team to lose at least 1 more time, probably 2 more times.

 

[Vowelguy]

Bama can lose to Georgia in the conference title and still get in IMO. Oregon could lose, but there also is a chance Cincy gets leap frogged by a team like Wake or Oklahoma. They really need every top 10 team to lose at least 1 more time, probably 2 more times.

If Bama and Oregon lose, then it's most likely Georgia, B10 champ, B12 champ, and Cinci.

 

[McLovin]

If Bama and Oregon lose, then it's most likely Georgia, B10 champ, B12 champ, and Cinci.

I don’t disagree that is what it should be. But I think this first ranking shows that the committee doesn’t take Cincy seriously. Their resume is set, no wins from here on out improve their resume (if those @ ND and @ IU wins weren’t enough at this point to be considered top 4 now, beating SMU & winning the conference won’t vault them higher…)