College Football Top 25- Week 10

I am disappointed to be a college football fan, and you should be too. This week was the first week that the official College Football Playoff Committee released their rankings, as can be seen above. This is what we will use as a comparison instead of the AP Poll, as these rankings are the ones that actually matter and will be used to decide who is in and who is out. The problem? They are awful. Truly awful. These rankings are so biased and jaded that I struggle to even have hope for the end of the season. The only thing they could’ve done worse is put 5-3 Clemson at #4, and let’s face it, they probably had some people pushing for it. Essentially what the committee said was “we care more about the history of programs than anything the teams have actually done this year.” I am appalled, shocked, and furious by what the committee has done to diminish the achievements of many student athletes this season.

Let’s start with Cincinnati. Are you kidding me? What does this team have to do? The committee has left out undefeated Group of 5 teams before, most notably 2017 UCF, who, after beating Auburn in the Peach Bowl, claimed the National Championship for themselves. This was a wakeup call to the Group of 5, as it was made clear they needed to schedule better non-conference opponents in order to boost their strength of schedule and show they really can compete against top talent. So that’s what they did. Cincinnati played Notre Dame in South Bend and controlled the game the entire way en route to a 24-13 victory over the Fighting Irish. The committee has Notre Dame at 10, which should make this a very impressive victory, but alas, Cincinnati is at 6. Someone help me here. Oregon lost to 3-5 Stanford and is somehow at 4? Meanwhile Cincinnati has a top 10 win and no other losses, and they are back at 6? I really just do not understand. To be honest, it seems like the committee felt like the only way to rank Ohio State as high as they wanted to was to put Oregon ahead of them because of the victory the Ducks hold over the Buckeyes. That’s the only reason I can think of. Let’s be honest here, how much better is the Pac-12 than the AAC? There are no other Pac-12 teams in the top 25. So outside of Ohio State, Oregon doesn’t have a great schedule. And speaking of the AAC, it was very intentional that the committee left 7-1 SMU out of the top 25. The Mustangs are 23rd in the AP Poll and face Cincinnati later on in the season. If Cincy wins, that would give them another top 25 win. The committee can’t have that happen, as they would be forced to put them in the playoffs. So, to meet their agenda, the committee won’t even give them a chance. Instead, they put in 5-3 Wisconsin, who, outside of a win against an overrated Iowa team, has looked miserable this year. Not even Barstool Big Cat could defend the Badgers in the top 25.

I am truly ashamed of these rankings. Why even play the season if the usual teams are just going to be favored into a spot, and rising programs don’t get any respect? Yes, the playoff should be expanded, but not because the committee can’t get it right with 4 teams. It should be expanded for the love of the game and the chance to see all top programs OF THAT YEAR have a chance to succeed. I don’t know what the answer is to fix these rankings, but there needs to be serious change. It is hard to root for a system that is so inherently biased and broken.