College Football Playoff Rankings Continues Big 12 Snub and SEC Love

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Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

With just five weekends left for college football teams to prove their worth for the second annual FBS playoffs, the 12-member selection committee ranked their Top 25 teams Tuesday night laying out the work that may need to be done for some to leapfrog into the tournament.

The playoff selection committee’s rankings were not too far off the Associated Press rankings of No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Baylor, No. 3 Clemson, and No. 4 LSU instead favoring Clemson as their top team followed by No. 2 LSU, and Ohio State at No. 3. The difference in the rankings came in at No. 4 where Alabama supplanted Baylor in the tournament as things currently stand. The Crimson Tide are ranked No. 7 by the AP voters.

How the top four teams are slated really means nothing with the most important fact being selected to be in the tournament with a chance to compete for a national championship. The sidebar argument of which team is better than the other is for the fans to passionately debate and fodder for talk show hosts to push around stirring up incoming calls on the switchboards. The matchups in the semi-finals are far more important seeing how No. 1 might play against No. 4 and how the No. 2 team stacks up against the No. 3 team.

As for the rankings, the chatroom boards for Big 12 programs Baylor and TCU are sure to be filled with a lot of comments more than likely laced with some explicit thoughts on the playoff committee’s current selections. The good news for Big 12 fans, there is still a lot of football left to be played which will push the rankings around. The most notable right off the top, No. 2 LSU travels to No. 4 Alabama this weekend. Whoever wins will more than likely push the other out of the top spot… unless a last second field goal decides the game in Alabama’s favor keeping LSU hovering around the Top 4 or just outside.

Baylor and TCU do not meet on the field until Nov. 27 allowing time for both to continue padding their resumes unless one or the other is tripped up by current No. 15 playoff ranked Oklahoma or No. 14 ranked Oklahoma State. TCU travels to Stillwater to play OSU on Saturday. Baylor does not play a team currently ranked until Nov. 14 when Oklahoma comes to Waco.

The other potential outcry from the current playoff rankings is out of Big Ten country with Ohio State fans sure to wonder why they are not No. 1 and Michigan State fans curious why the Spartans are not in the Top 4 despite an 8-0 record and a win over then No. 7 AP ranked Oregon. Ohio State’s list of opponents is not impressive and the Buckeyes have not played a ranked team yet on their way to a padded 8-0 start.

The one Big Ten team that is overlooked because of their lack of recent history among the Top 25 is Iowa. The Hawkeyes (8-0) are ranked No. 10 and have two wins over ranked teams, No. 19 Wisconsin 10-6 and No. 20 Northwestern 40-10. If a program had something to complain about based off season to date performance on the field, Iowa would be the undefeated team over Ohio State, Baylor, and TCU, and seven possibly Michigan State.

FSU fans may want a higher ranking than No. 16 put a loss to a 3-6 Georgia Tech squad by a score of 22-16 does not help matters. Plus, the Seminoles also have not played a ranked team yet. All of that changes this weekend with a visit to No. 1 Clemson.

The American Athletic Conference had three teams in the Top 25 (Memphis, Houston, and Temple), a big accomplishment for the conference wanting to join the Power Five. The AAC’s best shot at getting into the college football playoffs is No. 13 ranked Memphis. The Tigers have a win over Big 12 member Kansas (0-8) and upended No. 13 Ole Miss 37-24 giving credibility to their season. If the Tigers should go undefeated, they would have won back-to-back road games on Nov. 14 against No. 25 Houston and on Nov. 21 against No. 22 Temple putting three marquee wins on their resume. Will it be enough to get into the mix? Chances are no, but an undefeated season for Memphis could be an opening dialogue to get the AAC into the Power Five group in the near future.

College Football Playoff Rankings

  1. Clemson
  2. LSU
  3. Ohio State
  4. Alabama
  5. Notre Dame
  6. Baylor
  7. Michigan State
  8. TCU
  9. Iowa
  10. Florida
  11. Stanford
  12. Utah
  13. Memphis
  14. Oklahoma State
  15. Oklahoma
  16. Florida State
  17. Michigan
  18. Ole Miss
  19. Texas A&M
  20. Mississippi State
  21. Northwestern
  22. Temple
  23. UCLA
  24. Toledo
  25. Houston

 

Week 10 AP Rankings

  1. Ohio State (39)
  2. Baylor (6)
  3. Clemson (6)
  4. LSU (5)
  5. TCU (4)
  6. Michigan State
  7. Alabama (1)
  8. Notre Dame
  9. Stanford
  10. Iowa
  11. Florida
  12. Oklahoma State
  13. Utah
  14. Oklahoma
  15. Memphis
  16. Michigan
  17. Florida State
  18. Houston
  19. Mississippi
  20. Toledo
  21. North Carolina
  22. UCLA
  23. Temple
  24. Mississippi State
  25. Texas A&M

Photo credit: nextimpulsesports.com; Nick Saban runs onto the field with the Crimson Tide behind him.

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