Selection Committee Values Wins Over Losses

The first-ever College Football Playoff Rankings came out Tuesday and we learned one important fact about the selection committee.

Good wins are valued over losses which means scheduling matters.

In the grand scheme of things, there’s no way to objectively look at college football teams. Since most teams won’t play each other, everyone has preconceived notions about how good or bad each team is and much of it is based upon previous season’s success.

We can point out inconsistencies with rankings and teams, but what else is there to go on unless you have a 64-team playoff?

Some have argued that the committee had Notre Dame ranked too low at 10th overall. This ranking has everything to do with their quality of wins (or lack thereof) more than their impressive loss.

Notre Dame will have a few chances to put up impressive victories as they travel west to take on both Arizona State and USC. Add in a home game against Louisville and the Irish will be able to better their resume, but right now their best win is against a three-loss Stanford team that controlled the game before a fourth-down throw by Everett Golson.

Many would argue (and have a good case) that Alabama is the best one-loss team in the nation.

Yet, one-loss teams such as Auburn, Ole Miss and Oregon are ranked above them.

Once again, this points to the strength of victory that the Crimson Tide are lacking. Alabama’s best win this season was a tight game against West Virginia. The Tide have looked mediocre on the road with a 14-13 victory over Arkansas (who hasn’t won an SEC game since October, 2012) and a narrow 14-point victory over Tennessee (who has five losses).

Auburn has a tough road victory against Kansas State, Ole Miss defeated Alabama head-to-head and Oregon has defeated the defending Rose Bowl champion Michigan State Spartans in a game that wasn’t all that close.

Once again, what all of this tells us is that the committee actually values tough wins and the teams that have the guts to schedule tougher opponents. Another thing that we found out is that they take the entire season’s body of work into account and don’t make snap judgements week-to-week, as evidenced by Mississippi’s ranking just days after losing on the road to LSU.

Georgia Could Jump In The Mix

The Georgia Bulldogs might be the best team in college football that nobody is talking about as far as being a contender for the playoff. Perhaps that’s because Georgia is currently ranked 11th after the first-ever College Football Playoff Rankings.

The Bulldogs clearly look like the class of the SEC East and they have a pretty favorable schedule going forward. Georgia will be favored in their next two games against Florida and at Kentucky, setting up a showdown between the hedges when they host the currently third-ranked Auburn Tigers. This is a not-quite-as-good Auburn team that beat the Bulldogs in improbable fashion on a fourth-down tipped pass last season.

Georgia will be getting former Heisman candidate and star running back Todd Gurley back for the Auburn game from his NCAA suspension.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that Todd (Gurley) is going to finish with honor and he’s going to have a great finish to his career here at Georgia whenever that ends,” Bulldogs’ head coach Mark Richt said.

Regardless of what happens, Georgia will likely represent the SEC East in the SEC Championship game. That game should be a virtual national playoff, play-in game and the Bulldogs have been just about as impressive as any team in the SEC West.

The Bulldogs may be outside the Top 10 right now, but they have a great chance to end up in the “Final Four.”

Noles Clear Biggest Hurdle

Thursday night road games are tricky for any program in the country. No matter where the opponent is ranked, home teams tend to be whipped up into a frenzy and primed to pull the late-week upset.

FSU fell into a 21-0 hole in the first half Thursday night and it looked like their dreams of a second-consecutive title would be coming to an end. Then defending Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston rallied the ‘Noles to 35 second-half points in their 42-31 victory over Louisville.

“We’ve been there before,” Winston said after the game. “Being down is nothing when you’ve got heart and you persevere. Personally, we play better when we’re down, honestly.”

With the victory, Florida State moved to 8-0 and they will be heavy favorites in their remaining games as three of the final four are in Tallahassee (home vs. Virginia, at Miami, home vs. Boston College and Florida). The ‘Noles will then play the ACC Championship game before presumably the playoff begins.