We knew there'd be a lot of changes to the College Football Playoff Rankings this week, and the CFP Selection Committee did not disappoint.
With three more undefeated teams (Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Houston) falling by the wayside over the weekend, we now have two new teams in the top four, as both Oklahoma and Iowa work their way in, replacing Ohio State and Notre Dame.
So what did the committee get wrong? What did it get right? Let's discuss.
Oklahoma then went out and managed to beat the Horned Frogs 30-29, blowing a 23-7 lead and needing to stop a two-point conversion in the final seconds to ward off defeat. And that performance, the one where the Sooners squeaked by the injured Horned Frogs, that was the performance that the committee saw and said, "That's enough to move this team up four spots!"
I get that it's looking at the résumé as a whole, but here are Oklahoma's three best wins on the season: No. 7 Baylor, No. 19 TCU and 7-4 Tennessee. Oh, and its lone defeat was a 24-17 loss to a 4-6 Texas team. Gee, if only I could find another team with a stronger résumé ...
And though it took place a long time ago in September, Michigan State also beat No. 17 Oregon. Its sole loss came in the final seconds -- in controversial fashion -- against a 5-6 Nebraska team, as Sparty ended up on the wrong side of a 39-38 score.
So let's see. Oklahoma's second-best win is currently ranked No. 19. Michigan State's third-best win is ranked above that at No. 17, and its loss was a one-point loss on the road, compared to Oklahoma's seven-point loss to a team with a worse record, on a neutral field. I'm guessing that the committee's justification for putting Oklahoma over Michigan State will be game control, it's just, I'm starting to wonder if game control is actually code for "better television ratings."
Plus, the fact of the matter is that the Irish have looked very underwhelming the past couple of weeks against inferior opponents. And with all the injuries the team has suffered, you have to think that affected the ranking too. The good news for Notre Dame, however, is that it still gets a game with No. 9 Stanford, and if it wins that, its résumé becomes a bit stronger.
It's just, have you seen this team lately? And have you taken a closer look at its résumé as of late? That 38-10 win over No. 18 Ole Miss doesn't look as great as it did then, and the Gators lost to an LSU team that has fallen off the map. More important than that in my mind, however, is what's Florida's second-most impressive win? The one-point win over Tennessee? The 27-3 win over the rotting carcass that was Georgia (remember Faton Bauta?) at the time? It certainly isn't the close calls against Vanderbilt or Florida Atlantic. Nor was it a 10-point win over South Carolina.
Honestly, I look at the current CFP Rankings and I see about six or seven teams ranked below Florida that I think would beat the Gators right now.
That doesn't bother me as much as the fact that a 20-point win over TCU isn't enough to keep a 10-1 Oklahoma State in the top 10, but a one-point win over TCU is enough to launch a 10-1 Oklahoma up to No. 3. I get that Oklahoma has a better overall schedule than the Cowboys thanks to that Tennessee win, but I still don't think that's enough of a justification to place such a wide gap between the two.
Must be more of that "game control."