If you’re paying attention, you haven’t been paying attention.
ESPN’s annual deception and manipulation of college football fans began Tuesday night with the release of the initial playoff rankings, a now-weekly farce which exists only so the network can get back every possible penny after spending a reported $7.3 billion for the rights to the College Football Playoff, and is designed to drum up intrigue and anger without providing any actual insight.
What did we learn Tuesday?
Wow, Georgia is No. 1? That’s really interesting, except the Bulldogs still have four regular-season games left, including a road game at No. 14 Auburn, before a potential meeting with Alabama in the SEC Championship. Each of the past three years, two SEC teams were named in the first top four, and no conference has ever finished with more than one invitation.
Oh, Notre Dame is No. 3? Well, there are only 10 teams right behind the Fighting Irish that also have one loss or fewer. Plus, ND still has road games left at Miami and Stanford.
Undefeated Wisconsin and Miami are ranked nine and 10, respectively? Who cares? If either finishes undefeated, they will make the playoff.
Remember, seven of the 12 teams named in the top four of the initial release haven’t reached the semifinals. In 2014, the No. 16 Buckeyes eventually snagged the fourth spot, while original No. 1 Mississippi State lost three of its final four games. In 2015, LSU was ranked second, and finished the year at No. 20, while Oklahoma jumped from No. 15 in the first rankings to a semifinal spot. Last year, Texas A&M was ranked fourth, then lost four of its final six games.
The committee lost its credibility in the first season of the playoff, when TCU dropped from No. 3 to No. 6 in the final rankings after winning by 52. The committee noted that previous rankings have no impact on the following week, killing the need to ever watch anything other than the final one.
TEMPLE (+8) over Navy: Pace yourself. There must be something better to do.
MICHIGAN STATE (+8½) over Penn State: The 80 percent threshold has been crossed.
Wisconsin (-12¹/₂) over INDIANA: If the Badgers want respect, they should try being better than undefeated. They should also have the foresight, when making their non-conference schedule years in advance, that a road win at BYU won’t mean anything because the Cougars would have their first losing season in 12 years. It’s also going to be their fault that Michigan also would have a down season.
Auburn (-15) over TEXAS A&M: The Aggies are averaging just 19 points over their past four games. Against the Tigers — who have won their six games by an average of 29.5 points — and their ninth-ranked scoring defense, Kevin Sumlin’s seat will get a little warmer.
South Carolina (+24½) over GEORGIA: It’s a lot tougher to look like the best team in the country with the weight of No. 1 on your shoulder pads for the very first time.
Wake Forest (+14) over NOTRE DAME: Every team falls into a trap at least once per season. With a road game at Miami next week, the Irish will finally slow down, while looking at the playoff possibilities ahead.
Source: nypost
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