First, let's go with the rankings and the ups and downs of the numbers:
1) Ohio State
2) Indiana
3) Georgia (+1)
4) Texas Tech (+1)
5) Oregon (+1)
6) Ole Miss (+1)
7) Texas A/M (-4)
8) Oklahoma (same)
9) Alabama (+1)
10) Notre Dame (-1)
11) BYU (same)
12) Miami (same)
13) Texas (+3)
14) Vandy (same)
15) Utah (-2)
16) USC (+1)
17) UVA (+1)
18) Arizona (+7)
19) Michigan (-4)
20) Tulane (+4)
1) We are now arguing over which of SEVEN 2-loss teams should....."make the playoff".....
What's funny is this:
- Oklahoma beat Alabama by 2 and is ranked higher
- Miami beat Notre Dame by 3 and is ranked lower
- Texas has 3 losses and not 2...but their 3-point win at home has them above Vandy (which makes the ND>>>Miami more confusing)
- Notre Dame fans who have suddenly received a new infusion of 70s arrogance have littered Twitter trashing Miami and now are going with "Alabama barely beat a 5-7 Auburn team and moved up!" You see, Notre Dame thinks you should lose head to head but be ranked higher....
2) Hunter Yurajerk, head of the CFP.....I can't even....
The debate between Alabama and Notre Dame over the past three weeks has been one of the strongest debates we've had in the room for the past two years that I've been a member of the committee. I think this week, as we looked at those two teams and how closely they have been over the past three weeks, Notre Dame went on the road, had a strong win at Stanford, but Alabama went on the road and a rivalry game looked really good, especially in the first half, getting up 17 to nothing, ran the ball well. Auburn came back at them. They had a great gutsy call on fourth-and-2, late in the third quarter to get a touchdown and then got the turnover late in that game. And I think that was enough to change the minds of a couple of committee members to push Alabama up ahead of Notre Dame in this week's rankings.
What is this fixation on "running the ball"?
This is not 1962, folks.
3) Let the conspiracy theories begin
The same Irish fans who have had delusions of adequacy (constant appeals to beating a crippled UGA in New Orleans last year) blew their collective stacks over this, saying - probably correctly - "this is designed to give Alabama a leg up and not punish them if they lose to Georgia."
Well, Alabama shouldn't be punished for losing to Georgia because ALABAMA SHOULDN'T EVEN HAVE TO PLAY THE
DAMNED GAME!!!
That game has been played already - in the state of Georgia no less - and the winner has already been determined. Notre Dame fans are thinking we should be punished for an extra game against the #3 team in the country...and yet they're the ones who have chosen to not join a conference that would put them in the same heat of the spotlight.
I think we can all agree there are times when "losing head to head" has to be the decisive factor and, indeed in most cases it is. I also think we can agree that as a season goes along there's a reason you might think the losing team (in a close game) would beat the winning team in a rematch.
But it's been hilarious to watch Notre Dame fans argue like the last half century of college ball didn't happen, like we're back in the days where "we get our way just because we're Notre Dame."
- they're trashing head to head by saying, "Miami lost to two unranked teams".....HOW is this a GOOD argument for the Irish?
- they're wanting head to head to matter when it's Oklahoma and Alabama but not when it's them
- they're trashing Oklahoma because "they don't score many points"; funny......in 2018 when both OU and Notre Dame made the playoff, they trashed OU because "they don't play defense!" AREN'T WE VERSATILE????
What would have HELPED our argument, of course, is if the Aggies had made the SECCG and we'd had to play them.
But you can't blame us because aTm soiled the sheets, either.
1) Ohio State
2) Indiana
3) Georgia (+1)
4) Texas Tech (+1)
5) Oregon (+1)
6) Ole Miss (+1)
7) Texas A/M (-4)
8) Oklahoma (same)
9) Alabama (+1)
10) Notre Dame (-1)
11) BYU (same)
12) Miami (same)
13) Texas (+3)
14) Vandy (same)
15) Utah (-2)
16) USC (+1)
17) UVA (+1)
18) Arizona (+7)
19) Michigan (-4)
20) Tulane (+4)
1) We are now arguing over which of SEVEN 2-loss teams should....."make the playoff".....
What's funny is this:
- Oklahoma beat Alabama by 2 and is ranked higher
- Miami beat Notre Dame by 3 and is ranked lower
- Texas has 3 losses and not 2...but their 3-point win at home has them above Vandy (which makes the ND>>>Miami more confusing)
- Notre Dame fans who have suddenly received a new infusion of 70s arrogance have littered Twitter trashing Miami and now are going with "Alabama barely beat a 5-7 Auburn team and moved up!" You see, Notre Dame thinks you should lose head to head but be ranked higher....
2) Hunter Yurajerk, head of the CFP.....I can't even....
The debate between Alabama and Notre Dame over the past three weeks has been one of the strongest debates we've had in the room for the past two years that I've been a member of the committee. I think this week, as we looked at those two teams and how closely they have been over the past three weeks, Notre Dame went on the road, had a strong win at Stanford, but Alabama went on the road and a rivalry game looked really good, especially in the first half, getting up 17 to nothing, ran the ball well. Auburn came back at them. They had a great gutsy call on fourth-and-2, late in the third quarter to get a touchdown and then got the turnover late in that game. And I think that was enough to change the minds of a couple of committee members to push Alabama up ahead of Notre Dame in this week's rankings.
What is this fixation on "running the ball"?
This is not 1962, folks.
3) Let the conspiracy theories begin
The same Irish fans who have had delusions of adequacy (constant appeals to beating a crippled UGA in New Orleans last year) blew their collective stacks over this, saying - probably correctly - "this is designed to give Alabama a leg up and not punish them if they lose to Georgia."
Well, Alabama shouldn't be punished for losing to Georgia because ALABAMA SHOULDN'T EVEN HAVE TO PLAY THE
DAMNED GAME!!!
That game has been played already - in the state of Georgia no less - and the winner has already been determined. Notre Dame fans are thinking we should be punished for an extra game against the #3 team in the country...and yet they're the ones who have chosen to not join a conference that would put them in the same heat of the spotlight.
I think we can all agree there are times when "losing head to head" has to be the decisive factor and, indeed in most cases it is. I also think we can agree that as a season goes along there's a reason you might think the losing team (in a close game) would beat the winning team in a rematch.
But it's been hilarious to watch Notre Dame fans argue like the last half century of college ball didn't happen, like we're back in the days where "we get our way just because we're Notre Dame."
- they're trashing head to head by saying, "Miami lost to two unranked teams".....HOW is this a GOOD argument for the Irish?
- they're wanting head to head to matter when it's Oklahoma and Alabama but not when it's them
- they're trashing Oklahoma because "they don't score many points"; funny......in 2018 when both OU and Notre Dame made the playoff, they trashed OU because "they don't play defense!" AREN'T WE VERSATILE????
What would have HELPED our argument, of course, is if the Aggies had made the SECCG and we'd had to play them.
But you can't blame us because aTm soiled the sheets, either.
