Initial College Football Playoff Rankings Released

[tm3308]

I mean honestly, even if Iowa did beat an undefeated tOSU, the committee could write it off as a fluke win. A lot of other undefeated and one loss teams would have multiple better wins on their record.

I give credit to Iowa though. They are doing their job and winning. That's the only thing they can do. But they do not control their own destiny for the CFB playoffs.

Nobody among the teams battling for the final spot is going to have multiple wins better than beating a 12-0 OSU team on a neutral site. Good god. There are only a small handful of wins out there that would be as good as that (basically beating any of the top 10 teams in their home stadium), and we obviously aren't going to see all of them happen.

 

[Clark]

FSU was the reigning National Champion. That kind of helped their resume.

I'm not guaranteeing that Iowa gets left out for a one loss team. I'm just saying there's a greater than 0% chance it could happen.

I don't think this committee has the balls to do that.

I also think it's a lot of talk about something that has about a 5% chance of happening.

 

[Sigmapolis]

I actually sympathize with the Iowa fans here.

They win out... should be simple on their regular season schedule...

And beat an undefeated OSU or MSU (or maybe one-loss)...

...no way they don't make it. That team is "in" over a one-loss Notre Dame, a one- or two-loss Pac-12 champion like Stanford, which leaves remaining slots for Clemson, the SEC champion ('bama, LSU, or UF), and the Big 12 champion (Baylor, OSU, TCU, etc.). You could maybe see ND jump a conference champion with some blemishes, but an unblemished Iowa is going to get into the thing.

They'd probably be behind an undefeated Clemson, undefeated TCU/Baylor, and undefeated LSU, but, even then, they're in. Any of those other three eastern conference champions lose their game, and our hypothetical undefeated 13-0 Iowa moves up. Granted, they have to beat the Buckeyes or the Spartans to do that.

That's going to be the hard part. Not the committee.

 

[tm3308]

I haven't heard any of the Iowa "talking heads" making this distinction. I just heard Trent Condom unequivocally state a 13-0 Iowa will be in the playoff. No qualifiers. That is false. Now they are perpetuating the same things they are railing ESPN for.

The poster you responded to made that distinction. And in any case, what the Iowa talking heads are doing is not the same as what ESPN has been doing. Condon, Miller, etc. may be stating an opinion and may be ultimately wrong (I'd agree that 13-0 doesn't guarantee a berth if the East opponent comes in at 11-1), but ESPN has flat out lied regarding SOS to date at every opportunity. It's one thing for them to say that, based on future SOS, it's unlikely that Iowa should be considered a true contender. That's an opinion that may or may not hold true. But saying Iowa's resume to date doesn't sniff what many of the presumed contenders have done so far is patently false. Baylor and TCU, while I would agree they are true contenders and will have plenty of chances to pile up good wins down the stretch, haven't done jack **** so far in terms of resume building. Iowa's resume is substantially better than either of theirs at this moment. Saying that won't likely be true in four weeks is perfectly acceptable (and likely true, barring Big 12 chaos where everyone loses to each other). Saying it's not true right now is a lie or a delusion.

 

[Rick]

You do realize in the Massey Composite, which is all the computer rankings combined, that Alabama is ahead of TCU and Baylor too, right?

http://www.masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm

Is the massey ratings set up by the same people who designed the EPA bypass on the cars for VW? Just a bunch of cheaters.

 

[CyTwins]

The poster you responded to made that distinction. And in any case, what the Iowa talking heads are doing is not the same as what ESPN has been doing. Condon, Miller, etc. may be stating an opinion and may be ultimately wrong (I'd agree that 13-0 doesn't guarantee a berth if the East opponent comes in at 11-1), but ESPN has flat out lied regarding SOS to date at every opportunity. It's one thing for them to say that, based on future SOS, it's unlikely that Iowa should be considered a true contender. That's an opinion that may or may not hold true. But saying Iowa's resume to date doesn't sniff what many of the presumed contenders have done so far is patently false. Baylor and TCU, while I would agree they are true contenders and will have plenty of chances to pile up good wins down the stretch, haven't done jack **** so far in terms of resume building. Iowa's resume is substantially better than either of theirs at this moment. Saying that won't likely be true in four weeks is perfectly acceptable (and likely true, barring Big 12 chaos where everyone loses to each other). Saying it's not true right now is a lie or a delusion.

Iowa's SOS is not good and Baylor and TCU are ranked ahead of Iowa for a reason. People have eyes. If Iowa was dominating opponents they would get more love but they don't

 

[erikbj]

If Iowa goes 13-0, they get in. As would an SEC team. Then if Clemson runs the table and Baylor/TCU run the table. The toss up would be Pac12 champ versus Notre Dame

 

[Gunnerclone]

The poster you responded to made that distinction. And in any case, what the Iowa talking heads are doing is not the same as what ESPN has been doing. Condon, Miller, etc. may be stating an opinion and may be ultimately wrong (I'd agree that 13-0 doesn't guarantee a berth if the East opponent comes in at 11-1), but ESPN has flat out lied regarding SOS to date at every opportunity. It's one thing for them to say that, based on future SOS, it's unlikely that Iowa should be considered a true contender. That's an opinion that may or may not hold true. But saying Iowa's resume to date doesn't sniff what many of the presumed contenders have done so far is patently false. Baylor and TCU, while I would agree they are true contenders and will have plenty of chances to pile up good wins down the stretch, haven't done jack **** so far in terms of resume building. Iowa's resume is substantially better than either of theirs at this moment. Saying that won't likely be true in four weeks is perfectly acceptable (and likely true, barring Big 12 chaos where everyone loses to each other). Saying it's not true right now is a lie or a delusion.

I think it's funny that this is what hok fan is holding on to. Knowing full well that it is meaningless. Who cares if ESPN is lying? ESPN isn't the one making the decision as far as I know. Are you saying the committee of AD's (some of which are B10 AD's) and other committee members are so dense that they can't make up their own minds based on their own criteria?

The bottom line is that ESPN can't do any more damage publicly to Iowa. No one cares about Iowa and that will continue no matter what ESPN is saying. It's funny that hok fan thinks undefeated Iowa B10 champ = OSU/MSU/Mich/PSU/Nebraska/Wisky undefeated B10 champ.

 

[Goothrey]

Releasing these rankings during the season is dumb. What are they trying to accomplish?

 

[DesertClone1]

People... relax. This time last year OSU was #16.

 

[CysRage]

Releasing these rankings during the season is dumb. What are they trying to accomplish?

Obviously to **** off the Iowa fans and it is working.

 

[cyhiphopp]

Releasing these rankings during the season is dumb. What are they trying to accomplish?

They are trying to raise interest and ratings for important games coming up. They want to make money.

 

[cyhiphopp]

Obviously to **** off the Iowa fans and it is working.

But Iowa doesn't care what America thinks!

 

[Cyclonepride]

I see the final Big 12 games as opportunities, as TCU or Baylor have chances to prove themselves against good teams. The current rankings undervalue them, but if any of them go undefeated, they should be in.

With that said, I'm convinced this committee does the rankings in order to get their preferred outcome rather than from purely ranking teams on merit.

 

[bawbie]

Two thoughts:

1) The only way a 13-0 Iowa team doesn't get into the playoff is if there are 5 P5 conference undefeated teams. That is very very unlikely, if not impossible.

2) It is completely crazy that TCU, Baylor, OU and OSU haven't played a single game between them yet. November is going to be a blood bath.

Baylor plays OU, @OSU, @TCU is a 13-day stretch.

OU ends the season @Baylor, TCU, @OSU

That's just brutal.

 

[Gonzo]

I thought you didn't drink anymore JM?

The jig is up. Ah well. It's been fun.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Two thoughts:

1) The only way a 13-0 Iowa team doesn't get into the playoff is if there are 5 P5 conference undefeated teams. That is very very unlikely, if not impossible.

2) It is completely crazy that TCU, Baylor, OU and OSU haven't played a single game between them yet. November is going to be a blood bath.

Baylor plays OU, @OSU, @TCU is a 13-day stretch.

OU ends the season @Baylor, TCU, @OSU

That's just brutal.

1 loss bama wins out
1 loss ND wins out
1 of TCU or Baylor wins out
Clemson wins out.

Boom. No undefeated Iowa. You have to remember there is a chance that if teams hold serve could even FALL and/or get jumped each week even with wins.

Don't fall for the Undefeated Iowa Myth.

 

[rosebowliowa]

I mean honestly, even if Iowa did beat an undefeated tOSU, the committee could write it off as a fluke win. A lot of other undefeated and one loss teams would have multiple better wins on their record.

I give credit to Iowa though. They are doing their job and winning. That's the only thing they can do. But they do not control their own destiny for the CFB playoffs.

Would they also write off a road win over Wisconsin, who looks likely to finish with losses only to Iowa and Alabama? Would they write off a dominant road win over Northwestern, who beat darling Stanford and will be bowl-bound? Would they write off a road win over an upper division Big XII team should ISU finish up there? Would they write off beating Pittsburgh, who still has a viable chance at making the ACC title game?

Maybe not all those wins end up being impressive, but the committee would have to overlook quite a bit.

Iowa's SOS is not good and Baylor and TCU are ranked ahead of Iowa for a reason. People have eyes. If Iowa was dominating opponents they would get more love but they don't

Average score in Iowa's games is 32.6-15.3. So we're more than doubling up on our opponents. Not sure what you define as dominant but that looks pretty darn good to me.

 

[Gonzo]

Two thoughts:

1) The only way a 13-0 Iowa team doesn't get into the playoff is if there are 5 P5 conference undefeated teams. That is very very unlikely, if not impossible.

2) It is completely crazy that TCU, Baylor, OU and OSU haven't played a single game between them yet. November is going to be a blood bath.

Baylor plays OU, @OSU, @TCU is a 13-day stretch.

OU ends the season @Baylor, TCU, @OSU

That's just brutal.

Is that BB's doing? Wondering what the point is of backloading conference schedules so dramatically if it was done intentionally. I'm not seeing the benefit to the teams at the top, if the hope is to get one of them through unscathed, of doing it this way. Weird.

 

[khawk4]

Iowa's SOS is not good and Baylor and TCU are ranked ahead of Iowa for a reason. People have eyes. If Iowa was dominating opponents they would get more love but they don't

If that were the case, then wouldnt the play off every year be full of high scoring Big 12 offenses?

Go look at who Baylor and TCU have dominated. Im not saying I think Iowa should be ahead of either of those two teams, just pointing out that "dominating opponents" isnt all that goes into it. Esp. looking at TCU, their dominating wins against S.F Austin, and Texas arent exactly eye-opening, but their close wins, or non dominating wins, to Minn, and KSU could be looked at that way. Eye test, right? The SOS argument at this point in the year, doesnt hold ground either.

Having said all of this, I like where Iowa is at, I understand we have a weak schedule going forward, and there is a TON of football left.