ESPN Article Questioning ISU's CFP
- Thread starter RonBurgundy
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LOL Iowa State wasn't even ranked in ESPN's FPI the majority of the season. Their FPI was literally our outlier all season long.
It really isn't worth getting broken up about the outside perception of whether this team deserves the playoffs. At this point the top 6 teams are the only ones with a realistic shots getting in. The committee won't put in a two loss team, they won't put in the top G5, and they won't consider the Pac-12 this year.
And that is fine with me. I've said it in other threads: I don't want Iowa State to be in the playoff if it just means they are fodder for Bama. I want to revel in this historic season. Win the Big 12 and go to the Cotton Bowl for the first time ever. Beat either Florida or A&M, and put a bow on a the year.
And that is fine with me. I've said it in other threads: I don't want Iowa State to be in the playoff if it just means they are fodder for Bama. I want to revel in this historic season. Win the Big 12 and go to the Cotton Bowl for the first time ever. Beat either Florida or A&M, and put a bow on a the year.
I also find it adorable that the "eye test" only matters for a handful of schools. Iowa State has been playing at a crazy high level and that greatly outweighs the early loss to a ranked team and the committee is showing that. Not all schedules are created equally, especially this year.
I'm not going to read it, but I'm just thankful we are being mentioned for the CFP. This is such new and fertile ground for our program. Like sod busters in the open plains. No telling the out of state quality high school talent that has, for the first time in their life, clicked stories about Iowa State football. The "free" publicity we are getting is priceless. And parents reading about Matt, and the lack of covid in our program this year, and on and on.
The ESPN people who cant believe we are ranked this high, are also the same people freaking out that Cincinnati & Coastal Carolina arent in the top 4 even though they play in terrible conference and dont have a win as big as us over OU (specially if we win again).
The CFP has never said 'we are taking the 4 teams with the best records'. Nor has it ever said 'we are taking the 4 most deserving teams'. Its ALWAYS been about the 'Eye Test' and right now ISU is on a dominate streak killing bad teams and beating good teams with winning records, we are playing as hot as anyone in the country which is why we are ranked 7th. And thats why Ohio St is still in the top 4 with only 5 games.
The CFP has never said 'we are taking the 4 teams with the best records'. Nor has it ever said 'we are taking the 4 most deserving teams'. Its ALWAYS been about the 'Eye Test' and right now ISU is on a dominate streak killing bad teams and beating good teams with winning records, we are playing as hot as anyone in the country which is why we are ranked 7th. And thats why Ohio St is still in the top 4 with only 5 games.
No shocker that ESPN is not supportive of ISU.
Should Iowa State really be on the fringes of the College Football Playoff race?
Iowa State climbed to No. 7 in this week's College Football Playoff rankings. This has been one of the Cyclones' best seasons, but does it merit CFP respect? Our Allstate Playoff Predictor takes a look.www.espn.com
Any garbage horse **** that has 2-2 Wisconsin at #4 should be thrown out. Both Oklahoma and Texas above Iowa State? Texas A&M as #3 strength of record with a 28 point loss to Bama, 5 point win against Vandy is damn impressive.
Because as a college football writer, he probably pays attention to college football. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your question. It's been the same thing for as long as I can remember. ESPN gets to ask the chairman questions for about 10 minutes when they release the rankings. The chairman makes a couple of appearances throughout the week to answer similar questions. The rest of the committee members aren't available to the media, or at least, don't comment (unless you're Barry Alvarez).
As far as your first paragraph, I'm not sure what you're trying to say. Committee members aren't obligated to respond to a media request. For all we know, he reached out to every committee member for comment and got no response. The fact he didn't get any more perspective outside of Barta's comments has nothing to do with being "lazy." He can still publish his opinion without getting comment from a committee member. Not really lazy as much as unfortunate for him, but that's how it goes.
The problem with ESPN is that they have WAY too much skin in the game regarding the playoffs and their voice is heard. Fox's pregame show has really started to cut into Gameday's audience and for good reason. ESPN has an agenda to push because there's only a handful of teams they want in the playoffs so they can optimize the viewership. Until the playoff moves to a 6 or 8 team format, this will continue to be nothing more than a money grab.
Good points in general regarding "perception" of journalism. With that said, if the writer did seek input, he should have added that to the piece (and clarified if he sought comment and didn't get response). (So I assume he didn't seek it and was strictly analyzing the FPI predictor vs. the committee results).
I find it funny all the complaining for something that flat out is not going to matter. So what if we're above Cincy? Neither one of us is making the playoff. For us to actually make it, ISU would not only have to beat down OU, ND would likely have to beat Clemson (WITH Trevor Lawrence) by a couple of TDs, Bama would have to lay the wood to UF (likely) or tOSU would have to magically fall out of favor with the committee.
ISU and Cincy will take their NY6 games and like it.
ISU and Cincy will take their NY6 games and like it.
which is stupid, because remember that first week? Everyone had rust, every game, every announcer was saying how crappy the play was from every team because of the lack of contact practices. I don't know if cajuns had contact or not, but they looked like they did. Chance to take down a big 12 school, less eyes on them. C'est la vie, ISU lost, wet field, unprepared, not sure of identity, some players missing. I don't think the team thought they would have the best running back in the nation on their team at that time, and the play calling showed it. Was trying to force brock purdy showtime.
He's not a College Football writer, he's ESPN's "Sports Analytics Content Specialist"
Seth Walder
Seth Walder is a national NFL analyst at ESPN, specializing in covering the NFL using quantitative analysis. His work includes topics ranging from season projections to player analysis based on NFL Next Gen Stats. He writes for ESPN.com and makes regular appearances across ESPN studio...
espnpressroom.com
I love the lament about ISU, yet here is a tweet from him last night:
I don't even care if ESPN has an agenda. Their college gameday show is just terrible TV. It's heavy on haircuts with good vocal chords and really light on brains. JFC I could throw a lawn dart into a crowd of people and I'd feel confident I'd hit somebody that had more accurate analysis of college football than Pollack and Desmond. Davis needs to just read the cue cards and not try to be snarky hot take guy, because it's usually idiotic. and Herbie has done a good job playing the Jay Bilas card - just be able to string together coherent sentences and surround yourself with complete morons and you'll sound smart by comparison even if you don't really ever say anything all that smart.
