Five days. That’s all it took for the College Football Playoff Rankings to break me. It’s not that I think the rankings are important. They’re not. The only set of rankings the committee will release that matter are the final ones — the set that determines who will play in the College Football Playoff, who will play in the other major bowl games and who will be rendered meaningless to all but a select few degenerates like myself.
The problem is that everybody else thinks the rankings matter, and what broke me is the discussion that envelops the sport once those rankings are released.
Fans and media alike work themselves into a tizzy over those small numbers next to a team’s name that help us determine the significance of any game. On Saturday, only one game was played between two teams with those numbers — a win for No. 14 Texas A&M over No. 13 Auburn — and the game stunk. It was a tedious slog to the 20-3 finish line that lacked any sense of drama. Meanwhile, drama flourished in games across the country between Teams That Matter and Teams That Don’t.
When Alabama struggled to put a depleted LSU away on Saturday night, the talk wasn’t about a short-handed LSU team with a lame-duck coach taking one of the best teams in the country to the brink. It was about how Alabama has no right to be No. 2. When No. 5 Ohio State looked sloppy on the road against Nebraska, nobody talked about how well Nebraska’s defense played to keep the team in the game despite so many mistakes from the offense and sideline. The only conversation was that Ohio State beat up on bad teams in October and still has flaws.
When No. 6 Cincinnati needed to force a fumble at the goal line in the final moments of its narrow win against a 3-5 Tulsa team, the talk wasn’t about how a Golden Hurricane team in the midst of a disappointing season nearly pulled off one of the biggest wins in program history. It was about how that mean old selection committee was going to punish Cincinnati for not playing well.
It’s that last part that gets to me the most. I am not a selection committee member (yet), but I do vote in the Super 16 Poll released by the Football Writers Association of America and National Football Foundation. Cincinnati is ranked No. 4 in our latest poll and was at No. 3 on my ballot, where it has been for nearly a month. If the season ended now and I was the lone person choosing the four playoff teams, I’d put Cincinnati in. It’s no more or less deserving than any other candidate not named Georgia at the moment. It has flaws, as they all do, but the zero in the loss column serves as something of a tie-breaker.
But you know what? Had Ohio State, Alabama and Oregon not struggled this week, I’d have considered moving Cincinnati down because that’s what you’re supposed to do when a team isn’t playing as well. Yes, Alabama, Ohio State and Oregon struggled this week, but this was the third week in a row that Cincinnati has put out a lackluster performance. If we’re going to judge the traditional powers when they struggle, we need to do the same for Cincinnati and other Cinderellas no matter how hard we’re rooting for them to succeed.
The same double-standard was on display in other games because of those dumb little numbers. When Minnesota trailed 3-6 Illinois 14-0 for most of the day before finally losing 14-6, I saw plenty of fans and media members mocking the committee for ranking Minnesota in the first place when it should have instead ranked a more-deserving team like SMU. Now, regardless of whether you think Minnesota or SMU is the more deserving — and I would choose both over any three-loss team, but that’s neither here nor there — check the SMU score. If you do, you might notice that while you were arguing for the Mustangs they were busy losing to a 4-4 Memphis team. They would not come back to win, either.
The ultimate lesson here, and one that seems difficult for many to grasp, is that winning is hard. It doesn’t matter who you are. Going out every week and playing to the best of your ability against the Teams That Matter and the Teams That Don’t alike is a gargantuan task few are capable of completing. Both Michigan State and Wake Forest were reminded of this on Saturday, and many more teams who still fancy themselves as Teams That Matter will be reminded before this season ends.
Then, when the dust has settled and teams are put in their places, you can get mad about it. I’ll be right there with you, broken but held together with duct tape.
Warning Signs of the Week
Once a coach realizes they’re on the hot seat, there are only a few moves available to them to stave off the inevitable a little longer. The best option is to start winning games, though not even that works 100% of the time. Just ask Ed Orgeron. Another is to land a big recruit or transfer that you can sell to the fans, boosters and your AD that the best is yet to come. That’s usually not enough, though.
The most popular option, and one that has existed throughout nearly all of human history not just in college football, is the sacrificial lamb. When the angry mob draws close, throw them a warm body to stave them off a little longer and buy yourself time to figure out your exit strategy.
On Sunday, we saw plenty of sacrifices. Florida fired defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and offensive line coach John Hevesy following a 40-17 loss to South Carolina. After publicly talking smack about Oregon during the week (a move I fully endorse any coach to make against a rival), Washington’s Jimmy Lake fired his offensive coordinator John Donovan following a lackluster performance against the Ducks. Even Oregon State fired its defensive coordinator after losing in overtime to Colorado.
While I don’t know that I’d put Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith on the hot seat, these moves are the surest signs yet that both Dan Mullen and Lake feel the angry mob closing in, and it’s now only a matter of time before there’s nobody left to give up but themselves.
Punter Taunt of the Week
As mentioned earlier, Illinois beat No. 20 Minnesota 14-6 in Minneapolis on Saturday. While the game didn’t feature much excitement, it did have this moment from Illini punter Blake Hayes.
That is Hayes mocking Minnesota by rowing his boat and then breaking the oar over his leg. The same leg he just finished using to bury Minnesota inside the 5-yard line with a punt late in the game. It’s the second time Illinois has knocked off a ranked team on the road in the last few weeks, and it improves the Illini to 2-0 against ranked teams on the season. They’re 2-6 against everybody else. Another indication that winning is hard — for anybody, against anybody.
Trick Plays of the Week
It was a fabulous weekend for trick plays, as some bored coaches have been kicking around dumb ideas and they all decided to bust them out Saturday. There was this fake punt by LSU against Alabama.
That was well designed, and while odd, it didn’t quite match the lunacy on this play by South Dakota State. When was the last time you saw a team snap the ball between its quarterback’s legs to the running back lined up behind him? It’s been a while, right? And as soon as you grasp what’s going on, the running back tosses an easy touchdown.
And, finally, there was this absolute beauty by Purdue.
There’s so much beauty to be found in the dumbest of places.
Stock Advice of the Week
BUY — Jaxon Smith-Njigba: I caught some heat last week from Ohio State receivers coach Brian Hartline after I tweeted about Smith-Njigba having the chance to be great but needing to cut down on the drops. It wasn’t meant as a slight. It was merely a comment on how Smith-Njigba had dropped five passes on the season, according to TruMedia, and that only Indiana’s Ty Fryfogle and Michigan State’s Jayden Reed had more drops in the Big Ten. Hartline essentially told me I needed to watch the tape.
Well, coach, first I’d like to say that I’d love to watch the tape if you want to send it to me. Unfortunately, I’m stuck with the television broadcast, which doesn’t give you the best perspective of what’s going on in every play. Second, I love Smith-Njigba, and all the reasons I love him were on display against Nebraska.
With Garrett Wilson missing the game, Smith-Njigba took on a more prominent role and set a school record with 15 receptions for 240 yards and a touchdown. Ohio State has the deepest receiving corps in the country, which is the only reason Smith-Njigba hasn’t taken on a larger role already. Chris Olave will be in the NFL next season, however, and there’s a good chance Garrett Wilson will join him. Smith-Njigba will be back next season, so he’ll likely elevate to the No. 1 receiver option on the team. Performances like the one he had against Nebraska are going to be the norm in Columbus.
SELL — Scott Frost: I’m not sure how many of you are still holding on to Scott Frost stock in the first place, but it’s hard to imagine it’s worth anything now. It’s the same story every week with Nebraska: they play well enough to convince you that they’re better than their record suggests, but they also make the same kinds of dumb mistakes to remind you why their record is what it is.
Be it bad penalties, turnovers or questionable coaching decisions; it’s hard to find any sign of a turnaround in Lincoln. The hiring of Frost made all the sense in the world at the time, and I still think it was the right move for Nebraska to make, but it hasn’t worked out, nor will it. At this point, it feels like two parents who have decided to stay together for the kids and don’t realize that the kids know it.
HOLD — Oklahoma State: I have no idea what to make of Oklahoma State. It’s a good team, but it’s the kind of good where you’re convinced a loss is going to come. At least you think it will? I mean, Oklahoma State just absolutely dominated West Virginia on the road in a 24-3 win while only managing 285 yards of offense. What do you do with a team like that?
The Cowboys are the one College Football Playoff contender that nobody realizes exist. Their next two games are at home against a TCU team that fired its coach and just beat Baylor, and a road game against a Texas Tech team that has already replaced the coach it fired earlier this season. All of this means there’s a decent chance that by the time the Oklahoma Sooners come to Stillwater in late November, the Cowboys could be 10-1 and facing an 11-0 Sooners squad.
Wild Coincidence of the Week
Who knew that the Nix lineage of quarterbacking was so closely tied to the success of Braves baseball?
College Football Playoff Projection of the Week
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Oregon
- Ohio State
Until the next Monday After!
