- If we don't look past this CU game, WSU stands to jump quite a few spots in the official playoff rankings. Right now we're unranked in that poll (the only one that matters now), but #25 Wisconsin is losing to Northwestern, #24 USC is being blasted by Oregon, #21 Memphis lost, #19 Houston is losing, #18 TCU has a tough road @ #7 Oklahoma
- If you think we would have beat Oregon with a healthy Vernon Davis, you're crazy. They're rolling this season now. It's going to be a fun rivalry in the coming years but the Ducks have a massive head start in talent, facilities and program prestige, and will still likely be better than us more years than not. I look forward to sticking our thumb in their eye periodically - few fanbases have their special combination of knowing less about football, being fairweather fans, or being nastier than Oregon.
- The CFP committee needs to hold an emergency meeting to get rid of the 4th OOC game the SEC and B10 enjoy (the B10 is only doing 3 next year). Some of the fearsome opponents these teams are playing this weekend - in Week 12 (!) - include Florida Atlantic, Charleston Southern, Georgia Southern, Idaho, and Charlotte. Actually, those are just SEC opponents this week. Wow. I don't care that they have some interesting rivalries - because while I'm an SEC fan and alum (as well as WSU), the other conferences should not have to play by a different set of rules so that the SEC can indulge its nostalgia.
- As embarrassing as the SEC schedule is, they make up for it to a degree with strong in-conference opponents. The B10 and ACC have no excuse. Come to think of it, some adjustment has to be made for how horrible the B10 and ACC conferences have been for the last decade. You have 2-3 good teams in each conference (never more than 2 per division) which feast on a schedule of abysmally bad conference opponents and make it to the championship game unscathed and uninjured.
- Independents are an interesting historical artifact, but I think the time has come to level the playing field. In a typical year some end up having tougher-than-usual schedules, some don't. Now that we're trying to make everyone play by the same rules, it stands to reason that nobody is too "special" to not have to join a conference.
- 3 of the Top 4 teams in the current playoff rankings would not be in the Top 4 if they had a typical P12/B12/SEC schedule. Clemson, Notre Dame and Ohio State are all good teams, yes. But none of them have played better than a Top 25 schedule (Sagarin). The average SoS ranking is #42 for those three schools. If that weren't bad enough, consider that they've struggled (Clemson, tOSU) or lost (Notre Dame) in the more difficult games on that schedule. Make some kind of adjustment for wins vs. quality opponents in that bunch and the quality of resume gets really grim for the Top 4. Alabama, by contrast, has a single loss by 6 points and has run through the rest of its 3rd-ranked schedule like a hot knife through butter.
- On that tip, what would Clemson's, Notre Dame's and Ohio State's W/L record be if they played in the P12, the B12 or the SEC? I have a hard time imagining any of those teams with fewer than 2-3 losses right now. Ohio State's schedule has been particularly pitiful. Having had the #67 SoS schedule this year, they are right now tied up in the 3rd at home vs. an MSU squad which is missing its starting QB. You think they skate through any combination of Oregon, Oklahoma State, Baylor, WSU, Alabama, Cal, TCU, Utah, Oklahoma, Stanford, UCLA, Florida, Ole Miss, Miss St, A&M and LSU? It's literally not fair to all of college football that the B10 and ACC are such atrocious conferences.
- I don't like Utah. They haven't given me any particular reason, but I'd like them to suffer the misery of facing a strong Power 5 schedule for a decade or two before they start to crow about how well they're doing in their new surroundings.