All 3 rankings are out as of Tuesday:
Mullen moves on, apparently pleased with his insane counterargument.
Looking at the list of voters, it's a mix of ADs, journalists and former players. Just as the Coaches' Poll rankings get delegated to the night janitor, it's becoming clear that the median football savvy and attentiveness of this group rivals a 10-year-old boy. Besides a few posters on their bedroom walls, some know the game inside and out (players) but clearly don't watch it widely, and others (ADs) don't know if a cornerback is the one who throws the football or the one who tries to stop that from happening. Journalists are presumably somewhere in between. Nevertheless, clearly a lot of voting energy is going into voting for the teams you've heard of. They are collectively the 44-year-old admin lady in your office who knows nothing about college hoops but fills out a bracket - only she's the one deciding who lives and dies.
Looking ahead, Alabama can do nothing between now and the end of the season to jeopardize its CFP chances. Clemson, ND and Michigan have no real challenges between now and then. UGA may drop the SECCG to Alabama - we're all in trouble if they don't. OU has WVU which should be good. But in my view, Michigan, UGA, LSU, OU and WSU all jockey for the same spot, and if they all win out through conference championships and the rankings hold, justice will not be served.
As always, I'm banning "just win out" as commentary here as it's neither interesting nor thoughtful, plus we're all a bunch of jagoff fans just talking here anyway.
- AP: WSU #7 (+1 spot)
- Coaches: WSU #7 (+2 spots)
- CFP: WSU #8 (flat)
- Alabama: fine
- Clemson: fine
- Notre Dame: fine
- Michigan: I think UGA is better, but I'm fine as UGA had a bad loss and UM doesn't
- Georgia: fine, perhaps, but my other alma mater was also stomped @LSU
- Oklahoma: struggled at home vs 3-8 KU before besting them. KU hung 40 in Norman
- LSU: the only 2 loss team in Top 10, including the worst loss of any Top 10 team combined. ZERO excuse for them to be anywhere in the Top 9
- WSU: the most decisive victory in all of the Top 10; sadly, 55 first half points were not enough to turn heads outside the Pacific Time Zone. What excuse is there for this kind of oversight in 2018?
- UCF: not a single signature win, but I guess you have to tip the cap at being undefeated
- Ohio State: truly unbelievable to see the spectacle in College Park in which the Terps snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by blowing their winnings on a 2pt conversion. Even more unbelievable that another close call did nothing to move voters off of Aaron Hernandez's mentor's new crop of criminals
Ex-cuse me? You're saying that, when WSU answered the doubters' calls by taking a possible bowl team to the woodshed, scoring 55 points in the first half (!) and wreaking abject havoc on defense, your instinct is to defer to this other team putting up fewer points at home against a worse opponent, and struggling more on defense? And you're pointing to that as the "dynamic" thing that forced your hand? WHAT?CFP Committee Chairman said:Mullens was asked why the Cougars didn't make up any ground, despite crushing Arizona 69-28. The Sooners, on the other hand, had a tougher-than-expected time with Kansas in a 55-40 win.
"We spent considerable time talking about 6, 7, 8," Mullens told ESPN. "Obviously saw what Washington State did, putting up 55 points in the first half against Arizona. But again, looked at Oklahoma and that dynamic offense, and while their defense may still be struggling, their offense is carrying the day and still finding a way to win with their quarterback [Kyler Murray] being so dynamic."
Mullen moves on, apparently pleased with his insane counterargument.
Looking at the list of voters, it's a mix of ADs, journalists and former players. Just as the Coaches' Poll rankings get delegated to the night janitor, it's becoming clear that the median football savvy and attentiveness of this group rivals a 10-year-old boy. Besides a few posters on their bedroom walls, some know the game inside and out (players) but clearly don't watch it widely, and others (ADs) don't know if a cornerback is the one who throws the football or the one who tries to stop that from happening. Journalists are presumably somewhere in between. Nevertheless, clearly a lot of voting energy is going into voting for the teams you've heard of. They are collectively the 44-year-old admin lady in your office who knows nothing about college hoops but fills out a bracket - only she's the one deciding who lives and dies.
Looking ahead, Alabama can do nothing between now and the end of the season to jeopardize its CFP chances. Clemson, ND and Michigan have no real challenges between now and then. UGA may drop the SECCG to Alabama - we're all in trouble if they don't. OU has WVU which should be good. But in my view, Michigan, UGA, LSU, OU and WSU all jockey for the same spot, and if they all win out through conference championships and the rankings hold, justice will not be served.
As always, I'm banning "just win out" as commentary here as it's neither interesting nor thoughtful, plus we're all a bunch of jagoff fans just talking here anyway.