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The College Football Playoff selection committee harbors a November crush on the Big Ten’s crème de la crème.
The first CFP rankings paved a path for the Big Ten to snatch four spots in the 12-team playoff, including multiple teams seeded high enough to host first-round games.
The Big Ten’s No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 6 Penn State and No. 8 Indiana accounted for half the spots in the CFP’s top eight.
Here are my five burning reactions after these initial rankings.
When in doubt, CFP committee values eye test
You can’t make a compelling case for Texas to be ranked as high as No. 5 other than the Longhorns looked awesome throughout the season’s first six games on the eye test – against a forgiving schedule, we should add. Texas stockpiled an impressive assembly of talent on each side of the ball, but the Longhorns showed vulnerabilities in their past two games against Georgia and Vanderbilt, and their strength of schedule trails Penn State and Tennessee, two other one-loss teams. The committee ranked Texas ahead of both, and also in front of undefeated Brigham Young, a nod to the Longhorns’ early season ace-grade on the eye test.
Likewise, undefeated Indiana received some committee love despite having the softest strength of schedule among teams slotted into the current bracket. The Hoosiers look fabulous on the eye test on both sides of the ball. They’re not just beating opponents, they’re blowing them out.
The Hoosiers’ ranking tells me they can afford a loss later this month at Ohio State and still make the playoff – assuming they don’t get blown out.
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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football-playoff-committee-shows-023026501.html
Author : USA TODAY Sports
Publish date : 2024-11-06 02:30:26
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