CFB Playoff Committee Chair Boo Corrigan on Big 12 Depth: ‘We Don’t Look at Conferences’
The initial College Football Playoff rankings came out on Tuesday night and four Big 12 teams were ranked. TCU came in at No. 7, K-State was No. 13, Oklahoma State at No. 18 and Texas at No. 24.
The depth of the Big 12 has been well noted all season long and seems like a worthy topic of discussion when evaluating the teams in the league. But apparently, the College Football Playoff committee does not agree.
During the ESPN College Football Playoff Rankings show on Tuesday night, Rece Davis asked chairman and NC State AD Boo Corrigan about that very issue.
Rece Davis, asked “One of the questions people had is how the committee regarded the balance in the Big 12 that isn’t as top heavy as some of the other conferences. It’s as if every game is a difficult one. How was the Big 12 evaluated?”
Corrigan replied, “We really don’t look at conferences. We’re looking at individual teams. The Kansas State win over Oklahoma State was really quite a win by them. But at the end of the day, we’re trying to pick the best teams that we can and slot them the right way.”
How does that make any sense? The conference determines the teams that you play and will determine how you ultimately look on the field.
The Big 12 having absolutely zero bottom feeders should also come into consideration for several other reasons, given that there are no weeks off in this league. The other Power 5 conferences can’t make that claim. Add in the round robin, nine conference game schedule and conferences should absolutely matter.
Oh and you’re telling me that the SEC teams don’t get a bump for being in the SEC? Please. Spare me. I may have been born at night, but it wasn’t last night.
It feels like another chance for this committee to disrespect the Big 12 Conference. But I’m willing to see how the rankings play out over the coming weeks.
TCU trailed the Top 6 ranked teams in the country, who are, in order, Tennessee, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan and Alabama.
Sonny Dykes and the Horned Frogs will have a chance to add another win to their tally this weekend against Texas Tech in the West Texas Championship, where the two teams will battle for the Saddle Trophy.
Meanwhile, the Kansas State Wildcats were the highest-ranked two-loss team and are coming off their biggest win under Chris Klieman, a 48-0 win over Oklahoma State. Now, K-State will shift its focus to Texas, whom they will play on Saturday in Austin.
Oklahoma State is coming off the aforementioned brutal loss to the Wildcats, but still come in inside the Top 20 at No. 18. And then the Texas Longhorns, fresh off a bye week, are 5-3 after their loss to Oklahoma State two weeks ago. The Longhorns were not ranked in the Top 25 AP Poll this week, but the committee gave their resume more credit and put them in their initial Top 25.
