Look: Jedd Fisch’s Horrible Take on CFP Path Being Easier in the Big Ten
Jedd Fisch joined the Lincoln Riley Club a couple of weeks ago when he became the latest head coach to claim he was committed to one school just before jumping ship to take the job at another.
Less than two weeks before taking the job at Washington, Fisch was on with Jim Rome for an interview and reassured Wildcats’ fans everywhere that he was going to be in Tucson for the long haul.
“I think right now we’re just working through semantics to get this deal done,” Fisch said of a pending contract extension at the time.” I think we’re very, very close. We want to be done here very soon and we want to be a part of this program for a long time…
“We’ve got 18 out of 22 returning starters next year… so, I have no interest in going anywhere. I have a lot of interest in seeing if we can get to that College Football Playoff and there’s 12 teams in it next year, and I would love to have our team be a part of it.”
Then, like a thief in the night, Washington came in and scooped up one of the hottest coaching names in America. That’s just the way things are now.
Now, the purple-clad leader of the Huskies is banging the drum for the Big Ten and all of the grandeur that comes with being a part of the exclusive group, and all just a matter of days after talking up the Big 12.
In a recent discussion with On3, Fisch said that the Big Ten and SEC are “leading the football pathways” when it comes to getting into the College Football Playoff.
The Big Ten, the SEC, right now is who’s leading the football pathways,” Fisch said. “The college football landscape is about getting to the CFP. There’s 12 teams that are going to compete every year starting next year in the college football playoffs.
“If you look at what teams traditionally compete, it’s about the same 12 or 14 teams,” Fisch said. “The University of Washington is one of those 12 or 14 teams. That’s why we coach, we coach to be able to take a seat at that table and to be able to give yourself a chance every single year with resources beyond belief.”
First of all, there aren’t any arguments here on the Big Ten and SEC leading the way in college football right now. With the new-look conferences coming into play in 2024, no one in their right mind would argue that college football’s top programs are among those two groups.
However, is Washington’s path to the playoff really easier than what Arizona will have in 2024? No way.
With Noah Fifita and the Wildcats set to return a ton of starters from a 10-3 team that’s riding one of the nation’s longest win streaks, there’s momentum for Arizona heading into 2024. That means the polls are going to swing in their favor, especially if Fisch were to have stuck around.
Arizona’s toughest games next season are a nonconference showdown at Kansas State and a trip to Utah. That’s manageable for a Top 10 team. Meanwhile, Washington has games vs. Michigan, at Penn State, at Oregon, and at Iowa, all in Big Ten play.
Is that really a better path to the playoff, Jedd?
Don’t worry folks, this is probably just a case of talking out of both sides of his mouth again. After all, he also talked about being committed to Washington for the long haul.
“With an opportunity to go out there with a fan base that’s dying to continue to win national championships, the idea of staying is why you come,” Fisch said of being at Washington long term. “The idea of being here is to win championships. And that’s all I can promise that we’re going to be here every single day doing everything we can to win the championship, knowing that Washington has the opportunity to do that every year.”
Sound familiar?
