The month of November brings many things in the world of college sports. College football, the start of college basketball begins, and then, of course, we get the College Football Playoff rankings every Tuesday night.
There have been plenty of head-scratching moments from the playoff committee on a weekly basis, so I thought it would be fun to share my three thoughts on this week’s playoff rankings.
Texas Tech Could Host and Possibly More
After getting bumped up a spot thanks to Alabama’s loss to Oklahoma, the Red Raiders come in at No. 5. That means if the playoff started today, they would host in the first round, and their projected opponent would be Tulane. While that could certainly change, hosting a playoff game would be massive for Texas Tech and the Big 12. But why settle for just hosting a game? If someone goes down in front of them (Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M, or Georgia), then Tech would have chance to get a first round bye and get right to the quarterfinals like Arizona State did last year. However, last year it was because Arizona State was a conference champion, this year, under straight-seeding, it would be because the committee thinks Tech is a Top 4 team in the country, which they are.
More SEC Bias
Every week, something always sticks out to me and shocker, it’s the SEC again. After losing to Oklahoma last weekend, a two-loss Alabama is ranked ahead of a one-loss BYU team. Keep in mind that BYU’s only loss is to a Top 5 Texas Tech team on the road, while Alabama has lost to a Top 10 Oklahoma at home and 5-5 Florida State team. Why in the hell are the Crimson Tide ahead of not just BYU, but Utah as well who is sitting at No. 12. It makes zero sense to me and no matter how much babbling the talking heads do, it will never make sense. I also wanted to point out that there are now two three-loss SEC teams in the Top 20 with Texas and Tennessee. That’s absolutely ridiculous.
Welcome, Arizona State and Houston
We have two newcomers this week for the Big 12 with Arizona State and Houston. The Sun Devils are sitting at 7-3 with a 5-2 record in conference play. Despite not having Sam Leavitt and Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State have won their last two games with Jeff Sims at quarterback. What they have done is impressive, but I am a little surprised to see them sneak in. However they do have a legitimate chance at winning out and finishing 9-3.
As for Houston, their loss against West Virginia a couple of weeks ago really hurt them not just in the conference standings, but the playoff as well. The Cougars have just two losses and are coming off a bye week after a close win over UCF on the road. Thankfully, some other teams were bounced out so Houston could get in but they still have two big games left against Baylor and TCU to close out the season.
