Week 2: What SM Thinks the College Football Playoff Rankings Should Be (Update: AP Has New #1, Clemson Tigers)

WEEK 2 – College Football Playoff Rankings … My predictions:

With all due respect the the AP and Coaches poll, they mean pretty much nothing as we saw by the first week’s College Football Playoff Rankings by the committee. Thankfully, the committee actually did their job for the most part and based the rankings off of what has happened on the field this year, not a bias representation of a preseason poll of last year. Also, let me just say this to every NCAA team, strength of schedule matters. Just being undefeated and running up against the score against cream-puffs means nothing. That being said, ahead of the week 2 rankings, this is what I think they will and should look like this week.

A note to the Big 12 and MSU, time to put a sock in it and play the game. Thursday and Saturday’s results show the committee was 100% correct. After this weeks games it is time to say goodbye to Michigan State, who should have already been eliminated from contention but for a BS punt play against the Wolverines. Carma has a way of evening itself out, doesn’t it? Also say goodbye to TCU and their whining after they claimed they were robbed by the committee. TCU’s 49-29 loss, which seemed even more one sided than that effectively ends their run for the playoffs. And add LSU to off the contention list. LSU was manhandled and their Heisman trophy candidate was shut down completely.

1. Clemson Tigers (9-0) [They have finally slayed their FSU demons, the Tigers are the real deal. It is more impressive to defeat a rival like FSU because to be the man, you need to beat the man. With wins over ND and FSU, who else can claim that in college football?
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1) [Last night against the LSU Tigers, BAMA proved to all the haters why they are in the top 4 in the  College Football Playoff Rankings. Its time for the haters to put a sock in it, especially the Big 12 schools, as you could never have held what was the Heisman front-runner, until last night, Leonard Fournette to 31 yards on 19 carries. Oh, BTW, 18 yards came on one carry, you do the math. LSU had 54 yards rushing for the game, time to give praise where the praise is do.
3. Notre Dame (8-1) [For anyone who actually watched ND beat Pitt yesterday, which the committee does, unlike the AP and Coaches pollsters who look at final scores, you will know that it was a one sided affair and a late garbage TD with a second string QB in made it look closer than it was.  The Fighting Irish also have a top 12 SOW. If ND runs the table and defeats Stanford in the final week of the season, they are in the Final 4]
4. Ohio St. (9-0) [sorry, you don't get to be top 3 with a SOS in the 70's and only beating Minnesota by 14 at home, scoring a TD with less than 2 minutes in game. Another lack-luster performance by Ohio St as their starting QB was benched because of a DUI. The Buckeyes finish the season with MSU and Michigan. A loss to either one of those two and they are out. Call me crazy, but I think the Wolverines are pulling the upset in The Big House".]
5. Stanford (8-1) [The Cardinal rolled the Buffaloes on Saturday and proved once again they are the top PAC 12. If they run the table and beat ND, they are in the Final 4.]
6. Florida (8-1) [The Gators had the most ugliest win of the day against Vanderbilt, but it was a win and with their SOS in the 20's and winning the SEC East, they are a top 10 team]
7. Oklahoma St. (9-0) [OK State becomes the Big 12 team de jour. First it was Baylor, then TCU and now ... its the Cowboys, only because they beat TCU at home. The so-called pundits claim that if OK St or  Baylor run the table, they are in. I don't buy it. You can't just be undefeated in your conference where they play no defense and have out of conference games scheduled against  Central Michigan, Central Arkansas and  UTSA and be considered a top 4, even if you are undefeated.
8. Baylor (8-0) [Baylor is the most over-rated team in the NCAA. With a 94 SOW and coming off a 31-24 win against a K State team (3-5) with no conference wins, the Bears don't get to move and its only because some other teams lost why they are even in the top 10. The schedule they have played looks more like a big joke, that the Big 12.]
9. LSU (7-1) [I could only drop them so far, even though I think LSU could beat many of the teams ranked above them, especially in Baton Rouge.]
10. Iowa (9-0) [The Hawkeyes may be undefeated, but they have played no one and a SOS in the 60's. Yet another team who has played no one and no out of conference games against anyone.]

I will say it one final time, until some of these teams start playing out of conference games against Power 5 conferences, and not the cellar dwellers of those conferences, they have no reason to complain. One can’t play in a weak Power 5 and then also play no one … if you do that is the equivalent of playing in a non-Power 5.

UPDATE I: AP poll shamed into putting Clemson at #1 over Ohio State.

Who honestly thinks the AP poll would have put Clemson at #1 over Ohio State had the College Football Playoff rankings not put them at #1? Sorry, but the Buckeyes have not been the best team in the country all year. Suddenly, the AP has a change of heart and puts a team at #1 who has actually beat good teams. But the AP loses points with their knee jerk reaction to bump OK State, the latest darling of the Big 12, up 9 places to #5. Give me a break folks, Baylor, OK State, TCU and OK are not that good. But for some reason the AP feels the need to always have two teams in the Top 10 even though they have done nothing to deserve it. OK St finally wins a game against some one, even though it was an over-rated TCU team and they are world beaters. Meanwhile, Baylor has played a schedule less than teams in the American Conference, and they are in the top 4. BS!!!

The Clemson Tigers are the new No. 1 team in The Associated Press college football poll, knocking the Ohio State Buckeyes from the top spot for the first time this season.

The Tigers are top-ranked in the AP media poll for the first time since the final poll of the 1981 season, when Clemson won its only AP national title.

Clemson was No. 1 when the initial College Football Playoff rankings of the season were unveiled Tuesday.

The Tigers (9-0) received 31 first-place votes and 1,489 points after beating Florida State 23-13 on Saturday. Ohio State (9-0) had 26 first-place votes and 1,460 points. The defending national champions have been first since the preseason, when they became the first team to be a unanimous preseason No. 1 in the 79-year history of the AP rankings.

UPDATE II: The actual College Football Playoff ranking polls have it as follows: Clemson, Alabama, Ohio St and Notre Dame. I can’t complain with the top 4, I basically have the same with OSU being #4. However, I do have a couple of issues that the committee might have to explain. IOWA at #5, REALLY? How does that happen? Both Baylor and Iowa won games unimpressive against non-ranked opponents by 7 to 8 points and some how Iowa leapfrogs everyone? Hell, why didn’t you just put them in the top 4 while you were at it. At this point I am also not buying Utah in top 10  over Florida.