Average FPI and Average SOS by conference

[Cruloc]

My issue is not necessarily Alabama is out. Mind you, they should be in.

It's that Boise State gets a bye. Arizona St. is in. SMU with a poor resume is in.

If South Carolina and Ole Miss got in and Alabama was out, I'd complain but at least I could go well alright may be it was a bad showing late in the season... but this is just, atrocious.

This system has been setup deliberately to give the easiest possible path to some of the least deserving teams. People are saying SMU and Boise State are going to get demolished and they probably will eventually, but it's such an enormous gift to avoid the high SoS, truly tested teams for so much of the bracket.

Sure, wait until they get Georgia, but until then? It's easier than a SEC schedule...

Well, you are correct.....there is a reason Penn State is likely and favored to get to the semifinals. Sure, they could get upset, and knowing James Franklin they absolutely will.....but they are favored by 9 over SMU and would be favored by multiple TD's over Boise.

 

[Jack Bourbon]

This spread makes my blood boil:

Thursday, Jan. 2
Gator Bowl -- 7:30 p.m., TV: ESPN
Duke vs. No. 14 Ole Miss (-14)

3rd SEC team out is a 2 TD favorite over SMU's biggest win.

From what I can see, the only SEC bowl underdog is Vandy at GaTech by 2.5.

 

[Krymsonman]

Interesting note....because I've gone down a rabbit hole today:

SMU's rank by week and who they played.

Preseason - NR (beat Nevada)
Week 2 - NR (others receiving votes) (beat Houston Christian?)
Week 3 - NR (lost to BYU) (BYU was not ranked)
Week 4 - bye week (still NR)
Week 5 - NR (back in others receiving votes) (beat TCU)
Week 6 - NR (others receiving votes) (beat Florida State)
Week 7 - #25 (beat Louisville)
Week 8 - #21 (bye week)
Week 9 - #22 (beat Stanford)
Week 10 - #20 (beat Duke in OT)
Week 11 - #13 (beat Pittsburgh) (Pitt was #18)
Week 12 - #14 (bye week)
Week 13 - #13 (beat Boston College)
Week 14 - #9 (beat Virginia)
Week 15 - #8 (beat California)
Week 16 - #10 (lost to Clemson)

Their big movements were beating Duke in OT and Pitt the next week. Pitt was ranked at the time, but had played no one and lost the rest of their games. The other one was our fault....week 14...SMU was beneficiary of Bama losing to Oklahoma and Ole Miss losing to Florida and Indiana losing to Ohio State.

And, not 1, not 2, but 3 bye weeks. Looks like play 3 games, get a week off. You shouldn't need a week off with that schedule. Yeah, we didn't take care of business, but whoever wins this mess may or may not be the actual best team in the country.

 

[Krymsonman]

I was sounding the alarm for the past couple of years, there was a time where the committee did seem to consider SoS, perhaps even too much (two loss Auburn over undefeated Wisconsin). But, the committee started breaking with any metric based rankings and going the wrong way. They actually reached the point where they were not only breaking from the BCS, but they were ignoring SoS so much they were breaking from the human polls as well!

The committee had literally become the least data driven well known ranking system. For instance last year they had Oregon as the #1 one loss team, ahead of Alabama, Texas and Ohio State going into the final week. Guess who had the worst SoS of the bunch? Oregon, but it didn't matter to them. They also ended up putting Alabama at #4 when in fact Alabama was #3 in the BCS. They came really close last year to screwing over Alabama as well, when Alabama should have been in easily.

This committee this year is absolutely the worst one we've ever had - by far. All they cared about was making sure everyone was included, no matter weak the resume. Now we end up with a bunch of games not many people will watch, so let's see how the TV people who are paying all the big bucks feel about that. But the worst thing of all is, we get a brand new committee next year, and they may be worse than this one. We can only hope that next year's committee will actually have a little knowledge about the game.

 

[Cruloc]

Hunter Yurachek....Arkansas AD
Chris Ault - Nevada coach
Chet Gladchuk - Navy and Houston AD
Jim Grobe - Wake Forest and Baylor coach
Warde Manuel - Michigan and UConn AD
Randall McDaniel - Arizona State Guard
Gary Pinkel - Missouri coach
Mack Rhoades - Baylor AD
Mike Riley - Bama DB, coach all over the place
David Sayler - Miami OH AD
Will Shields - Nebraska Guard
Kelly Whiteside - USA Today college football writer, first female president of the FWAA
Carla Williams - Virginia AD, UGA basketball guard....got a doctorate from Florida State

1. Why are there so many current athletic directors....that breeds conflicts of interest.
2. Why is there a sports writer on there
3. Why is there a women's basketball player on there.
4. Why are there 4 retired coaches

The structure and makeup of the committee is and has been flawed. Not just because of inherent subjectivity, but because of inherent conflicts of interests and/or just not being really qualified for such a role.

And furthermore....who leaked the rankings out of all these committee members or the 30 staff members they have listed on their website? I would think with this being such big money someone's head is gonna role for leaking it just before the big reveal.

 

[KrAzY3]

Hunter Yurachek....Arkansas AD
Chris Ault - Nevada coach
Chet Gladchuk - Navy and Houston AD
Jim Grobe - Wake Forest and Baylor coach
Warde Manuel - Michigan and UConn AD
Randall McDaniel - Arizona State Guard
Gary Pinkel - Missouri coach
Mack Rhoades - Baylor AD
Mike Riley - Bama DB, coach all over the place
David Sayler - Miami OH AD
Will Shields - Nebraska Guard
Kelly Whiteside - USA Today college football writer, first female president of the FWAA
Carla Williams - Virginia AD, UGA basketball guard....got a doctorate from Florida State

1. Why are there so many current athletic directors....that breeds conflicts of interest.
2. Why is there a sports writer on there
3. Why is there a women's basketball player on there.
4. Why are there 4 retired coaches

The structure and makeup of the committee is and has been flawed. Not just because of inherent subjectivity, but because of inherent conflicts of interests and/or just not being really qualified for such a role.

And furthermore....who leaked the rankings out of all these committee members or the 30 staff members they have listed on their website? I would think with this being such big money someone's head is gonna role for leaking it just before the big reveal.

This is going to sound political, and I guess it should because this is the most political commitee we've seen.

This is a DEI committee. For instance, I looked up Kelly Whiteside's articles. All I saw were things about female basketball and the Olympics. Why is she on this committee which should be the best of the best college football minds?

I don't really need to go further, because someone who spent their time covering the WNBA has no business in this role. I have literally never heard of her.

To explain how the committee works, if they are discussing Alabama, Mile Riley actually has to excuse himself (it's kind of worst case scenario as the SEC loses a voice in the room). Instead, Kelly gets to have her say...

 

[denver]

Hunter Yurachek....Arkansas AD
Chris Ault - Nevada coach
Chet Gladchuk - Navy and Houston AD
Jim Grobe - Wake Forest and Baylor coach
Warde Manuel - Michigan and UConn AD
Randall McDaniel - Arizona State Guard
Gary Pinkel - Missouri coach
Mack Rhoades - Baylor AD
Mike Riley - Bama DB, coach all over the place
David Sayler - Miami OH AD
Will Shields - Nebraska Guard
Kelly Whiteside - USA Today college football writer, first female president of the FWAA
Carla Williams - Virginia AD, UGA basketball guard....got a doctorate from Florida State

1. Why are there so many current athletic directors....that breeds conflicts of interest.
2. Why is there a sports writer on there
3. Why is there a women's basketball player on there.
4. Why are there 4 retired coaches

The structure and makeup of the committee is and has been flawed. Not just because of inherent subjectivity, but because of inherent conflicts of interests and/or just not being really qualified for such a role.

And furthermore....who leaked the rankings out of all these committee members or the 30 staff members they have listed on their website? I would think with this being such big money someone's head is gonna role for leaking it just before the big reveal.

All the actual members with any football experience are quite a distance removed from todays game...so their perspective is definitely NOT current. Collectively i could not conceive of a worst committee to choose 12 teams

 

[Krymsonman]

Hunter Yurachek....Arkansas AD
Chris Ault - Nevada coach
Chet Gladchuk - Navy and Houston AD
Jim Grobe - Wake Forest and Baylor coach
Warde Manuel - Michigan and UConn AD
Randall McDaniel - Arizona State Guard
Gary Pinkel - Missouri coach
Mack Rhoades - Baylor AD
Mike Riley - Bama DB, coach all over the place
David Sayler - Miami OH AD
Will Shields - Nebraska Guard
Kelly Whiteside - USA Today college football writer, first female president of the FWAA
Carla Williams - Virginia AD, UGA basketball guard....got a doctorate from Florida State

1. Why are there so many current athletic directors....that breeds conflicts of interest.
2. Why is there a sports writer on there
3. Why is there a women's basketball player on there.
4. Why are there 4 retired coaches

The structure and makeup of the committee is and has been flawed. Not just because of inherent subjectivity, but because of inherent conflicts of interests and/or just not being really qualified for such a role.

And furthermore....who leaked the rankings out of all these committee members or the 30 staff members they have listed on their website? I would think with this being such big money someone's head is gonna role for leaking it just before the big reveal.

I know what it came down to: It was a 6-6 tie, and Carla Williams, (ACC AD and FSU doctorate), cast the deciding vote for the ACC as payback for FSU last year.

 

[CrimsonTitles]

I know what it came down to: It was a 6-6 tie, and Carla Williams, (ACC AD and FSU doctorate), cast the deciding vote for the ACC as payback for FSU last year.

I bet Warde Manuel voted for SMU too. Having more teams than the SEC is very good for the B1G.

 

[Krymsonman]

I bet Warde Manuel voted for SMU too. Having more teams than the SEC is very good for the B1G.

Wouldn't surprise me. Looks like could have been several on this committee with an anti-SEC bias. That's why strength of schedule had nothing to do with anything.

 

[BamaNation]

SMU almost got throttled by the worst ACC champ ever. Then they lost by "only" a few points.

CFP has confirmed that SOS/SOR/FPI are meaningless. Only the actual R matters (record).

 

[Guido]

I think bama and OSU should have a joint press release saying we have cancelled our future games. Skankey should state we will not be going to 9 games. Then we cancel the Notre Dame games. ESPN would lose their minds..

 

[GrayTide]

I thought the purpose of the 12 team playoff was to get the 12 best college football teams in the playoff. There should be no exemption for conference champions unless they are one of the best 12 teams. The entire process is a sham. At least 5 of the SEC teams would beat the crap out of SMU, Clemson, and Arizona State. I have been against this "Blue Ribbon Committee" since its inception. I hope the 3 teams mentioned above get embarrassed in their first games.

 

[BamaInBham]

Not only is it outrageous that Alabama was left out, what’s almost as bad is that the SEC and especially Alabama have Greg Sankey as their advocate. I trust him as far as I can throw Kadyn Proctor.

1. He is incompetent. E.g., he has been out maneuvered by the B10 on every TV contract. The numbers are not straightforward to me but that’s my understanding. And this year he allowed the SEC to have 3 bids vs the ACC with 2 and the B10 with 4.
2. He seems to despise Alabama from his sourpuss face (he looks like he is sucking on a lemon) when Alabama wins another SEC title, to giving teams more bye weeks vs Alabama every year (4 this year and 4 more next year - this year more than any other team - yes it matters) to never expressing any appreciation for what Alabama has accomplished to… He’s deeply indebted to Alabama (yes, to others to some extent as well) and he hates it. Greg, you’ve ridden Alabama’s coattails to your place of power and wealth without a word - even Finebaum has acknowledged that he’s indebted to Alabama multiple times, even after landing at ESPN.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

I wish people would stop crying about it and move on. We sound like FSU. Just my Opinion. The mark of a good team is that you win the games you are supposed to win.

 

[KrAzY3]

I wish people would stop crying about it and move on. We sound like FSU. Just my Opinion. The mark of a good team is that you win the games you are supposed to win.

I think it's absurd to expect a team to go out there and beat the brains out of a far higher level of competition than the other conferences played and sit in judgement (while applauding teams that played cupcakes) when they don't meet these completely unrealistic and uninformed expectations. I wonder if some of these people would rank Boise State higher than the New England Patriots because the Patriots have a worse record.

I won't stop making my point because my point won't stop becoming valid. It's still unfair that Roy Jones got robbed in the Olympics and I guess that could constitute crying to bring it up but unfair is unfair and will forever be so. This needs to be addressed and fixed and it won't be by staying silent.

Also, Alabama was ahead of FSU in the BCS (actually third, so they got ranked too low by the committee two years in a row) just like they were ahead of SMU in the BCS. It's not like FSU because FSU played a far softer scheduler last year as well and I made that point many times last year.

 

[Isaiah 63:1]

... if they are discussing Alabama, Mile Riley actually has to excuse himself ...

Seeing as how the highlight of Mike Riley's alumnus career is being Major Ogilvie's first cousin, his recusals might actually work in our favor...

 

[CrimsonTitles]

I wish people would stop crying about it and move on. We sound like FSU. Just my Opinion. The mark of a good team is that you win the games you are supposed to win.

That's the mark of a great team. Teams that are simply good, do exactly what we did, and okay to the competition.

And we're not really whining about being left out, as the fact that we got left out with such a strong resume. I'd actually understand it if we were in FSU 's shoes, but we actually had one of the best resumes in the country, and got left out for a team that was 0-2 against ranked teams. It's a horrible look for the committee.

 

[teamplayer]

I thought the purpose of the 12 team playoff was to get the 12 best college football teams in the playoff. There should be no exemption for conference champions unless they are one of the best 12 teams. The entire process is a sham. At least 5 of the SEC teams would beat the crap out of SMU, Clemson, and Arizona State. I have been against this "Blue Ribbon Committee" since its inception. I hope the 3 teams mentioned above get embarrassed in their first games.

I think the purpose of a 12 team playoff was to make sure that everyone had a seat at the table. They knew with that many teams that they could get in the best seven or eight teams that have real chances of winning a championship and also put in some fringe teams who always complained about not having a chance. So many people complained that only ten or fifteen teams even had a chance to play for a championship when the season began. They wanted teams to be rewarded for conference championships, and that would be good if all of the conferences were similar in quality. However, with all of the realignment, some of these conferences are simply jokes. That was not considered, and it should have been. I still think we would have made it if we had lost a close game to OU, but we dropped a steaming pile of crap in Norman. I wish we would have made it, but I also don't have a problem with them giving another team a chance since we blew our opportunity at both an SEC and a national title by getting dominated by a 6-6 team.

 

[BamaInBham]

I wish people would stop crying about it and move on. We sound like FSU. Just my Opinion. The mark of a good team is that you win the games you are supposed to win.

This is not reaching towards some abstract standard (IMO, Alabama falls short of what we want, along with other teams who made the field) but we’re comparing Alabama to specific teams from specific conferences. There is frankly no comparison between Alabama’s resume and SMU’s nor the SEC vs the ACC. To think that the SEC, which is superior to all other conferences and far far superior to all but the B10, has 3 teams vs the B10 with 4 and the ACC which has 2, is sickening.

This not only pertains to this instance but affects future scheduling, demonstrating that they only give a nod to a prominent component of their formal criteria: SOS. It sets a dangerous precedent that dramatically affects the future of the sport. Only a fool or arrogant (often the same) would make their schedule materially more difficult than the minimum.

Exacerbating the issue is that Alabama and the SEC have the incompetent, unappreciative, tone deaf, cowardly, yet proud/arrogant Greg Sankey as its only advocate. As far as I know, he didn’t publicly remind the CFPC of the importance of SOS before their contentious final reveal. They had previously seemed to honor it but you can’t leave it to chance. What did Alabama and the SEC lose - $25M? Plus the other issues already noted.