The College Football Playoff Committee has to get it together

Michigan may be No. 4 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, but that doesn’t mean the rankings were good overall.

Some rankings are concerning, as they don’t look or feel right.

The rankings these week don’t really matter, but the final rankings the committee release will have major consequences.

Before we dive in to the rankings, let’s take a look at the CFP Committee Members.

The Members

• Gene Smith: Athletic Director- Ohio State
• Todd Stansbury: Athletic Director- Georgia Tech
• Ronnie Lott: Former All-American- USC
• Scott Stricklin: Athletic Director- Florida
• Bobby Johnson: Former head coach- Vanderbilt
• Ken Hatfield: Former head coach of Air Force, Arkansas, Clemson
• Herb Deromedi: Former head coach- Central Michigan
• Joe Castiglione: Athletic Director- Oklahoma
• Jeff Bower: Former head coach- Southern Miss
• Paola Boivin: Professor- Arizona State
• Frank Beamer: Former head coach- Virginia Tech
• Rob Mullens: Athletic Director- Oregon

The Rankings

1. Alabama (9-0)
2. Clemson (9-0)
3. Notre Dame (9-0)
4. Michigan (8-1)
5. Georgia (8-1)
6. Oklahoma (8-1)
7. LSU (7-2)
8. Washington State (8-1)
9. West Virginia (7-1)
10. Ohio State (8-1)
11. Kentucky (7-2)
12. UCF (8-0)
13. Syracuse (7-2)
14. NC State (6-2)
15. Florida (6-3)
16. Mississippi State (6-3)
17. Boston College (7-2)
18. Michigan State (6-3)
19. Texas (6-3)
20. Penn State (6-3)
21. Iowa (6-3)
22. Iowa State (5-3)
23. Fresno State (8-1)
24. Auburn (7-3)
25. Washington (7-3)

The Problem

First, LSU (SEC).

LSU has no business being No. 7 after getting spanked by Alabama 29-0. The Tigers now have two losses and shouldn’t be ahead of teams that have only one loss. It’s almost like they got some street cred for losing to the Tide in Death Valley. It almost seems like a reward they’re at No. 7 and I’m sure the team is ecstatic to be ranked where they are. It doesn’t make it right.

At this point, Ohio State, West Virginia, Washington State and UCF all should be ranked ahead of LSU. The committee says they do not factor in the previous weeks rankings when determining a current ranking on a given week, which makes this decision even more head-scratching. You simply cannot have LSU at No. 7, it isn’t fair to one loss teams that did what they had to do on Saturday only to see the Tigers, who laid an egg vs ‘Bama be deemed better than them.

Second, Syracuse (ACC).

I actually like Syracuse this season, they’ve been fun to watch. But they aren’t worthy of being ranked No. 13. I respect the fact they almost beat Clemson 27-23, but they’ve had the weakest of weak scheduled beyond that playing teams such as Wagner, Western Michigan, and Connecticut. Bad job committee, bad job.

Third, NC State (ACC).

Someone has to tell the committee that the ACC is average at best this year, and actually, they’re kind of bad. NC State is 6-2, but if you classify losing to Clemson 41-7 and beating teams like James Madison, Georgia State, and Marshall worthy of being No. 14, then count me out.

The Future

Whether the committee got the top four right or not may be what matters most, mistakes such as LSU at No. 7 demonstrates the flaws a panel can have in regards to their objectivity, which is undoubtedly subjective to a degree, too.

I’m not going to sit here and talk S&P Rankings and show why some of their rankings make next to no sense, but what I will do is say that if a ranking or two more come out where things are glaringly wrong, Michigan fans should start to get concerned, even if the Wolverines win all their regular season games and the Big Ten Championship.

The Shade