Ranking the CFB playoff teams

[TARB]

1 Ohio State ..... clearly the favorite to win the whole thing
2 LSU ..... win the rest of the regular season and gets in, even losing the SEC Championship
3 Clemson ..... must win out
4 Georgia ..... must win out
5 Alabama ..... needs help to get in
6 Oregon ..... needs help to get in

Assuming that Ohio State, LSU, Clemson and Oregon win out, then this should make up the playoff teams:

1 Ohio State
2 LSU
3 Clemson
4 Oregon

[Senator L]

How far do you think the Gophers will move up

[TARB]

I have not considered it since I expect M Minnesota to lose to both Iowa and Wisconsin and then be destroyed by Ohio State in the Big 1o Championship Game.

[Buckeyefan80]

If Minny were to lose to both Iowa and Wisky then chances are Wisky wins out and would have a rematch against the Buckeyes in B1G Championship game.

[Mrvolo]

Penn State was 4 and loses to Minnesota.You have to put Minnesota ahead of PS.I agree they are not a top 4 team,yet but I think ahead of Utah and Close to Oregon.
They get their chance against Ohio State At season end.A long ways to go.

[TARB]

I expect both Iowa and Wisconsin to beat Minnesota.

[Buckeyefan80]

I can’t say I disagree with that V but to jump from 17 to 7ish is big. A lot of people thought PSU was overrated so it may not have been THAT big of a win but we will see.

[TARB]

On neutral fields I would make the following lines:
Ohio State -21 vs Minnesota
Oregon -10 vs Minnesota
Utah -7 vs Minnesota
Penn State -6 vs Minnesota
Minnesota -3 vs Baylor

Yes, Minnesota beat Penn State on its home turf by 5 points, but Penn State was favored by 6.5 points for a reason, Penn State is the better team.

[Mrvolo]

Penn State could be the better team but not yesterday.I know home field means a lot but Minnesota showed a lot of heart yesterday.Lets see how they do at Iowa.Will hold my opinion till after that game.

[Buckeyefan80]

Agree it was a fluke. Turnovers really killed penn state along with not converting in the red zone. Credit to Minny on stopping them/intercepting Clifford but I think getting to do it all over again the outcome changes. Props to Fleck tho too, he is a good coach and it’s good to see a perennial mid to bottom dweller finally have success. A little too early tho here. They have another year or two before they should be talked about hanging with the bigger schools.

[TARB]

How far do you think the Gophers will move up

OK, after looking at how the committee ranked the teams last week, I think that Minnesota will move up about 1 spot to 16th in the rankings. I think that Minnesota should be ahead of Baylor and in 15th place, but the committee probably puts Baylor ahead of Minnesota. Penn State will probably drop to about #10 or #11.

[Mrvolo]

I say they crack the top 10.

[TARB]

1 Ohio State ..... clearly the favorite to win the whole thing
2 LSU ..... win the rest of the regular season and gets in, even losing the SEC Championship
3 Clemson ..... must win out
4 Georgia ..... must win out
5 Alabama ..... needs help to get in
6 Oregon ..... needs help to get in

Assuming that Ohio State, LSU, Clemson and Oregon win out, then this should make up the playoff teams:

1 Ohio State
2 LSU
3 Clemson
4 Oregon

Actually, Oregon should get the number 4 spot by winning the rest of its games, including beating Utah in the PAC12 Championship game; so little help is needed. LSU beating Georgia for the SEC would guarantee a spot for a 1-loss Oregon.

[Mrvolo]

Just saw that Minnesota is ranked 7 th in both Coaches and AP polls.Seems about right to me.

[TARB]

The committee will have Minnesota lower with the new Tuesday rankings. Undefeated Minnesota will most likely wind up losing 2 to 3 games.

[Mrvolo]

Your original position was #16 and that made no sense.Committee will have them in top 10 as I said.Game that tells how good they are is next week.

[TARB]

There are at least 14 teams that would be favored over Minnesota on a neutral field. The people voting in these polls have no concept of how good Minnesota is, they are blinded by that gaudy 9-0 record.

[Mrvolo]

How do we rate teams if we do not look at their record.Minnesota took it to Penn State yesterday and was fortunate to hang on.Lets See how they do on the road next week
at Iowa and then continue this.I also disagree that the people voting in these polls are blinded by 9-0 record.What are they to go by,power ratings?

[TARB]

CBS sports 130 (ranking the 130 college football teams) has updated its rankings on November 11th and has Minnesota in 13th place.

[Mrvolo]

You are right about this.CBS has them 13 and AP and coaches both 7th.Lets See How the CFP ranks them Tuesday as this is the only one that counts,including yours and mine.

[Coachv29]

You're probably right, but every year it just seems like 1 team defies logic and just rolls on.....we'll see soon I guess

[steviev]

I think oregon has zero chance to get in right now. Biggest win over Washington who is 6 and 4. And a loss to a Auburn team that is probably going to have 4 losses. And when it comes down to it a pac 12 team getting in after washingtons embarrassing performance when they were in it. There will be 2 sec teams clemson and the big 10 winner ohio state

[TARB]

If you are right, then I hope that the second SEC team is Georgia and not Alabama. I am sick and tired of seeing Alabama in the playoffs. I hope to see Auburn beat Alabama and then Alabama will definitely be out. If Alabama has two losses, then Oregon gets in if the Ducks win out and LSU is the SEC champion.

[DaveTuley]

I agree with overall consensus that Penn State is still better than Minnesota (and also don't like when teams are rated higher despite playing weak schedule)...however, at some point you have to go by results on the field and records. If Minnesota wins out, they should be in the playoff....and I know they'll be HUGE dog to Ohio State even if beating Iowa an Wisconsin, but anything is possible. It's what makes March Madness so great and made the movie Hoosiers possible. And the fact the committee (whose opinion is the only one that matters in this case) had Penn State at No. 4, as wrong as that may be, will probably have a big impact on Minnesota moving up higher than many people thinking.

There's a bigger issue here as we need a CFB Playoff of at least 8 teams (five conference champions despite power rankings, etc.) and 3 at-large bids that would up for debate LMEAO. Obviously the current system is biased against teams that none of the "experts" expected to have a great season so they start unranked and have such a hard time proving their worth even if going undefeated.

[Mrvolo]

Very well said and the key to this week’s CFP is the mistake in putting PS in 4th position last week.Watch the fun start if Baylor goes undefeated and gets left out.

[TARB]

I love the concept of the five league champions and three at large bids. One of the at large bids could go to an undefeated group of five teams like UCF, Cincinnati, Boise State etc.'if indeed, one exists in a given season. This season, if Minnesota goes 13-0, of course the Gophers get in. I just don't see either Baylor or Minnesota going undefeated. Minnesota would have to beat Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio State. Baylor would probably have to beat Oklahoma twice. It is extremely unlikely. Everything will get sorted out in the next month, or so.

[JPdawg]

Watch how fast we go to an 8 team playoff after ESPN-beloved Alabama gets left out. Might be the only thing that will cause the change. Now enjoy 3 more weeks of Saban and his worshippers whining about why they should still be in the final 4. For me, power ratings and "who is better" shouldn't be the deciding factor. When a school has control over their own schedule, winning the games that you do play is more important.

[TARB]

Well said.