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Louisville Football: 3 examples why the committee's first playoff poll is garbage
Louisville football got hosed in the first college football playoff poll and we take a look at three reasons why the poll is dead wrong.
This was not a very good night for Louisville Football fans as their Cardinals were ranked number seven in the committee’s first poll of the season. It came as a great surprise since the Cards have been ranked at number five in the AP Poll for many weeks in a row. This was not the kind of night that we were all hoping for.
It doesn’t mean that the season is a failure because every Louisville fan would have gladly accepted going 11-1 and having the Heisman Trophy winner. While those two things are not set in stone, we are also learning that those two things also do not equal deserving to go to the College Football Playoff.
In case you haven’t seen the top ten teams in the committee’s poll, here they are below:
There were some major surprises in that top ten. After nine weeks of football, everyone had a pretty good feel on where certain teams should be placed every week, but apparently the College Football Playoff committee doesn’t care about the regular polls.
I am actually being serious, they mention on their website that they don’t take polls into consideration and if they do, they are supposed to disclose which poll they used.
Either way, the committee missed the mark on their first poll of the season and here are three examples on the following pages.
Oct 29, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Washington Huskies wide receiver Dante Pettis (8) returns a punt for a touchdown during the second half against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Washington won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
3. Washington has done everything they needed to do to be fourth
If there was any two teams that I would have been completely fine with being ranked over Louisville football, it would have been Washington and Texas A&M. However, the committee places the Aggies over the Huskies and that is dead wrong.
We do have to understand that this is the first week of the rankings and they are not taking into the consideration the weight of conference championships.
However, am I supposed to believe that a team who is undefeated and that passed every test on their schedule, is not as worthy as the Aggies who got beat 33-14 by Alabama?
That is a joke if you are asking me. The Aggies got destroyed by the Crimson Tide and it wasn’t even close.
The Huskies are still in a good spot, but let’s not look past the fact there was a major SEC bias in this first poll.
Oct 22, 2016; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs with the ball during the third quarter against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Ohio State 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O
2. Penn State was ranked way too high
The Nittany Lions were ranked all the way up at number 12 in the country after being placed at number 20 in the Associated Press’ poll this week. Penn State being ranked this high in the poll represents two things: The committee’s obvious bias towards the Big Ten and a misunderstanding of who they have beaten.
Penn State’s biggest win of the season has been Ohio State, however the Buckeyes have showed that they aren’t the elite team that we are used to seeing. They barely hung on to beat Northwestern at home last weekend, but that’s somehow better than almost losing to Virginia on the road.
As you look up and down Penn State’s schedule, please tell me why they deserve to be ranked 12th.
Was it when they got beat by unranked Pittsburgh? Was it when they got destroyed by Michigan? Maybe it was their seven point win over Temple or it could have been their three point win over Minnesota right?
Come on College Football Playoff committee, that’s a joke.
Oct 29, 2016; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer talks with his team during a timeout in the fourth quarter against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won the game 24-20. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
1. Ohio State is apparently better than the Louisville Cardinals
Penn State being ranked at number 12 sent a huge shockwave into the top seven teams. This made Ohio State’s loss to the Nittany Lions a top 15 loss, instead of the unranked loss that it was at the time.
It’s just so hilarious to me that the committee thinks that Louisville’s road loss to number two Clemson makes them worse than the Buckeyes.
The Cardinals have done everything that they have needed to do this season, other than losing a close game in Clemson one month ago. They haven’t been perfect, but they have played just as well, if not better than the Buckeyes.
I don’t even want to hear about Ohio State’ strength of schedule either. Oklahoma got killed by an unranked Houston team, which the committee obviously doesn’t care about. Therefore, that leaves Ohio State with one solid win over Wisconsin who has two losses.
However, the Badgers weren’t the number two team in the country and they didn’t get handed one of their worst losses in school history either.
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