College Football Playoff selection committee members will leave, formats will change, and conference affiliations will change. But one thing remains the same. That means brand names get preferential treatment.
This year’s evidence: Indiana Hoosiers, BYU Cougars, SMU Mustangs.
The first CFP Top 25 rankings for the new 12-team playoffs were released Tuesday night, with the three schools mentioned above being the notable losers: Indiana at No. 8, BYU at No. 9 and SMU at No. 13. They are undefeated and boast overwhelming strength, but with one loss they are behind the five teams. The Cougars are also undefeated, with wins over SMU and No. 19 Kansas State, but have lost to the same five teams. The Mustangs have one loss to BYU, a wipeout against No. 18 Pittsburgh, and a road win over No. 22 Louisville, but are currently out of the picture.
Here’s what these three have going for them.
It’s especially puzzling that Penn State and Texas are ahead of Indiana and BYU. The Nittany Lions have one loss at home (to powerhouse Ohio State) and seven wins against unranked teams by an average margin of 19 points. The Longhorns still seem to be getting recognition for defeating the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Mich., in Week 2, but Michigan is a 5-4 team that hasn’t lived up to its preseason bill.
This is the first CFP Top 25 blind resume test from last year and this year.
The undefeated Big Ten team, which was criticized last year for its strength of schedule, went 8-0 without playing a ranked opponent, with an average winning margin of 34.8 points. The team was ranked 3rd in the initial CFP rankings.
The undefeated Big Ten team, which has been criticized for its strength of schedule this year, is 9-0 without playing a ranked opponent and has an average win margin of 32.9. That team is ranked 8th.
2023 Team: Michigan.
2024 Team: Indiana.
The Wolverines are a blueblood who made the playoffs last season and have been ranked in regular polls from the beginning. The Hoosiers are a perennial lightweight program coming off a losing season and coaching change and are expected to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten. However, when you look at the actual results of the two programs, there is little difference.
When it comes to laundry and tradition, it’s different.
As the No. 9 seed in those original rankings, slots and rankings are two different things, and Indiana is in a precarious position, a confusing wrinkle that ESPN has tried to address with only moderate success. If the Hoosiers lose to Ohio State on Nov. 23 in Columbus, Ohio and finish 11-1, could they be eliminated from the playoffs? The Buckeyes are currently ranked No. 2, so it’s not a huge loss, but there’s not much room to drop from No. 9.
The standings of Big 12 and ACC teams in the top 25 should also be relevant for those conferences. The top 12 includes four Big Ten teams, four from the SEC, the independent Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Mountain West’s Boise State Broncos, and only one team each from the other power conferences. BYU of the Big 12 and the Miami Hurricanes of the ACC.
SMU on the outside despises ACC. The second-place team in the Big 12 is the Iowa State Cyclones, who dropped to 17th place with one loss. Those leagues could struggle to get a second team, and the Big 12 could be in danger of looking at the top. -Four seeds go to Boise State over champion.
The good news is that things will be very different next month. The infuriating news is that the usual bias in favor of well-known programs and suppressing up-and-coming programs seems to be at work.
