College football has seen an undeniably interesting year, with rewritten conferences and shocking underdog victories shaking up the season. Playoffs start in a month, and though the final playoff rankings are not set, the weekly College Football Playoff rankings have started coming out, and fans seem to have a lot to say about them.
Oregon comes in as one, Ohio State follows behind as the second-ranked team and Texas comes in third. Those are just the top three teams, as annual SEC powerhouses Alabama and Georgia fall at No. 7 and 10, respectively
“As a proud Georgia fan, I’m incredibly frustrated with the College Football Playoff rankings,” said Luke Strickland, a sophomore finance major. “It seems like the committee isn’t placing enough emphasis on the strength of schedule, which I believe should be a crucial factor when ranking teams. Sure, teams like Indiana, Penn State and Notre Dame may have better records than Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee, but if those teams played Georgia tomorrow, the result would be far from competitive.”
Rankings are determined by the CFP Selection Committee, which evaluates a variety of factors, including strength of schedule, head-to-head results and performance against ranked opponents.
Many Georgia fans are frustrated with the CFP rankings. Georgia has lost two games so far, so fans are anxiously waiting to see if the team will for sure make the playoffs. Last year, Florida State had an undefeated season, but the CFP denied them a shot for the national championship, bringing schedule difficulty to the spotlight as a factor for this year’s anticipated ranking.
“Georgia has consistently proven that they can compete at the highest level, and I’m confident they’ll show why they deserve to be at the top,” said Strickland. “I strongly believe that Georgia will go on to win the national championship, silencing the critics and proving the rankings wrong. In the end, it’s not just about records but about who can perform when it counts. I know Georgia is ready to do just that.”
Georgia has lost to Alabama and Ole Miss this season and still faces one regular season challenge against neighbor Georgia Tech. Though the Jackets are unranked, they did beat No. 8 Miami, garnering some attention this season.
“It’s a hard one because I do not know what [the CFP committee] are looking for,” said Kirby Smart, the head football coach at Georgia. “They can not define that. It is not simple either. I mean, anyone can be on the committee and say this is what we are looking for. This is our criteria, and there is so much that it overlaps things, and everybody debates it, and I do not have time to really waste on it.”
Many fans have strong opinions on the CFP rankings, with some outright rejecting the system in favor of other ranking systems like the Associated Press weekly ranking that holds Georgia at No. 6. However, only the CFP can determine who enters the playoffs and gets a shot at winning the national championship.
“I don’t think the [CFP] rankings are good,” said Eli Gaddy, a junior majoring in management information systems. “I think Oregon or Ohio State is going to win it all. Texas hasn’t played anyone, and neither has Penn State or Indiana, so I think there are some frauds in the ranking right now. I also think Georgia should be ranked higher than Texas since they beat them.”
“I believe the CFP rankings this week are somewhat well-rounded; however, I think some teams are going to make it unjustly because of the strength of their schedule,” said Chandler Chung, a senior nursing major.
Many football fans agree that the CFP has too many unknown conditions when establishing their ranking, which makes it hard to agree with or understand some of their decisions.
“The rankings are always a touchy subject because some fans will always be upset, and you can’t make everyone happy,” Chung said. “However, I predict teams like Indiana with a low strength of schedule and a one-loss record will, unfortunately, make it over two-loss SEC teams with a harder schedule.”
There are many speculations over the CFP. Disgruntled fans are always out there ready to prove the rankings wrong, just as the teams are ready to show everyone and the CFP who the real top team is in the league.
