Think about this for a moment: Before last week’s games, Notre Dame had a significantly tougher schedule than Florida State, yet Florida State won the head-to-head meeting in Tallahassee by stopping a last-second play.
FSU was ranked No. 2, and was eight spots ahead of No. 10 Notre Dame.
Now, fast-forward to this week: TCU has a significantly better schedule than Baylor, yet lost to the Bears on the road on a last-second field goal. TCU is ranked No. 4 in this week’s College Football Playoff poll, and Baylor is No.7.
Any of this make sense?
Didn’t think so.
The best part of this now-spectacular mess is this new, everything-will-be-better playoff is no better than the BCS. In fact, three polls in, it’s mirroring the most controversial product ever used by the sport.
In 2008, Texas beat Oklahoma on the field by 10 points, yet Oklahoma was allowed to play for the Big 12 title — and eventually the BCS national championship — because Texas lost at Texas Tech on a last-second play and OU whipped Texas Tech in Norman.
Baylor thinks it can still pass TCU because the Bears still get to play Kansas State, a team TCU already has beaten. But does it really matter? If the 12-member selection committee believes TCU is a better team than Baylor, why would a Bears win over K-State — something TCU already has accomplished — change things?
Committee chairman Jeff Long said TCU had a “better strength of schedule” — and that’s the reason for completely ignoring the fact that Baylor beat TCU on the field where it counts. The committee is essentially giving TCU credit for a loss to the No. 7 team in its poll, yet ignoring Baylor’s win over the No. 4 team in its poll.
It’s pure nonsense.
And you know what else it is? It’s the committee trying to go “out of the box” with its voting; trying to make a statement to the college football world that playing anyone in the non-conference portion of your schedule is better than playing no one.
We get it, CFP. Minnesota (which TCU beat) is a more impressive non-conference victory than Buffalo (which Baylor beat). That’s your voting process in a nutshell.
It’s not about winning head to head. It’s about playing Minnesota.