The first College Football Playoff rankings are out — and several teams have legitimate gripes with the way the committee sorted things out.
Maybe they feel too much weight was given to their losses. Or they received too little credit for their wins. Or they can’t help but wonder just what more they could have done.
Whatever the specific complaint about the rankings, there is one crucial detail to remember: Nothing about them is binding. The committee can — and probably will — completely overhaul them by next Tuesday, which means we’ll have a whole new group of fans with justifiable anger.
For now, let’s look closer at three teams that deserve to feel slighted.
No. 11 Notre Dame
There is a massive gap between where the Associated Press voters put the Fighting Irish (No. 4) and where the committee slotted them. Even the five remaining computers from the old Bowl Championship Series rankings like Notre Dame (7-1) more than that.
Let’s compare where Notre Dame sits in the rankings with its cross-state rival Indiana. Neither team has beaten a CFP-ranked team, but the Irish have the better loss (at No. 9 BYU) than Indiana (No. 12 Ohio State at home). Notre Dame faces a prove-it game this week against No. 1 Miami. Win that one, and the Irish are in good shape. Lose it, and their CFP hopes are probably toast.
No. 13 Tennessee
I’ll admit it’s not easy to drum up sympathy for a team that has lost twice through October. But bear with me through a round of Blind Resume. Team A and Team B are both 6-2. Both teams' losses are to CFP-ranked opponents — and Team B beat Team A by 16 points. So why is Team A in the conversation for a first-round bye while Team B is on the wrong side of the bubble? Because Team A is Alabama and Team B (Tennessee) is not.
No. 16 Wake Forest
This certainly feels like a team being graded based on its name and uniform — not how it has played. Wake Forest (7-1) is pretty clearly second only to top-ranked Miami in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Coach Jake Dickert’s Demon Deacons have reeled off five wins in a row — including three in conference play by at least 34 points apiece. The only blemish on that resume is a 33-20 home loss to Miami in Week 3. You can make a strong argument that the human polls have them underrated at No. 14 — one of the old BCS computers has them at No. 5 — but the selection committee showed them even less love.
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