The College Football Playoff Committee announced its final regular season rankings Tuesday night. The Auburn Tigers came in at No. 11, while the Alabama Crimson Tide fell to No. 12.
Here are three takeaways:
1. Auburn should be ranked higher. Gus Malzahn’s Tigers defeated Alabama in the 84th edition of the Iron Bowl rivalry on Saturday. Even without its injured star quarterback, the Tide are stacked with talent and would be a tough out for anyone. When you consider the teams ranked ahead of them, the Tigers could reasonably be ranked No. 8 or even No. 7. We don’t care about the head-to-head loss to Florida. After all, Oregon spent several weeks ranked ahead of Auburn. Look at the teams ahead of Auburn: Penn State, Florida, Wisconsin and Baylor. Not a lot of heft there.
2. An eight-team playoff continues to be a silly idea. This idea always gets a little momentum in the offseason — or even the first few weeks of the season — long before the cream begins to rise to the top. This year there is a credible top four: Ohio State, LSU, Clemson and Georgia. After them, the pickings get thin. Utah? Oklahoma, who still can’t tackle? Baylor, Wisconsin, Florida or Penn State? A scenario where LSU hammers Baylor by four touchdowns in Baton Rouge seems like a waste of time in the first round of an eight-team playoff.
3. Don’t overlook the impact of a loss by LSU or Clemson. The ESPN studio analysts went so far as to agree that the playoff positions of Ohio State, LSU and Clemson have been solidified, regardless of what happens on Saturday. We’ll go against the grain here. First of all, the notion that Clemson can lose to a mediocre Virginia team and retain a spot in the top four is absurd. That won’t happen. We also can’t help but notice the committee’s top-loading of potential conference champions in the rankings. For example, Baylor has moved up seven spots in the last two weeks after beating five-loss Texas and nine-loss Kansas. Potential Big 12 and PAC 12 champs Baylor, Oklahoma and Utah are huddled up right outside the top four. Big 10 championship game participant Wisconsin sits at No. 8. We still contend the committee wants four conference champions. Could the SEC championship game be a win-or-go-home game for the playoff committee?
Tim Howe is an owner of Yellowhammer Multimedia
