CFP Committee Shows What Everyone Knew: Ohio State is the Golden Child
The College Football Playoff committee had an opportunity this season to make a statement. A statement that would send a message that they really do take each week into consideration. That they do look at the entire body of work when ranking teams. That EVERY team in the nation has a chance to compete for a national title.
Instead, they chose to confirm what everyone already knew: the playoff is a club, whose entrance requirements are more stringent than those of Augusta National.
One of those members, who appears immune to scrutiny from the committee is Ohio State.
"Watching Justin Fields do what he did, just really took command of the offense. I've been saying the last few weeks, all the different weapons that Ohio State's offense has this week, it was Olave going for 140 yards and then Fields rushing for two and throwing for two," committee chairman Gary Barta said.
Sure, Ohio State has 'all the different weapons'...when they actually play a game.
The Buckeyes will play only their sixth game in a week, as they take on Northwestern in the BIG 10 Championship–after a grueling five-game season.
However, it is not only the Buckeye's who are a part of the boy's club. It is the major conferences—as evidenced by Iowa State.
After a 42-6 win over West Virginia, Iowa State improved to 8-2 and the selection committee rewarded the Cyclones by moving them up two spots to No.7. But what about Cincinnati?
The Bearcats, who are 8-0 with two wins over ranked teams (at the time), dropped to No. 8 after their game with Temple was canceled. This begs the question: why were they docked for not playing, but other teams (here's looking at you Buckeyes) are immune to this type of hypocrisy.
"The committee looks at each team's body of work, and when you look at Cincinnati, they certainly -- they're 8-0, and that's a fact, and it's certainly considered," Barta said. "They don't have any top-25 wins, so I think that was -- I don't think. That was one of the discussion points of the committee. And as I mentioned earlier, Iowa State having a win against No. 11, Oklahoma, and No. 20 Texas and just the last few weeks the way they've been playing just put them at 7, and then going up to Florida, they're 8-1 and their only loss is to No. 5 Texas A&M and Texas A&M's 7-1 and their only loss is to Alabama and they beat Florida. Each team is just considered based on what they've done, and so when you look at Cincinnati, those are some of the comparators that has Cincinnati at 8."
The commissioner of the American Athletic Conference, Mike Aresco, is not buying what Barta and the rest of the committee are selling.
"It really can't be defended. It's indefensible," Aresco told The Cincinnati Enquirer on Wednesday. "This team [Iowa State] has two losses. Why do we bother to play the games? The team ahead of [Cincinnati] lost by 17 points, 31-14, to Louisiana. That team also lost another game to Oklahoma State."
Let's face it: no non-Power 5 team will EVER play for a national title. If there was ever a year for that to happen, it would be 2020. Coastal Carolina is currently undefeated, just knocked off a BYU program that many thought may have been a contender to make the playoff.
Coastal Carolina is 10-0, has two wins versus top 25 and four wins over .500 or greater schools. But again the committee is unable to move the Chanticleers above a blue-blood like Ohio State, who boast ONE team with a winning record—that win was a 42-35 win over No. 12 Indiana.
But again, the captain of the club confirmed what everyone thought: (in Christmas terms) there is no room in the inn.
"Well, each week is a new evaluation, and obviously this week Coastal -- we had a data point, a game to watch, and I would just tell you that as a college football fan, watching that Coastal Carolina-BYU game was exciting," Barta said. "What a thrill. They were ranked lower than the team they beat in BYU, and they moved up several spots as a result of that victory. They were able to run the ball. They were able to contain -- slow down BYU's offense. Nobody can stop it. And they won the game. The committee put them at 13 based on that performance and the performance leading up to that, and I won't project further than that. We'll just wait and see next week what we have to evaluate."
I guess we will have to wait for another year for the committee to actually live up to their charge.
