Alabama Football: Is the Playoff Committee being inconsistent?

When the College Football Playoff Committee unveiled its updated rankings this weekend it was a little surprising to see that the Alabama Football team did not move up after beating nineteenth-ranked LSU. The Crimson Tide remains Eighth behind: Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, Florida State, Washington, Oregon, and Texas. The Committee however could be seen as inconsistent in measuring some of the teams in the playoff compared to others.

The rankings of some teams seem to be based on their resumes as teams like Ohio State with wins over Notre Dame, Penn State, and Maryland are ranked highly for their strong resumes. Then you look at teams like Oregon with one ranked win over Utah and lost to fifth-ranked Washington that are ranked sixth.

Other rankings solely seem based on the Eye Test as Michigan and Penn State have no Top 25 teams, FSU has one ranked win as does Georgia.

Just based on resume alone you could argue that Alabama should be ranked ahead of some of the teams they’re ranked behind. These are the resumes for the Top Ten teams:

Ohio State: Wins over: 10th Ranked Penn State and 20th Ranked Notre Dame.

Georgia: Win over: 14th Ranked Missouri.

Michigan: No Top 25 ranked wins.

Florida State: Win over: 19th-ranked LSU.

Washington: Wins over: Sixth Ranked Oregon and 21st ranked Arizona.

Oregon: Win over: 18th Ranked Utah and Lost to fifth-ranked Washington.

Texas: Wins Over: Eighth-ranked Alabama, 25th ranked Kansas State, and 16th Ranked Kansas. Lost to 17th ranked Oklahoma.

Alabama: Wins Over: Ninth Ranked Ole Miss, 13th ranked Tennessee, and 19th Ranked LSU. Lost to Seventh Ranked Texas.

Ole Miss: Wins Over 19th ranked LSU and 23rd Ranked Tulane. Lost to eighth-ranked Alabama.

Penn State: No Ranked wins. Lost to First Ranked Ohio State.

If the Committee is ranking teams off of resume, then the issue is why is Oregon ranked ahead of Texas and Alabama. Oregon has one top 25 win both Alabama and Texas have two wins that are better than Oregon’s best win with another Top 25 win as well. While Alabama Football’s only loss came in the second game of the season with two new coordinators and a new quarterback, Oregon lost in game six of their season which should hold more weight than a loss to a nonconference opponent in week two.

The issue would also become the eye test with Florida State. The Seminoles’ best win is the Alabama Football team’s third-best win on their resume. The Seminoles have also struggled with Boston College and Pittsburgh and should’ve lost to Clemson but survived in overtime. The eye test for Florida State is incredibly tough to use as the Seminole’s opponents are a combined 39-43 whereas Alabama’s wins are over teams that are 33-33. This also reigns true for the Oregon Ducks whose wins have a combined record of 32-41 and Michigan whose wins combine for a record of 37-44.

Alabama Football: How is the committee ranking these teams?

When you lay out the resumes of top ten teams it becomes pretty interesting trying to figure out how the College Football Playoff committee is ranking these teams. If they’re going off resume alone, Alabama Football should be higher, they have a top ten win, a top fifteen win, and a top 25 win. If they’re going based off of an eye test the Crimson Tide should have moved up this week, coming off of a Tennessee win where the team looked good the Alabama Football team played its first complete game beating the LSU Tigers 42-28. The committee not valuing resumes completely devalues the regular season and rewards teams like Michigan for playing an awful non-conference schedule basically telling teams: If you want to make the playoff schedule East Carolina, UNLV, and Bowling Green. Punishing teams for scheduling other National Title Contenders is a terrible look from the committee and overall is bad for the sport as it will keep teams from scheduling some of the best games.

Note: Rankings Via ESPN