The justifications given for ranking Notre Dame over Alabama Football are egregious. In the Selection Committee's Tuesday night rankings, little sense can be made about the No. 7 through No. 10 slots. Oklahoma over Alabama at No. 8 is acceptable based on head-to-head. Oregon at No. 7 makes some sense, but the Ducks have zero ranked wins.
An argument can be made for ranking Notre Dame at No. 9 and Alabama at No. 10. Drill down into what should be important metrics, and the argument falls apart.
Forget the new metric 'Record Strength', because, however that algorithm is designed, it could only rank Alabama above Notre Dame.
Instead, Hunter Yurachek's explanations for ranking the Irish over the Crimson Tide reveal a committee that is secure in its subjectivity, believing that any point it chooses is valid.
Hunter Yurachek on Alabama Football
- "Florida State ... held Alabama to less than 100 yards rushing in that game. Really, that was a sign of some of the struggles Alabama was going to have rushing the ball."
- "You go back and look at Alabama's game at South Carolina where they scored two touchdowns late to win that game."
- "The next game against LSU where they won both of those but didn't rush the ball for 100 yards."
- Talking about the Alabama loss to Oklahoma, "They had some turnovers that came back to bite them, but they didn't run the ball very well."
247's Alex Scarborough responded to Tuesday night's ranking, " I've studied the so-called 'data points' this committee is supposed to consider, and I can't find rushing totals anywhere on the list."
Scarborough added, "I didn't realize Alabama's inability to run the ball on a very good Oklahoma defense completely overshadowed the fact that it also racked up more than 400 total yards of offense and lost by 2 points."
In what might first appear to be jest, but sadly explains a selection committee randomly ranking based on opinion, Scarborough wrote, " I didn't know Jeremiyah Love vs. Jam Miller was part of the equation. If it's a battle of running backs then give Notre Dame the championship now."
Scarborough advises Alabama football fans to save their anger because it will be needed later. Notre Dame has no serious competition to finish the season. If Alabama loses the SEC Championship Game with poor rushing numbers, the Selection Committee is primed to exclude a 10-3 Alabama from the playoffs.
The BCS ranking system was better than what we have now.