College Football Playoff Rankings Recap: The Two-Loss Conundrum
As the second playoff rankings have come in, the changes that occurred in the rankings were somewhat expected. The teams that lost fell, but not as far as many expected, including the Texas A&M Aggies.
In the initial playoff rankings, the Aggies were ranked fourth, right ahead of the undefeated Washington Huskies, surprising tons of people around the nation. The committee believed that the Aggies’ strength of schedule was better than the Huskies, even though they had suffered a loss.
In their opening game as a top four team, Texas A&M struggled on the road against a sub .500 Mississippi State team, losing 35-28. To add insult to injury, starting quarterback Trevor Knight suffered a shoulder injury that will make him miss the rest of the regular season.
The loss to the Bulldogs dropped Texas A&M to eighth in the poll, ahead of Auburn and Penn State. The reason for surprise is why the playoff committee put a somewhat struggling Aggies team over a surging Nittany Lion team.
The main reason for Texas A&M being ahead of Penn State is their road victory against Auburn early in the season. Auburn being ahead of Penn State is interesting because the Tigers struggled mightily last week against Vanderbilt, needing an interception late in the game to seal the seven-point victory.
The strength of schedule for the Tigers is stronger than that of the Nittany Lions, as they have been competitive in both their losses this season against teams in the top eight. Penn State played a terrific game against Iowa last week and should continue to climb up the polls, but their early season loss to Pittsburgh will definitely hurt in the long run.
While three of the four Pitt losses are to teams in the top 20 of the College Football Playoff, there last game against a struggling Miami left a lot to be desired as they were blown out 51-28. Penn State should have pulled off the victory and the loss could end up holding the Nittany Lions from a big bowl appearance if the teams in front of them do not fall.
The top four in the playoff were a surprise to no one as the top three remained the same with Alabama, Clemson and Michigan. The fourth spot is occupied by Washington, making the entire top four undefeated.
Of the four, Washington has played the easiest schedule but have two of their toughest games remaining against USC and Washington State. The Huskies also have the most to lose as the second highest team in the Pac-12 is Colorado at 12, the lowest for any major conference with a conference title game.
While the Crimson Tide do not have the easiest schedule among the top four, they are in the safest position of any team in the Playoff. Alabama has dominated throughout the season, winning every game but one by at least double digits.
There is plenty of football left to be played and the longer the season goes, the more interesting the games get.
Joseph Esquivel-Murphy is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism and Spanish. To contact him, email jje5139@psu.edu.
