The NCAA Football Playoff Picture - Rankings.. what do they really mean?

[ranbethscards]

In a nutshell... the rankings mean absolutely nothing. It's "who does the committee love this week".

Check out these rankings as far as the Top Four, using the "human element", where they are ranked by Strength of Schedule, and where they rank by Strength of Record.

Strength of Schedule (Ranking/Team/SOS):

Teams in the Playoff Picture
1. Alabama 6
2. Oregon 28
3. TCU 45
4. Florida State 43

And where are #1-5?
15. UCLA 1
19. Auburn 2
** SOS #3 is not ranked
12. Ole Miss 4
** SOS #5 is not ranked

Teams with the WORSE SOS that are ranked:
6. Baylor 64
8. Michigan State 63
13. Wisconsin 68
22. Boise State 75

...and the bottom three (3) ranked teams have a harder SOS than Oregon, TCU and Florida State:
23. Utah 10
24. LSU 7
25. USC 9

...and of course there is the Strength of Record (SOR), which relfects chance that an average Top 25 would have the same record OR better, based on their current schedule:
1. Alabama 1
2. Oregon 3
3. TCU 4
4. Florida State 2

Now, I am NOT saying that the Top Four are not the best teams in the NCAA, but when you start looking at the Strength of Schedule you have to question the selection committee.

A special THANK YOU to Mike and Mike @ ESPN for bringing this to our attention this morning!

 

[NorthKorea]

With all due respect to the talking heads, strength of schedule ("SoS") only matters when comparing similar teams. If a team goes 0-12 with the toughest schedule in the nation, they shouldn't be in the conversation. However, if two teams are 11-1 and 12-0, their SoS should definitely be considered.

Now, that explains why Bama is #1 and Oregon is #2. It doesn't explain why TCU is above FSU. According to SoS, if TCU were 12-0, they would be ranked behind FSU. The reason they're ranked ahead of FSU is FSU's inability to put teams away. Now, the ironic part of this is, if Winston really did shave points this season, his actions might end up costing his school by being ranked #4 instead of #2.