The College Football Playoff Selection Committee has released their postseason ranking of the top teams in college football. Unsurprisingly, they believe Alabama to have the best team in the country. In a switch from last week, Clemson moves up to #2. Ohio State is third, and Washington is fourth. The Washington pick is probably the most controversial pick, considering their non-conference schedule is the second worst, ranked 127th, in the nation. To their credit, they won their conference and beat four ranked teams in the process.
#4 seed Washington will face Alabama while #4 Washington will take on #3 Ohio State. Complete rankings are listed below.
1 Alabama 2 Clemson 3 Ohio 4 Washington 5 Penn State 6 Michigan 7 Oklahoma 8 Wisconsin 9 Southern Cal 10 Colorado 11 Florida State 12 Oklahoma 13 Louisville |
14 Auburn 15 Western Michigan 16 West Virginia 17 Florida 18 Stanford 19 Utah 20 Louisiana 21 Tennessee 22 Virginia Tech 23 Pittsburgh 24 Temple 25 Navy |
Oddly, USF is still not included in the rankings. For the first time this season, they are ranking Temple, which is probably because they won the conference championship. It seems like bad math, to rank the two teams that USF lost to and one team, Navy, that USF beat badly, but to not include the Bulls, who have a better record than the majority of the teams ranked.
When USF head coach, Willie Taggart, has been asked about his team’s aggressive scoring at the end of games, this is the sort of thing he was referring to. While it may seem that this ranking is irrelevant beyond the top six spots, which are the only actionable rankings here, this exclusion does matter to a program like USF, which has been trying to prove itself to be nationally relevant. In addition to the intangible effect on things like recruiting and fundraising, it sends a loud message to players, recruits, and coaches, that a 10-2 season at USF, the best in program history, is not enough to be recognized.
The Week 15 AP Poll is listed below.
1 Alabama(61) 2 Ohio State 3 Clemson 4 Washington 5 Penn State 6 Michigan 7 Oklahoma 8 Wisconsin 9 USC 10 Florida State 11 Colorado 12 Western Michigan 13 Oklahoma State |
14 West Virginia 15 Louisville 16 Stanford 17 Auburn 18 Virginia Tech 19 LSU 20 Florida 21 Iowa 22 Pittsburgh 23 Temple 24 Nebraska 25 South Florida |
Despite not playing this week and one of the two teams that USF lost to becoming ranked, the Bulls drop one spot to 25th. Navy, who lost to Temple in the AAC championship game, dropped from 20th to an unofficial 32nd.
The USA Today Coaches’ Poll for Week 15th is up next.
1 Alabama(58) 2 Ohio State 3 Clemson 4 Washington 5 Penn State 6 Michigan 7 Oklahoma 8 Wisconsin 9 USC 10 Florida State 11 Colorado 12 West Virginia 13 Oklahoma State |
14 Western Michigan 15 Louisville 16 Stanford 17 Auburn 18 Florida 19 Virginia Tech 20 LSU 21 Nebraska 22 South Florida 23 Utah 24 Temple 25 Iowa |
USF actually moves up one spot in the Coaches’ Poll, to 22nd. Temple has replaced Navy in this poll, but remains lower than USF at 24th.