My thoughts on the CFP committee(and my top 10)

My thoughts on the current final four in college football:


First off, let me say that everything will play out and it will become clearer when its all said and done. Yes, there will still be debate between 4 and 5 and probably 6. The way it looks right now, it seems as though everyone will cry for a eight team playoff, but we've said that so many years with the BCS around this time of year. Yet, it always seemed to work out, and we only had 2 or 3 years where there was a legitimate argument that the final 2 were not the 2 best teams in the country by the end of the season. Things will work itself out.


However, since we can, let's look at the standings and see what the committee seems to award and/or punish.


Oregon jumped Florida State this week. Why? What makes Oregon better this week than last? Why is it they jumped them now? Only one game has been played since the last rankings. Why has a one lost team jumped an undefeated team? It is an important thing to look at, so we can understand what the committee looks for that makes a team have a strong or weak resume.


There's the complete bias way of looking at it with the so called "eye-test" which is why a lot of football experts and fans applauded using a committee over computers. I agree that having an eye test factor is nice and they can use computers to help sort out the mathematics of the ranking system as well. I think it will work in the end.


If we had to go purely by "eye-test," it' clear bias by each individual,obviously. What type of style appeals to you(spread, power, defense, pass, run, etc.) as well as regional bias. With that being said my own bias "eye-test" would say Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, and TCU(alphabetical order) look better than Florida State(and well Notre dame too because they should have beaten them at FSU if the refs get the call right). Problem is Florida State hasn't lost. Auburn and Ole Miss have lost twice, no way you can put them ahead of FSU.


Then comes the one lost teams. Well, who'd they lose to and where and who'd they beat and where? Alabama lost to #10 Ole Miss on the road and has a few quality wins. I can see them being in the conversation with FSU. TCU has a road loss to #7 Baylor with a few quality wins as well. I can see them in the conversation too.


Ohio State lost at home to unranked VT and only has one quality win. Arizona State lost at home to #11 UCLA and has a couple quality wins. Oregon lost at home to #14 Arizona with a few quality wins. I don't see any of these teams deserving of being with FSU. They all of some quality wins, but these three all lost at home. FSU hasn't lost anywhere(thanks to the ref in ND game, but at this point that doesn't matter)


Baylor lost at a now unranked but good West Virginia and has some quality wins too, but I don't see them with Alabama or TCU competing to take over FSU.


Now, this is all what I think and what I see. I see lots of quality wins on the road and at home by all these teams. So the tiebreakers really come down to whom you lost to and where. As well as my bias "eye test" my top ten would look like this:


1 Mississippi State
2 Florida State
3 Alabama
4 TCU
5 Oregon
6 Baylor
7 Ohio State
8 Arizona State
9 Auburn
10 Ole Miss


Here's why: As much as I want to drop Florida State like the committee did, I find it hard to drop a team that has a couple quality wins and is still undefeated. If they had 0 or 1 quality win than it would be easy to drop them and they probably wouldn't have been there in the first place. Honestly, though, I can see FSU, Alabama, and TCU in any of those spots 2-4. Oregon with a lose at home is out of the top 4 in the current standings to me.


My problem with the committee right now is they have shown that they favor top 25 wins over the loses. Since Oregon has 3 current top 25 wins, they seem to have favored them over all the other one loss teams and now even an undefeated FSU. In this last week, Oregon beat Utah, so they picked up a third top 25 win(that's the main thing that changed this week). So, where everyone else is mostly 2-1 in top 25, Oregon is 3-1. They forget the loss and where it took place. They are favoring the pure top 25 wins. What I see wrong with that, is that a lot of those teams have beaten quality teams that sit just outside of the top 25. So they lost a huge tally next there top 25 wins column because a team they beat sits at 26 and not say 23 like Utah is for Oregon's case. So I look at wins against Oklahoma and West Virginia the same as wins against Utah right now. Where the committee seems to just see a tally next to top 25 victories or not.


The committee isn't using their "eye-test" capabilities has much as they should and more at just straight up top 25 wins to be the determining factor and/or strength of schedule. Strength of schedule is important, but only to a certain extent. If someone like FSU has proven themselves against 2 or 3 quality teams and beaten the other teams on their schedule. They have done what they can, don't punish them for beating the teams they were given. I'm not saying that if Marshall would have won out, they should be in, because they played no one close to quality opposition like FSU or any power 5 conference really.


The committee is awarding Oregon for playing Michigan State. I think its important to schedule out of conference power teams, and guess what FSU tried that with Oklahoma State, but they just happen to be on a down year and are 5-4 this year. Hard to predict that 4 years out when most these games are scheduled. SEC is the conference that needs to schedule harder opposition, but Auburn and Alabama did do better with that this year playing KSU and West Virginia. SEC West is about as good as the NFL right now, so that's a gauntlet to play through either way.


In the end, its fun to talk about, but really all this means nothing until the end of the season. About 7 teams control their destiny to make the top four. Ohio State is probably the only one that doesn't in the top 8. Their destiny may be how Nebraska does until the Big Ten championship game(speaking of, Nebraska has one loss and a lot of quality games ahead), and even then probably still need a loss from someone unexpected ahead of them too. A part of me likes the committee rankings every week, so we can get a sense of what things look like, but I also think it would be better to just wait until the end of the year when all the resumes are complete. Fun to talk about though!

Agony of defeat or thrill in victory? What emotion fuels you?

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Something all athletes and fans know about. Do you love to win or do you hate to lose? What drives you? What stays with you longer? If you win do you have that thrill and excitement a month later? If you lose do you still have that awful taste in your mouth?

Everyone and every situation is different.

As an athlete, I love to win and succeed. I believe that is what helps me prepare in practice. The winning. The feeling of success. But when it comes game time. I hate to lose. The fear of losing pushes me in the game situation. I know I don't want that nasty feeling after the game. So I push hard to win, so I don't lose.

As a coach, losing doesn't get to me as much. Losing is a teaching tool to make the athletes learn and become better. And when the winning comes, it still feels oh so sweet. Every coach is different and reacts to their team's wins and loses in they're own way. For me, it's almost a win-win. Either way the coaching is never over and you continue on to the next task.

As a fan, it can depend on my expectations. When Andy Roddick played Federer all those times, the fear of losing and the agony in defeat was not nearly as high because it was expected. When he did pull off the upset though it was time to celebrate and enjoy the accomplishment.

I always expect Brazil to have a go at winning the World Cup, so when they lose, it hits hard. Gets me me right in the heart. When they win though the feeling can be relief and euphoria at the same time for accomplishing what I expected. Two emotions that stay with me equally, the agony of the 3-0 lose to France in 1998 and the thrill and excitement of the 2-0 victory against Germany in 2002. Both are engraved in my memory with totally different emotions attached to them.

One of the hardest things for me to watch (outside of my beavers losing to the ducks) is Peyton Manning losing in the playoffs. Despite his playoff struggles, I always expect him to go all the way. The closer he gets the harder it is. The agony if he loses becomes even greater! I remember having to leave the room filled with Saints fans because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. My heart hurt so much watching Peyton lose that Superbowl. But I know if he can pull it off again, it will be the greatest thrill. I'll be watching the highlights for years to come just like the 29-17 victory over the Bears 7 years ago.