Fjoinkay
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Had some time to burn tonight so I watched two hours of ESPN's coverage around the announcement of the updated playoff rankings. It's fun stuff. Basically, every argument made on both shows tonight rested on assumptions and subjective evaluations, and some of those guys really believe they know which teams are better than others. They aren't just saying it for show, they are totally invested.
The SEC homers of course are already making the case that Auburn is better than Wiscy and Miami even though Auburn has two losses. Auburn lost to Clemson in week #2, and then they lost to LSU just two weeks after LSU lost to Troy and one week after LSU beat Florida by one point. It is completely unclear how good Auburn is right now. The SEC has 5 teams in the playoff top 25 rankings. Auburn has played two of those top 25 teams from the SEC (LSU and MSSU) and also Clemson is 1-2 against playoff top 25 teams. The team Auburn did beat, MSSU, just struggled to beat a 2-6 UMass team at home. Meh! And no one on the show responded with this context!! However, if Auburn beats Georgia and then beats Bama in the Iron Bowl, then we know they are a good team even though Bama is really banged up at this point. But even in that scenario it isn't clear that Auburn would make the playoff even though the SEC homers were saying otherwise.
The B1G has 6 teams in the playoff top 25 (3 from the B1G East and 3 from the B1G West), which excludes Michigan who is 7-2 and has the 3rd ranked defense in the country. Wiscy plays #20 Iowa this weekend, and in this game we should find out how good Wiscy is or how good Iowa has become this season. Wiscy's defense is ranked #5 nationally, but they are a little shaky at the QB position. They have beaten Northwestern who is ranked #25 in the playoff rankings. Following the game this weekend against Iowa Wiscy will play Michigan. If Michigan wins this weekend they will be 8-2 playing against Wiscy, and the Wolverines will probably have cracked the playoff top 25. That would give Wiscy a chance to make a really good impression, but who knows how it will all actually play out. On a related side note, the scenario no one is talking about in the B1G is Michigan winning out and beating Wiscy and Ohio State in the process. With Michigan's really good and improving defense and improved play at the QB position that remains a strong possibility. In that scenario the B1G will most likely be out of the playoff because it wouldn't even be clear if Michigan would make the B1G championship game.
In the Pac12 Washington has blown out everyone they've played except Arizona State where they lost 13-7 on the road. The Huskies' defense is ranked #1 in the nation right now, and they play in a conference where 11 teams are on course to go bowling. Are the Canes or the Sooners really better than the Huskies? I'm not so sure.
Basically, until all of the games are played everything is commentary. And even after the games have been played, reasonable people will disagree. This is where the really biased show their colors, and after watching the shows tonight I'm really impressed with their aggression and creativity and nuance. There is nothing quite like watching Paul Feinbaum interrupt Greg McElroy because McElroy was pointing out flaws in his argument, and then moments later watching Feinbaum basically call McElroy stupid. Feinbaum consistently behaves like an angry clown, and McElroy was a contender for the Rhodes Scholarship.
The SEC homers of course are already making the case that Auburn is better than Wiscy and Miami even though Auburn has two losses. Auburn lost to Clemson in week #2, and then they lost to LSU just two weeks after LSU lost to Troy and one week after LSU beat Florida by one point. It is completely unclear how good Auburn is right now. The SEC has 5 teams in the playoff top 25 rankings. Auburn has played two of those top 25 teams from the SEC (LSU and MSSU) and also Clemson is 1-2 against playoff top 25 teams. The team Auburn did beat, MSSU, just struggled to beat a 2-6 UMass team at home. Meh! And no one on the show responded with this context!! However, if Auburn beats Georgia and then beats Bama in the Iron Bowl, then we know they are a good team even though Bama is really banged up at this point. But even in that scenario it isn't clear that Auburn would make the playoff even though the SEC homers were saying otherwise.
The B1G has 6 teams in the playoff top 25 (3 from the B1G East and 3 from the B1G West), which excludes Michigan who is 7-2 and has the 3rd ranked defense in the country. Wiscy plays #20 Iowa this weekend, and in this game we should find out how good Wiscy is or how good Iowa has become this season. Wiscy's defense is ranked #5 nationally, but they are a little shaky at the QB position. They have beaten Northwestern who is ranked #25 in the playoff rankings. Following the game this weekend against Iowa Wiscy will play Michigan. If Michigan wins this weekend they will be 8-2 playing against Wiscy, and the Wolverines will probably have cracked the playoff top 25. That would give Wiscy a chance to make a really good impression, but who knows how it will all actually play out. On a related side note, the scenario no one is talking about in the B1G is Michigan winning out and beating Wiscy and Ohio State in the process. With Michigan's really good and improving defense and improved play at the QB position that remains a strong possibility. In that scenario the B1G will most likely be out of the playoff because it wouldn't even be clear if Michigan would make the B1G championship game.
In the Pac12 Washington has blown out everyone they've played except Arizona State where they lost 13-7 on the road. The Huskies' defense is ranked #1 in the nation right now, and they play in a conference where 11 teams are on course to go bowling. Are the Canes or the Sooners really better than the Huskies? I'm not so sure.
Basically, until all of the games are played everything is commentary. And even after the games have been played, reasonable people will disagree. This is where the really biased show their colors, and after watching the shows tonight I'm really impressed with their aggression and creativity and nuance. There is nothing quite like watching Paul Feinbaum interrupt Greg McElroy because McElroy was pointing out flaws in his argument, and then moments later watching Feinbaum basically call McElroy stupid. Feinbaum consistently behaves like an angry clown, and McElroy was a contender for the Rhodes Scholarship.
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