Picks
Joey Galloway: No. 4 Baylor; No. 3 Clemson; No. 2 LSU; No. 1 Ohio State
David Pollack: No. 4 Alabama; No. 3 LSU; No. 2 Ohio State; No. 1 Clemson
Quotes
Surprises on top 25
JG: I thought Stanford would be a little higher, Florida deserved to be a little higher. They lost by seven points to LSU, who is a team who deserves to be in the top six, they are a good defensive football team and the committee will look at that.
DP: You look at Iowa sitting in the nine spot, the next four games are W’s… It will be interesting to watch Iowa.
Top Six
Kirk Herbsteit: I guess at four, it is standing ovation for me, that the committee is not looking at it the old school way of thinking, and saying we have to give the teams that are unbeaten the benefit of the doubt and let’s stack up all these one-loss teams. I love this about the committee; I love this about the playoff.
KH: Baylor has been the most dominate by far but committee is putting them at six just because of that schedule.
DP: If look at the way Alabama lost against Ole Miss, they shot themselves in the foot, they gave that game away more than Ole Miss won it. Did they lose the game, absolutely, do they have a chance to lose the rest of the way, and not deserve this ranking… If you made a case to me that Alabama is the best team in the country, you could make that case to me and I could not refute it.
KH: If I am an athletic director in college football, or a head coach, if I haven’t already begun to change my philosophy or my thinking on what I want to do with non-conference, you either need to, or you are just going to get left behind.
Paul Finebaum: I had Baylor No. 1. I realize the schedule has been pathetic, but I look at it, I watch it and from my eyes they look like the best team in the country.
PF: I also have a problem with Alabama being in the Top 4. I’m well aware of what Alabama has played and they’ve beaten some very good teams. They’ve also lost to a team, and I don’t think they should be in the Top 4 till they play LSU in Tuscaloosa.
KH: The one thing we all have to say about Baylor: No matter who they have played, the game is over at half time.
Jeff Long Interview
What set Clemson apart in judgment of the committee?
I think the quality of victories, and certainly the Notre Dame victory at home. They have four teams that have better than a .500 record that they defeated, and that combined with offense and defense that are very strong on both sides of the ball. I think that is what won the day in the eyes of the committee for that No. 1 ranking.
Hardest team to evaluate?
I do think its Baylor and TCU because of their strength of schedule and who they have played thus far. I think both teams, but in particular Baylor has an explosive offense and we have seen that, but I think the strength of schedule left us uncertain of their true strength.
Big 12 compared this year to last year?
We really don’t compare to last year, but these teams, TCU and Baylor, in particular and Oklahoma State and Oklahoma to a lesser degree, but they have their strength of schedule in front of them. We rank to this point in time and those teams just haven’t played their strong teams yet.
Biggest point of contention in the room?
We had a number of discussions about those undefeated teams and whether a one-loss team should be ahead of them, so we spent a lot of time looking at that.
Dabo Swinney Interview
December 6 when we finish our season on it will be based on performance. And that’s what it is all about; this is a game of performance not potential. That’s why when the preseason polls (and other rankings) come out I rip them up in front of our players.
Extra Hits from Studio
Biggest surprise ranking
DP: No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Notre Dame, each with one loss, ahead of both No. 8 TCU and No. 6 Baylor, was ultimately the biggest surprise ranking.
JG: No. 5 Notre Dame being ranked as high. The Irish not only have a loss, but played Temple down to the wire; so that wasn’t a convincing win. Ultimately, I am just surprised they are head of the undefeated teams.
Most undervalued team
DP: No. 8 TCU is the biggest undervalued team. I didn’t think they would be in the top 4, but I thought they would be closer to No. 4 than where they are at No. 8.
JG: Florida at No. 10. They played No. 2 LSU extremely close, on the road and just days after finding out that quarterback Will Grier was suspended. They also have very convincing wins vs. Ole Miss and Georgia.
Most overrated team
DP: No. 9 Iowa… simply based on their body of work to this point of the season.
JG: Northwestern at No. 21. The Wildcats should not be ahead of No. 22 Temple.
Thoughts on the committee as a whole
DP: They seem to be very consistent in their process. The rankings today do reflect similarly to what we saw last year from the committee. So consistency is there thus far.
JG: They value the eye-test. This is demonstrated through having one-loss teams ahead of undefeated teams.
Based on rankings, what do you think the committee values least
DP: The committee doesn’t see a loss as a deal-breaker. Again, this is consistent with last year’s rankings and now we see it again with Alabama and Notre Dame’s ranking.
JG: Being undefeated. It isn’t enough, for the committee, if a team doesn’t have a loss. Need more than that.
The College Football Playoff: Top 25 returns Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. in another extended hour-long edition.
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