College Football Playoff committee strikes again

Congratulations, College Football Playoff committee, you got me again.

We all should know better by now that the ratings show created by ESPN, for ESPN, is nothing more than a professional troll job to drum up interest in the playoff games that ESPN will eventually broadcast (and profit from).

It’s the worldwide leader’s world and we are just living in it. The sooner we all realize this, the better off we will all be. Unfortunately, I just can’t resist the bait.

The initial CFP rankings, from the 12-person committee made up of administrators, former coaches – and one newspaper guy! – came out this past Tuesday and somehow Texas A&M is ranked No. 4.

Look, I appreciate the effort and time spent away from their real jobs, family or both required by the committee. I really do, but this initial ranking is nothing more than zigging when everyone expects you to zag.

There were four unbeaten teams from the Power 5 conferences headed into this weekend’s games. Maybe it was too easy to rank Alabama (8-0 from the SEC), Clemson (8-0 from the ACC), Michigan (8-0 from the Big Ten) and Washington (8-0 from the Pac-12) in the top four (in that order).

That’s not what the committee did. Nope, the SEC continues to get credit for being the SEC, even though Alabama is the only exceptional team among the 14 this season. Instead of unbeaten Washington, which won at Utah last week, the No. 4 spot belongs to 7-1 Texas A&M. Why? It just means more in the SEC, duh.

The Aggies have wins over Arkansas and Auburn, which are “good enough” teams but apparently the 19-point road loss to Alabama really put the Aggies over the top. Surely losing at Alabama, by any margin, is as good as any win over a mortal team.

Can’t quite figure out how else the committee got to arriving at Texas A&M at No. 4. Ohio State and Louisville are both better 1-loss teams. The Buckeyes (No. 6) and Cardinals (No. 7) were both behind A&M.

In this world of hypothetical debates and imaginary team-by-team comparison, if only there were a way to predict what would happen if Texas A&M tried to stop Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Oh, that’s right. Jackson threw for 227 yards and ran for 226 in a bowl win over the Aggies last December. That’s not to say the result would be the same this year but it gives you a pretty good idea that Texas A&M, like everyone else, would be helpless against Jackson.

Either way, deep breaths are required. The committee’s job is to keep us interested and they’ve done that. In the end, they’ll get it right. Right?

This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 5:22 PM with the headline "College Football Playoff committee strikes again."