By Chris Marler
Tuesday has become one of my favorite days of the week during college football season. Over the last month, Tuesdays have signified new College Football Playoff rankings, followed by Group of Five games to bet on. Nothing says we’re 40 percent of the way through the work week like yelling at our TVs and placing irresponsible parlays on meaningless midweek MACtion games.
Discussing playoff rankings has taught me there are two types of people when it comes to playoff rankings in October and November: 1) The fanatics and irrational college football fans dying to overreact to something and 2) The logical adults in the room who know that none of this matters until December.
I admittedly fall into the first category. I will put on that same hat and become the reactionary, carnival barker screaming into the void about how the committee once again got it wrong the moment that 25th team is announced.
I’ll get ahead of it early and say what I want to learn most tonight with the fourth rankings from the committee – do results on the field or does the eye test matter more for current contenders?
That question seems bipolar regarding relevance and validation from the committee on a week-to-week basis. It continues to manifest and put itself on display for teams like South Carolina and Alabama. While the Crimson Tide are the brand, the Gamecocks are the more deserving team.
The groundswell of support and agreement that South Carolina is one of the 12 best teams in the country has gained momentum over the last several weeks. They have the SEC’s longest active winning streak and have played their best football over the past six weeks.
The problem with South Carolina getting a spot in the top 12 is not even their three losses. It’s who they came against and whether or not the committee will value one thing more than the other. Two of South Carolina’s losses came to other 8-3 teams, Ole Miss and Alabama. You can easily make the case that South Carolina is better than Alabama. You can make the case that the Gamecocks were the better team when they played last month.
The Ole Miss loss is a little more damning since it was a blowout at home where the Gamecocks lost 27-3.
Here’s my plea, and I’ll just be as transparent as possible: I think South Carolina deserves to be in, especially with a win over Clemson. I understand they lost to Alabama, and the results on the field have to matter.
I would argue that they didn’t matter as much in 2017 when Alabama got in without winning their division. I would argue they didn’t matter as much in 2023 when Alabama got in over an undefeated Power Five Florida State. Those were decisions made on the eye test. They were decisions I frankly understood even if I didn’t agree with 2023.
Once again, please do not change your standards, metrics, or basis for evaluations strictly for the sake of Alabama. I am begging. College football fans everywhere are begging you. For once, please give it to the underdog and team that deserves to be there and that the fan wants to see there.
