Rhett Lashlee cries ‘Rigged’ after benefiting from CFB flaws

Oct 26, 2024; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs head coach Rhett Lashlee during the first half of the game against Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

By Chris Marler

College Football is flawed. It has been since its inception.

College football is imperfect, lacking identity, and beautiful all at once. One thing it’s not – rigged.

However, that’s the exact can of worms that SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee opened Saturday morning after a tweet responding to the ESPN FPI rankings update.

Because the whole thing is rigged

— Rhett Lashlee (@rhettlashlee) August 16, 2025

If this is strictly in regards to ESPN FPI rankings then fine. Right argument. Wrong person delivering it.

The ESPN FPI rankings have been a joke for years. Let’s not forget when they ranked Mississippi State in the preseason top ten “accidentally,” or when they ranked Alabama ahead of LSU in 2019 for two consecutive weeks after LSU beat them on the field.

However, the idea that the ESPN FPI rankings are rigged or that they dictate the outcome of the college football season or the College Football Playoff is an absurd argument coming from Lashlee. Maybe the eight month layoff since SMU’s last game has fogged his memory, but it was Rhett Lashlee’s SMU team that was one of the biggest beneficiaries during the 2024 season regardless of their FPI ranking.

Going into the Championship Saturday last December, SMU had played the 75th ranked strength of schedule, had zero wins over ranked opponents (after facing only two in 13 games) and their opponents had a combined win percentage of .467.

That team made the College Football Playoff.

So what are you crying about exactly? So much of the offseason fodder around this sport has been based on scheduling formats, expansion, and SEC media bias. The weirdest part of any of those arguments has been that seemingly the loudest voices in the room are the ones who benefitted the most from weak schedules in 2024.

Looking at you Lashlee and Curt Cignetti.

Am I taking crazy pills? There was SEC bias? The whole thing was rigged? That must be why teams like SMU and Indiana–who played a combined three ranked opponents in 25 games and walked away with zero wins against any of them–made the playoff.

And they are still somehow…upset? About what?!

The SEC didn’t get a fourth team in the playoff last year. What was rigged?

College football is flawed. Not rigged. And, last year there was no bigger beneficiary of its flaws than SMU. So respectfully, Rhett, shut up.