College Football Playoff Rankings 2015 (ND #8...)

[House16]

So... let me get this right. Many of the posts out here have the Irish better than Bama? Just asking because all emotion aside, I just don't see that.

I think there are two things at play here- which team is better (would win on a neutral field) and which team has a better resume to date. I'd say the Irish have a better resume so far, but Bama is the better team. Most people here are ranking on resume I believe.

 

[NDgradstudent]

I think there are two things at play here- which team is better (would win on a neutral field) and which team has a better resume to date. I'd say the Irish have a better resume so far, but Bama is the better team. Most people here are ranking on resume I believe.

Alabama is clearly better than us, in my view. They also have a better "resume." They have dominated teams on the road in tough environments, including Sagarin's 24th (Texas A&M) and 30th (Georgia) ranked teams. We just barely beat the 40th ranked team.

 

[IrishinSyria]

Alabama is clearly better than us, in my view. They also have a better "resume." They have dominated teams on the road in tough environments, including Sagarin's 24th (Texas A&M) and 30th (Georgia) ranked teams. We just barely beat the 40th ranked team.

Sagarin has USC ranked ahead of us which, in my humble opinion, greatly reduces any trust I might have in it.

 

[NDgradstudent]

Sagarin has USC ranked ahead of us which, in my humble opinion, greatly reduces any trust I might have in it.

You're confident that we would have beaten them at a neutral site or in L.A.? Because I'm not.

 

[GoIrish41]

You're confident that we would have beaten them at a neutral site or in L.A.? Because I'm not.

Does it really matter? Fact is we beat them and so did two other teams. They should not be ranked. This poll should not be about potential, especially when there are results to look at.

 

[IrishinSyria]

You're confident that we would have beaten them at a neutral site or in L.A.? Because I'm not.

Roughly, I think we beat them 6/10 times on the road and 7/10 times at home. maybe like 5.5 and 6.5. I'm not much of a fan of making 100% predictions.

 

[koonja]

Bama would roll us IMO. Can you imagine Schmidt against Bama? Which is part of the reason I think the coaches needed to mix in other LBs. We face Bama, LSU, or OSU in the playoffs and they'll rush for 300 yards on half back dives.

 

[IrishinSyria]

Bama would roll us IMO. Can you imagine Schmidt against Bama? Which is part of the reason I think the coaches needed to mix in other LBs. We face Bama, LSU, or OSU in the playoffs and they'll rush for 300 yards on half back dives.

No they wouldn't. Smith is pretty solid up the middle, and Sheldon and Smith would feast if any team tried that.

Bama's offense is not that good. I think they would be/should be favored against us, but not by much.

 

[BabyIrish]

Preparing for Tuesday's initial College Football Playoff rankings

Writer has:
1. Clemson
2. LSU
3. MSU
4. TCU
5. Ohio St
6. Baylor
7. Florida
8. ND

Another article on SOS
https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other

 

[Irish Insanity]

At the start of the year I defended MSU and thought they'd be great. They just haven't looked good to often this year. I don't get the love at all.

 

[IrishinSyria]

At the start of the year I defended MSU and thought they'd be great. They just haven't looked good to often this year. I don't get the love at all.

Survival is the name of the game.

 

[ickythump1225]

Preparing for Tuesday's initial College Football Playoff rankings

Writer has:
1. Clemson
2. LSU
3. MSU
4. TCU
5. Ohio St
6. Baylor
7. Florida
8. ND

Another article on SOS
https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other

I'd take that, I'd take that all day long. MSU and OSU still have to play each other. Baylor and TCU play each other. The SEC still has a lot of turnover that is going to happen, etc.

The team that is sitting in the absolute catbird seat is Clemson. I had a feeling the winner of ND/Clemson would be in the pole position moving forward and I still feel that way. Their schedule has set up brilliantly for them this year. 2 tough, marquee match ups and 10 games that range from easy to semi-tough.

I will say that I want Clemson again in the playoffs if we can make it. On a neutral field that isn't under monsoon conditions I think we can take that team. It still burns my soul that we lost that game. I want to make the playoffs if for no other reason than to play Clemson again and blow that goofy oversized hat that makes him look like a 12 year old off of Dabo.

 

[BabyIrish]

I'd take that, I'd take that all day long. MSU and OSU still have to play each other. Baylor and TCU play each other. The SEC still has a lot of turnover that is going to happen, etc.

The team that is sitting in the absolute catbird seat is Clemson. I had a feeling the winner of ND/Clemson would be in the pole position moving forward and I still feel that way. Their schedule has set up brilliantly for them this year. 2 tough, marquee match ups and 10 games that range from easy to semi-tough.

I will say that I want Clemson again in the playoffs if we can make it. On a neutral field that isn't under monsoon conditions I think we can take that team. It still burns my soul that we lost that game. I want to make the playoffs if for no other reason than to play Clemson again and blow that goofy oversized hat that makes him look like a 12 year old off of Dabo.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Reps

 

[irishfanjho15]

2015 College Football Playoff Rankings

2015 College Football Playoff Rankings

In anticipation of tonight's initial rankings, I thought it would be great to have a place to rank teams individually and to also discuss our own rankings and the committee's.

Here is my top ten (based on eye test and season to date):

1. LSU
2. Clemson
3. Bucknuts
4. Baylor

5. Alabama
6. Sparty
7. TCU
8. Stanford
9. ND
10. Iowa

Next best:
Florida
Oklahoma State
Utah

Please add the criteria you use to determine your rankings. No answer is wrong. For discussion purposes only.

 

[NDgradstudent]

ESPN does not include ND in their assessment of the case for/against the top 12 teams. A simple error?

 

[Section20Row27]

No science...just swag.

1. LSU
2. Clemson
3. Baylor
4. Alabama
5. Ohio St
6. TCU
7. Stanford
8. ND
9. Florida
10. Oklahoma (i know, I know... just don't think MSU is that good this year)

 

[longliveautrydenson]

In anticipation of tonight's initial rankings, I thought it would be great to have a place to rank teams individually and to also discuss our own rankings and the committee's.

Here is my top ten (based on eye test and season to date):

1. LSU
2. Clemson
3. Bucknuts
4. Baylor

5. Alabama
6. Sparty
7. TCU
8. Stanford
9. ND
10. Iowa

Next best:
Florida
Oklahoma State
Utah

Please add the criteria you use to determine your rankings. No answer is wrong. For discussion purposes only.

I predict that the Committee will have Notre Dame ranked behind Iowa and Oklahoma St. When asked why ND was ranked behind those teams, Jeff Long will respond that the Committee prioritized undefeated teams over teams with a loss.

I also predict that Alabama will be ranked ahead of Iowa and Oklahoma St. When asked why Alabama was ranked ahead of undefeated teams, Jeff Long will explain that Alabama's strength of schedule was far superior.

Falling in line with the previous logic, I presume that Alabama will inevitably be ranked ahead of Notre Dame. When asked why a one-loss ND was ranked behind a one-loss Alabama, despite the fact that ND has a comparable if not tougher SOS, Jeff Long will explain that Alabama passes the "eye test" and ND doesn't.

 

[NDgradstudent]

Falling in line with the previous logic, I presume that Alabama will inevitably be ranked ahead of Notre Dame. When asked why a one-loss ND was ranked behind a one-loss Alabama, despite the fact that ND has a comparable if not tougher SOS, Jeff Long will explain that Alabama passes the "eye test" and ND doesn't.

If you replaced "Alabama" with "Stanford" here, I would agree. I have no problem with ND being behind Alabama because they have several dominant road wins and we do not. But ND should not obviously be behind Stanford, and I think the burden should be on Stanford to prove that they should be ahead of us.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

ESPN does not include ND in their assessment of the case for/against the top 12 teams. A simple error?

Or a simple slip, and ND is 13th. Nothing will shock me tonight.

 

[NDgradstudent]

Or a simple slip, and ND is 13th. Nothing will shock me tonight.

They were looking at the AP top 12, and #8 is missing.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

College Football Playoff Rankings 2015

College Football Playoff Rankings 2015

They were looking at the AP top 12, and #8 is missing.

No they weren't. Says here they were looking at "EVERY contender," and mentions 11 teams. Look at this picture:

It's a pretty blatant pot shot

 

[gkIrish]

My official prediction is:

1. LSU
2. Clemson
3. Baylor
4. Michigan St.
5. Ohio St.
6. Alabama
7. TCU
8. Florida
9. Stanford
10. ND
11. Iowa
12. Oklahoma St.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

College Football Playoff Rankings 2015

College Football Playoff Rankings 2015

Here's a shocker:

Ohio State, Baylor, TCU, FSU and Okie Light are the only Power 5 teams who haven't played a top 25 opponent.

 

[IrishLax]

I don't think that ND is in the top 10. If Notre Dame was in the SEC with an identical resume (beaten two teams whose only loss is to us, barely lost to the should-be #1 team on the road), we'd be no lower than 7th.

I've beat this drum for a long time but as long as the committee is made up of a bunch of people affiliated with different conferences PLUS some renowned ND haters there is virtually no chance that ND ever gets a fair shake. What's going to be comical is Stanford -- who has a much worse loss, weaker SOS, and comparable wins -- will be multiple spots in front of us because they have 3 backers on the committee.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New Top 25, based on Win %, FPI, SRS, Sagarin, Massey, and my own valuation of wins/losses. <a href="https://t.co/HNljFhew3p">https://t.co/HNljFhew3p</a> <a href="https://t.co/bK2V7Fr6iF">pic.twitter.com/bK2V7Fr6iF</a></p>— Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattRHinton/status/661683215095083008">November 3, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Hinton has been doing this for weeks, and it continues to be the most comprehensive and "fair" evaluation of resumes. If ND is slotted outside of the 6th-8th range, then the committee is getting in wrong one way or another.

 

[Irishcop]

Anyone think that the committee will try to make a point for ND to join a conference by not ranking them, or not putting ND in the playoffs even if they finish 11-1?

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Anyone think that the committee will try to make a point for ND to join a conference by not ranking them, or not putting ND in the playoffs even if they finish 11-1?

Well technically an 11-1 ND could be justifiably left out if OSU/MSU, Baylor/TCU, LSU, Clemson run the table.

 

[Irishcop]

Well technically an 11-1 ND could be justifiably left out if OSU/MSU, Baylor/TCU, LSU, Clemson run the table.

True.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

College Football Playoff Rankings 2015

College Football Playoff Rankings 2015

True.

Your point remains. We will see pretty soon if the whole independence angle clouds their vision, and then pray for utter chaos from here on out.

There have already been quite a few "near misses" that would have made our situation much more comfortable. Off the top of my head:

TCU over TT
Bama over Tennessee
MSU over scUM/Rutgers/IU
OSU over IU
Florida over Tennessee
Okie Light over TT

I'm sure there's a lot more

 

[Legacy]

If I was on the Committee with this first week, records would take precedence. So all undefeated P5 teams would get the first seven spots.

Then I'd rank the one loss teams on who they lost to, considering margin. This week doesn't really matter except as a starting point as viewpoints will be discussed. For now, I'd rank ND as the highest one loss team if that is the question. This isn't a best team argument yet.

Down the road, any two loss team or conference team not in their championship is out.

Consider if Florida State beats Clemson and then plays Florida who is already in the SEC championship.... Not worth speculating at this point.

 

[Booslum31]

Your point remains. We will see pretty soon if the whole independence angle clouds their vision, and then pray for utter chaos from here on out.

There have already been quite a few "near misses" that would have made our situation much more comfortable. Off the top of my head:

TCU over TT
Bama over Tennessee
MSU over scUM/Rutgers/IU
OSU over IU
Florida over Tennessee
Okie Light over TT

I'm sure there's a lot more

All of these near misses have me lacking confidence that it can work out for ND. I've resigned myself to being 11-1 and left out. Once I saw Stanford win on a missed FG I knew they weren't going to be ranked high enough for it to be a meaningful enough win. I'm just truly enjoying the ride. I'm thinking the committee will put us somewhere around 8-9 tonight. like in 2012 I'm just going to hope everyone ahead of us loses going forward.