The College Football Playoff committee found a new excuse to use for Tennessee’s ranking, and it’s the most ridiculous one yet
The Tennessee Volunteers are No. 8 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.
Tennessee fans — and college football fans and media in general — are once again in disbelief at where the Vols are ranked in relation to Alabama in the College Football Playoff rankings.
A week ago, Alabama was ranked No. 5 and Tennessee was at No. 13 despite both teams having the same record and the Vols owning a 16 point head-to-head win over the Crimson Tide.
This week, Tennessee moved up five spots to No. 8 after beating Kentucky by 28 points and Alabama moved up two spots to No. 3 after blowing out LSU in Baton Rouge.
The Vols closed the gap, but the fact the gap exists is still mind-blowing to a lot of folks.
Last week, one of the excuses was that Alabama didn’t play well against Tennessee because they played a physical game against Georgia the week before.
“Maybe that’s why Bama is getting the benefit of the doubt with how they came off the Georgia game and lost to Tennessee,” said ESPN’s Greg McElroy after last week’s rankings were revealed. “Maybe that’s what’s factoring in here. These coaches in the room are saying, ‘Hey, these teams are beat up after a tough game.’”
It appears there’s a new excuse this week for why Tennessee is ranked five spots lower than an Alabama team it shares the same record with (and, again, the Vols beat Bama by 16 points).
The new excuse is that there’s concern about Tennessee’s passing game.
“The reason why I think they’re No. 8 is because the committee is a little concerned about the passing attack,” said McElroy on ESPN after the rankings were revealed. “Maybe they’re wondering if this team had to throw it or if it became a situation where DeSean Bishop was in some ways slowed down, can George MacIntyre win it with his arm? That’s, I think, the only justifiable reason why they’re No. 8, because right now the head-to-head (over Alabama) is not being valued the way it’s been valued in the past.”
ESPN’s Heather Dinich made a similar comment while sharing her thoughts on the rankings.
“I do think that there are some questions about that passing game in that room,” said Dinich. “Their strength and their identity are their defense under Jim Knowles.”
If this is the case, then they may as well shut the whole thing down. I mean, the committee is criticizing how teams win games? Who cares how the game is won? You’re either on the right side of the scoreboard at the end of the game or you’re not. If Tennessee was throwing the ball 50 times a game and barely running the ball would the same logic apply?
The irony here is that Tennessee’s passing game has looked good in limited attempts the last few weeks. MacIntyre is becoming more comfortable each week, and we’ve seen some splash plays from the Vols’ passing game (though a few didn’t count because of silly penalties).
This is a heck of a reach by the committee and it should have no impact on where the Vols are ranked.
Tennessee is winning games with the formula that works for this roster. It’s absurd for the committee to question that formula (maybe they should question why Alabama’s passing game was non existent in their 16 point loss to Tennessee).
