‘I just don’t like it’ — ESPN’s Jordan Rodgers exposes playoff committee’s favorite talking point for Crimson Tide in Tennessee vs. Alabama debate
The analyst pointed out the absurdity of a narrative the committee has inexplicably grasped in justifying the gap between the rivals.
The second edition of the College Football Playoff rankings saw Tennessee move up from 13 to 8 after a 34-6 drubbing of now-No. 11 Kentucky last Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
It’s a fair move up for the Vols. It’s also fair that Tennessee sits behind fellow 7-2 team Texas, who’s at No. 6. After all, Texas beat the Vols 20-17 back on Sept. 26.
But the confounding ranking and top talking point in these rankings continues to be the committee’s obsession with Alabama, who they moved up to No. 3 after a 31-13 win over LSU. Specifically, the gap of five spaces between Tennessee and Alabama is something few can understand or accept.
That’s ESPN commentator and analyst Jordan Rodgers, who took the committee’s logic and twisted it into a pretzel on Wednesday morning on “Get Up”.
ESPN’s Jordan Rodgers calls out committee over odd Mississippi State win talking point, as well as overlooking Tennessee’s better top wins
“I think my biggest issue with what we saw is once again Tennessee being not just behind Alabama, but to the point of not being able to be compared for the head to head in the dame pod,” Rodgers said.
“And what’s crazy about that is Tennessee, by the committee’s own rankings, beat your eleventh-ranked team thirty-four to six, by four touchdowns, and beat Alabama who you have them ahead of, by two scores as well. So they’ve got two wins in the top eleven that are by more than two touchdowns.
“And you look at the schedule (CFP committee chair) Hunter Yurachek continually goes back to the overall strength of Alabama’s schedule. This is now the second week in a row that he has referenced Mississippi State, who they beat when Mississippi State was four and oh, but they conveniently keep going back to that game, but unconveniently keep forgetting that Kamario Taylor was banged up and playing through a toe injury that he ended up missing the rest of the season because of.
“They want to hang their hat on the kind of better wins at the bottom of the schedule while overlooking the best wins on the schedule for a team like Tennessee. I just don’t like it.”
Rodgers is right about Mississippi State, and Tennessee has a better win at the bottom of their schedule in Auburn
Rodgers is spot on about Taylor in that Alabama game. He was dealing with a painful toe injury he suffered against Missouri the week before the Bama game that ultimately ended his season. It wasn’t the same Mississippi State team then, and it surely hasn’t been ever since, as State is on a five-game losing streak since defeating Missouri on Sept. 26. Regardless of starting quarterback, giving credit for a win against a team with a losing record who hasn’t won since the first month of the season is absolutely baffling logic.
And Tennessee has a better win than State on their resume as well. The Vols defeated Auburn 24-14 on Oct. 3. Two weeks later, that same Auburn team won at No. 1 Georgia 27-24.
The committee will justify whatever they decide with results that fit their narrative. That’s nothing new. But as Rodgers points out, this is a particularly difficult one to understand.
