The CFP ranking Texas ahead of Ole Miss shows a failed process

On By Littum

game

Let’s look at this thing closely from what happened on the field. A novel idea, I know.

Texas beat Arkansas 20-10 Saturday in Fayetteville, an uninspiring effort that continued to underline Longhorn‘ hit to the top of the College Football Playoff placements.

Two weeks ago, in the same stadium against the same Arkansas team, Miss Ole humbled the Hogs 63-31. A week ago, Ole Miss upset big, bad Georgia by 18.

But if you looked at the current CFP rankings, the gap between Texas and Ole Miss is as wide as Florida State’s dreams of joining the Big Ten and reality.

And this is the problem with the playoff rankings — and more specifically, the selection committee, which clearly adheres to the rule that whoever loses less wins more.

Look at Texas schedulethere is nothing there. No signature win, no impressive streak of games or undeniable statements proving the Longhorns deserve their No. 3 ranking.

Then there is Miss Oleand in the eyes of the CFP committee, that’s clearly more than the rout of Georgia that leaves the Rebels at No. 11 in the poll. And by more, I don’t mean the 24-point win over the hottest team in the SEC (South Carolina).

By more I mean loss. Ole Miss has two, Texas has one.

Wait, it gets better.

Texas lost at home to Georgia — the same team Ole Miss handed its worst regular-season loss since 2018 — where it was 23-0 in the second quarter before Texas could exhale. Where coach Steve Sarkisian was so confused, he benched starting quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Quinn Ewers, and in the third quarter both Ewers and Arch Manning wanted no part of the Georgia defense.

Ole Miss lost at home to Kentucky and to LSU, both on fourth-down bean throws. Without the two improbable games, Ole Miss is undefeated.

And that is the problem with the committee. There are no nuances in the rankings, no examination of teams and common opponents and difficulty.

The exact reason why the playoffs were expanded to 12 teams.

This blatant avoidance of what plays out on the field is bad for the College Football Playoff and bad for the game. There is too much money involved in the process ($1.2 billion annually) for the committee to be wrong.

The easy answer is relax, there are three more weeks for this thing to play out and the committee needs to get it right. But that’s not the point.

Because if this is how the committee deliberates and comes to these specific conclusions, what does that mean about the rest of the poll? If something as obvious as this is ignored, where else will it happen again?

These committee decisions are critical because the Nos. 7-10 spots in the poll will be so close that the aforementioned arguments will be deciding factors in who hosts a playoff game and who travels.

If a team from the South travels to a team from the Midwest, and plays a December game in sub-zero temperatures and possibly snow, or plays at home in the 50s.

If the committee can’t see something as simple as Texas’ best win is against Colorado State of the Group of Five or Vanderbilt, and that Ole Miss has beaten Georgia and South Carolina, what else is the committee going to ignore for the sake of a minor loss?

The hard work and heavy lifting happens on the field. Not the secluded and secretive committee room.

It’s no different than the confusing Bowl Championship Series rankings, where computer polls—each with its own weighted and secret formula—helped decide who played for the national title.

Think about this: We’ve taken the most important process of the college football season and put it in the hands of athletic directors and random businessmen and women on the committee.

Rule #1, everyone: big wins are more important than a loss.

A novel idea, I know.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for the USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.