SEC's Cupcake Weekend Drips with Game Control
Published on 22-Nov-2014 by Alan Adamsson
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It's so fitting that Jeff Long is the chairman of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee.
He's the AD at Arkansas, an SEC school
And he's the dude who gets to explain why Alabama, Georgia, and Auburn don't get jumped in the CFP rankings this coming Tue 25 Nov.
Can't wait to see how he game controls that.
Isn't one of the alleged principles of those rankings a progressive, start-from-scratch-each-week evaluation of the teams to that point in the season? Of course it is! Why else would the committee wait until mid-season to release its list?
Red flags of CFP credibility are ready to rise again, too:
- Time to watch for UCLA's placement if the Bruins beat USC.
- Is Vanderbilt's rough season going to put a dent in Mississippi State's already-soft strength-of-schedule?
- Is Baylor going to get a bump if it prevails at home over Oklahoma State by more than the 42-9 home pasting TCU laid on the Cowboys?
And how, exactly, did the committee spin Alabama's game control in these little statistical inconveniences? Great question.
- They beat a down-year -- again -- Arkansas because the Hogs missed an extra point; and
- They squeaked by a so-so LSU team with the help of a dubious penalty and a wayward kickoff.
At least the Tide game-controlled Florida Atlantic and Southern Mississippi. But they didn't game-control the Golden Eagles in Tuscaloosa as well as Marshall's Thundering Herd game-controlled the Golden Eagles in Hattiesburg.
This is only one example. Alabama isn't alone in this perception-fest.
There's a reason The Daily Player 12 was created, with much less time -- but with much more beer and nachos -- and expense than the CFP Selection Committee's weekly junket. The CFP coulda done something similar if it truly wanted, or at least held fast to its stated priorities, like winning titles, head-to-head, and strength of schedule.
Scheduling multiple cupcakes -- with one near season's end -- is not conducive to schedule strength.
And as to meaningful game control? Share the spotlight with those who really have a clue, dudes and dudette: