The Daily Player 12: Gentlemen, Start Your Bitching

And so, the roundabout route to put four conference champions in the College Football Playoffs begins.

Of course, an accurate process would involve waiting until early December to discover who they'll be.

That wouldn't be any fun, would it? Weekday arguments would be hollow, for one.

For another, what would the Power Five kingmakers do with all that money they've budgeted to get the Selection Committee to Grapevine, Texas and make sure they're fed, watered, and comfy?

 

Can't spend any excess on players. That'd be another blow to the concept of amateurism. Better for the student-athletes to starve for their art.

Still, the Committee did stay on point with one welcome message:

Play a damn schedule.

 

Here's what the first version from on high looks like:

1. Alabama	3. Michigan
2. Clemson	4. Texas A&M
5. Washington	9. Auburn
6. Ohio State	10. Nebraska
7. Louisville	11. Florida
8. Wisconsin	12. Penn State

Rumor has it that most of the Big XII was otherwise occupied drawing lots to see who gets to play Prairie View A&M sometime in the near future.

And Washington? They're good. Really good. Just ask Rutgers, Portland State, and Idaho.

The Huskies will get more challenging opposition this month, starting with the pass-happy CalBears in Berkeley. As if coach Sonny Dykes needs another log on their schedule's dumpster fire.

Meanwhile, without further ado, let's see how those rankings would really look with no eye test, no debate, and just data concocted to conform with the Committee's own mandate:

The Daily Player 12 criteria is brilliantly empirical, suave, and debonair. Just ask the hot barmaid who agreed, most likely to enhance her chances for a better tip.

• Until a conference title is clinched, division leaders will be considered as first-place teams.
• Power Five scores in non-conference games will be measured on a win-loss basis.
• If an Other Five team made it to Week 9 undefeated in conference and with two or fewer losses overall, it will be considered to have earned Power Five status.
• Head-to-head results will be measured separately on a win-loss basis.
• Bookies are the only evaluators who put their dosh where their conclusions are.
• Bovada championship odds will be factored into the rankings.
• Geeks have an unbiased place in this process; Anderson-Hester computer rankings are easily understandable and will be included.

• The Big XII has ten teams; no other conference has a division that large, so a first-place team will get 10 points, a second-place team will get 9 points, and so forth. If a team is tied for a position, it will be considered to hold the higher position.
• A conference champion will be awarded 5 bonus points.
• Non-con Power Five wins will be worth 3 points; those losses will be worth 1 point.
• Notre Dame's schedule will be measured against ACC teams.
• If BYU ever becomes a factor, we'll figure it out then.
• Head-to-head conference wins will be worth 3 points; those losses will be worth -1 point.
• Bovada and Geek rankings will be based on a 25-point scale and factored down by a constant of 0.3; thus, a first-place position will be worth (25 x 0.3) = 7.5 points, second place for either will be worth (24 x 0.3) = 7.2 points, and so on. If a team is tied for a position, it will be considered to hold the higher position.

Good point, really. Just shake the numbers; no need to stir:

A few observations:

• In the past two seasons of CFP overkill, this format produced the same Featured Four as the Selection Committee anointed, but on a helluva cheaper budget.
• Western Michigan and Boise State obviously have no chance, but like the Anderson-Hester rankings, this list is based only on games played, as it should be.
• With that premise, this list can change dramatically from week to week, as it should.
• Barring a football apocalypse, Louisville's chances at the playoffs are done like dinner.
• It's interesting that the Bookies and Geeks don't share the Committee's opinion about Texas A&M, which means there may be more to eye-test denial in Grapevine than meets the eye.

But that can happen around a high-end water cooler.