The Daily Player 12: No New Hope

Fortunately, our society's been enlightened enough to see the back of exclusive clubs that had restrictions like Men Only and Whites Only, but equality only goes so far.

The rea$on is obvious.

It's not news that College Football Playoff is a Power Five privilege and everyone else can pound sand.

It's not even news that the Anointed Four are selected by a process only professional wrestling can concoct.

 

Somehow, we're still naïve enough to believe the PR wing of America's institutions of higher learning should hold itself to a higher standard.

March Madness rakes in lotsa dosh -- revenues cleared the $1billion mark in 2017 and won't look back -- and giving each conference champ a shot at the brass ring hasn't hurt them.

It can even be argued that results like UMBC taking out No 1 Virginia last year enhances the attraction and adds to the bottom line.

 

Here's how the Establishment stacked up this season's Anointed Four:

1. Alabama	3. Notre Dame
2. Clemson	4. Oklahoma
5. Georgia	9. Washington
6. Ohio State	10. Florida
7. Michigan	11. LSU
8. UCF	12. Penn State

 

The Sooners win Championship Week. Meanwhile, party crasher UCF just keeps winning, but the Golden Knights have that Other Five thing going against them.

If the AAC champions manage to beat an SEC stalwart for the second year in a row -- last season, Auburn; this season, UCF faces LSU in the Fiesta Bowl -- we can only hope the Colley Matrix computer ranking system gives them props again.

 

It's beyond time for the FBS to get back to why sports is sports, ie- it's the results that matter.

Now, more than ever, the FBS needs The Daily Player 12 to fight the forces of evil.

 

These rankings are based on taking the Selection Committee's objective criteria literally. More than literally, in fact. No opinions, just data.

It considers all FBS teams with two losses or less after Week 12:

• 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.
• 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 Daily Player 12 rankings are calculated on tangible fact:

• Standings matter. 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.

Put them all together and here's who the Anointed Four should be ...

Right now, you're probably asking yourself ...

• Ohio State? ... Their lone loss came at Purdue in an atmosphere charged with emotion that was greater than football.
• Oklahoma? ... Like the Buckeyes, they're conference champions. The point difference between the two is negligible. They should be in, too, so while we continue to curse about the bracket being too limited, let's do so with a quality adult beverage that's served to match the occasion ...

 

• UCF? ... The Golden Knights should be in, too, dammit! And until Power Fivers grow a pair and book a date, don't use that lame strength of schedule whine.
• Fresno State? ... News flash: the Bulldogs beat Boise State on the smurf turf in the snow to claim the Mountain West title. They'll go anywhere to play anybody, too, which is more than most Power Fivers can say.

For the record, here's what the Geeks have to say, based solely on games played to date, which is what the Committee's supposed to be doing:

And for good measure, here are their closing notes based on the data collected during the season:

It's futile to dispute any of those points because, as they say, you can have your own opinion, but you can't have your own facts.

Period.

 

Damn right. Just the facts. No room for opinion in a sport that has a scoreboard.

Except for one.

Expand the bracket, for chrissakes!