The Daily Player 12: Parity Needs an Upgrade

It's 'way too easy to get transfixed on the apex of college football's annual food chain.

Not so this November.

With the CFP's current Anointed Four cruising through the month, that crew's sucked virtually all the drama outta weekend schedules.

Ring this up as yet another quality bitch about limiting a playoff to only four teams.

 

Yes, we all know it's all down to turf protection and the politics surrounding it.

The vigil thus continues against OG wannabes in ugly blazers. And it is a vigil.

 

Fortunately, fun this week was provided by the great unwashed, teams that have committed the sin of losing two or more games but still survive in their conference races.

Take Northwestern, who may be 6-4 overall, but only Michigan beat them in the Big Ten. By zapping Iowa on the oad, 14-10, the Wildcats are headed to its title game.

 

Then there's Arizona State, whose players seem to have bought into St Herman's mantra, winning three in a row and putting themselves in the hunt for the jumble that is the Pac-12 South:

There are still four teams that can win that division, upset either Washington State or Washington in the title game, and go to the Rose Bowl.

Odds are this coming weekend, while the SEC is engaging in its late-season cupcake tribute, excitement will reign where parity puts more teams in play.

Only Notre Dame has a bitta work to do, in Yankee Stadium against spirited Syracuse.

 

C'mon, now.

That's actually the CFP Selection Committee getting their expense account to luxuriate at the spa this week and then spew out the exact same top nine teams as the week before:

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

For most of those teams, the brass tacks portion of their season has just begun. In essence, most of them only have 2-3 big games that are gonna move the national meter.

Is that really the way to decide anything other than ... say ... 

 

The Daily Player 12 is 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 9:

• 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.

 

It's our gift to humanity.

Really, everyone knows it makes much more sense to bag the bikini-&-sash routine and expand the brackets to at least eight teams. Toss in the American and Mountain West champions and move the bitching down to that final spot.

Then, each team can schedule whichever non-cons they want. Won't matter. Prevailing over peers will.

 

Life Lesson 101: Never say no to a blonde.

Until then ...

 

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.

Incidentally, our poll has movement:

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

• Michigan dropped? ... There's not enough parity in the Big Ten West to cover Rutgers, while Ohio State handled Sparty. Besides, nothing matters until the Wolverines-Buckeyes game.
• Any love for UCF? ... The Knights are at one-loss Cincinnati this weekend. The Committee has the Bearcats at No 24 right now, so style points could be on the cards if they win. Speaking of ...

 

• UMass or The Citadel? ... Neither will cause Georgia and Alabama to jump anyone in this poll, anyway. Those matchups are just embarrassing, but who'd care if only conference titles mattered?
• Will Notre Dame jump Clemson by beating the 'Cuse? ... The Tigers get Dookies at home, but who cares? Anywhere in the Anointed Four works for the Irish, and a spot will be assured if they keep winning.

 

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:

Washington State's at No 12 on this list.

The Cougars may be having the dream season, but even if they beat Washington in the Apple Cup, the Committee probably won't care who comes outta the Pac-12 South to meet them in Championship Week.

They could give a damn about parity, which is just another reason The Daily Player 12 could give a damn about them.