Latest CFP Rankings...7 PM ESPN

[ericsaid]

It is clear based on Ohio State's jump to #1 that it is more about what have you done lately. Va Tech has outscored its opponents 86-0 over the last 9 quarters and is 6-0 with Hooker at QB. That obviously played more to the committee's liking than our 10-1 record. It is interesting to see those 3&4 loss teams between us and the other 10-1 G5 teams. Clearly, the committee doesn't think we are their equal. All we can do is keep winning and see where the chips fall.

I would say Zac Thomas' record against P5 teams is more impressive. A 7 point loss to No. 9 Penn State and wins over UNC and USC. If you want to have a measuring contest and all.

[App91]

If we would not have crapped the bed against the stink, then not looked pedestrian against SoAL and Tx St we would have some argument. Style points matter and performance matters, those 3 games were not worthy of NY6 much less Top 25

[hapapp]

It is clear based on Ohio State's jump to #1 that it is more about what have you done lately. Va Tech has outscored its opponents 86-0 over the last 9 quarters and is 6-0 with Hooker at QB. That obviously played more to the committee's liking than our 10-1 record. It is interesting to see those 3&4 loss teams between us and the other 10-1 G5 teams. Clearly, the committee doesn't think we are their equal. All we can do is keep winning and see where the chips fall.

I would say Zac Thomas' record against P5 teams is more impressive. A 7 point loss to No. 9 Penn State and wins over UNC and USC. If you want to have a measuring contest and all.

Perhaps with Hooker in the lineup they don't lose to ND by a point. I stated my opinion and its certainly not because I'm a fan.

[hapapp]

It is clear based on Ohio State's jump to #1 that it is more about what have you done lately. Va Tech has outscored its opponents 86-0 over the last 9 quarters and is 6-0 with Hooker at QB. That obviously played more to the committee's liking than our 10-1 record. It is interesting to see those 3&4 loss teams between us and the other 10-1 G5 teams. Clearly, the committee doesn't think we are their equal. All we can do is keep winning and see where the chips fall.

I don't think Ohio State's ranking says anything about recency, other than the fact that their schedule allowed them to enhance their resume much more last week than LSU did. But OSU has been incredibly dominant all year long.

Now, in reality I think you're right that VT's recent play is carrying a lot of weight. But I also think that's a bit of a red herring. In reality the CFP seems to shift the goalposts often in terms of what metrics they value. It gives the impression that they start with their desired result, then use whatever justification best suits it.

The fact that Ohio State more recently had an opportunity to enhance their resume seems to suggest "recency" played a role in their jumping LSU. I take no position whether they deserve to be there or not, but last week's results were the difference.

[hapapp]

Keep in mind there is a Sun Belt AD on the committee. I believe the StAte AD is the only G5 member on the committee. He likely would have more influence than some public lobbying from the commissioner.

But the job of the AD on the committee is to be an objective member, not to lobby for his conference. Obviously in reality everyone's going to bring their own biases to the table, but they're at least supposed to minimize them as much as possible.

The job of the commissioner is to advocate for his league's member schools. For Gill to not make a peep while Aresco is out there beating the drum for his teams and specifically calling out App State by name is pure negligence.

For that matter, he should be pushing for ULL to be ranked too, if not by the CFP then at least in the other polls. Sun Belt has a legit chance to have a top 25 matchup in the title game and the league office is doing nothing to push for it, at least publicly.

Heck, maybe the reason we have held on to #25 is because of Mohajir. While he is supposed to be objective, he likely knows more about us than anyone else in the room.

[EastHallApp]

It is clear based on Ohio State's jump to #1 that it is more about what have you done lately. Va Tech has outscored its opponents 86-0 over the last 9 quarters and is 6-0 with Hooker at QB. That obviously played more to the committee's liking than our 10-1 record. It is interesting to see those 3&4 loss teams between us and the other 10-1 G5 teams. Clearly, the committee doesn't think we are their equal. All we can do is keep winning and see where the chips fall.

I don't think Ohio State's ranking says anything about recency, other than the fact that their schedule allowed them to enhance their resume much more last week than LSU did. But OSU has been incredibly dominant all year long.

Now, in reality I think you're right that VT's recent play is carrying a lot of weight. But I also think that's a bit of a red herring. In reality the CFP seems to shift the goalposts often in terms of what metrics they value. It gives the impression that they start with their desired result, then use whatever justification best suits it.

The fact that Ohio State more recently had an opportunity to enhance their resume seems to suggest "recency" played a role in their jumping LSU. I take no position whether they deserve to be there or not, but last week's results were the difference.

Right, no argument there. Let me rephrase.

The CFP apparently determined that beating Penn State pushed Ohio State's *overall* body of work ahead of LSU's. Agree or disagree, but I think it's still about the full body of work.

That's different than saying the game played this past week carries more weight than games played in September. It's not like OSU looked like garbage for the first half of the season but now looks great so we pretend those first 5-6 games don't matter anymore.

That's what they're doing with VT, more or less. If not, then consider this: What if VT's results were exactly the same, except the order were reversed? So they would have started the season 6-1, but their four most recent games would be the 35-point loss to Duke, competitive wins over ODU and Furman, and a loss at BC. Does anyone think they'd be ranked in that case?

[WVAPPeer]

If we would not have crapped the bed against the stink, then not looked pedestrian against SoAL and Tx St we would have some argument. Style points matter and performance matters, those 3 games were not worthy of NY6 much less Top 25

I think you are overthinking this my friend - Most teams have a crappy win - Cincy barely beat ECU and USF - Memphis beat Tulsa by 1 - Boise barely beat Marshall and Wyoming (neither bad teams but still) -
I honestly don't think they care about anything but Ws or Ls at this point in time for the G5 - the style points are for the top 7-8 teams because they could still have several teams with one loss (depending on what happens the next 2 weeks) to pick the Final 4 --- For the G5 NY6 choice they will clearly wait to see what happens in the conf champ games because that is the first qualifier.

[AppInDC]

If we would not have crapped the bed against the stink, then not looked pedestrian against SoAL and Tx St we would have some argument. Style points matter and performance matters, those 3 games were not worthy of NY6 much less Top 25

I think you are overthinking this my friend - Most teams have a crappy win - Cincy barely beat ECU and USF - Memphis beat Tulsa by 1 - Boise barely beat Marshall and Wyoming (neither bad teams but still) -
I honestly don't think they care about anything but Ws or Ls at this point in time for the G5 - the style points are for the top 7-8 teams because they could still have several teams with one loss (depending on what happens the next 2 weeks) to pick the Final 4 --- For the G5 NY6 choice they will clearly wait to see what happens in the conf champ games because that is the first qualifier.

Agreed. Not sure if the best measure but if we look at Sagarin Strength of Schedule:

Memphis #77
Cincy #75
Boise #87
App #120

We can talk about how style points and how App would be higher if they had beaten Texas State and South Alabama by five touchdowns. But the fact of the matter is our schedule is weaker than any team in the top 25 and among the G5 Cotton Bowl contenders. And Schedule Strength seems to be tracking fairly close with how the committee is ranking the one loss candidates. I don't think style points alone will suddenly elevate App to the front of the pack.

An undefeated record would have helped but I'm not 100% it would have been a slam dunk either way. Out of our hands. Beat Troy and Louisiana and let's see what happens in the American and Mountain West next two weeks.

[JMappfan5]

It is clear based on Ohio State's jump to #1 that it is more about what have you done lately. Va Tech has outscored its opponents 86-0 over the last 9 quarters and is 6-0 with Hooker at QB. That obviously played more to the committee's liking than our 10-1 record. It is interesting to see those 3&4 loss teams between us and the other 10-1 G5 teams. Clearly, the committee doesn't think we are their equal. All we can do is keep winning and see where the chips fall.

I don't think Ohio State's ranking says anything about recency, other than the fact that their schedule allowed them to enhance their resume much more last week than LSU did. But OSU has been incredibly dominant all year long.

Now, in reality I think you're right that VT's recent play is carrying a lot of weight. But I also think that's a bit of a red herring. In reality the CFP seems to shift the goalposts often in terms of what metrics they value. It gives the impression that they start with their desired result, then use whatever justification best suits it.

The fact that Ohio State more recently had an opportunity to enhance their resume seems to suggest "recency" played a role in their jumping LSU. I take no position whether they deserve to be there or not, but last week's results were the difference.

The CFP Committee just positioned themselves to not having an all SEC Semi-Final by leaping OSU over LSU.

[bigdaddyg]

I really think some of you guys are WAY over analyzing this whole thing. For one the entire MAC and Conference USA sucks so they have been eliminated from the get go. Only La is even close in the Belt. Only 5 SEC schools are in the top 25 discussion really, only 3 (yes 3) PAC 12 because the rest are putrid record wise, Boise is the only MWC team in the mix. There are 6 BIG 10 legit schools, 4 BIG12 and 5 ACC. That’s 25 by my count. Now kick in the 3 AAC. That’s 28 legit teams. The top P5’s are going to get a nod because of general schedule strength so we simply need help. I simply don’t think our name pops up on the screen in the weekly committee meeting and a bunch of their time is spent looking at our schedule and results. We are really in the top 28 in the country and have to battle 3 and maybe a 4 loss P5 and the other guys from 15-28.

[AppStFan1]

I really think some of you guys are WAY over analyzing this whole thing. For one the entire MAC and Conference USA sucks so they have been eliminated from the get go. Only La is even close in the Belt. Only 5 SEC schools are in the top 25 discussion really, only 3 (yes 3) PAC 12 because the rest are putrid record wise, Boise is the only MWC team in the mix. There are 6 BIG 10 legit schools, 4 BIG12 and 5 ACC. That’s 25 by my count. Now kick in the 3 AAC. That’s 28 legit teams. The top P5’s are going to get a nod because of general schedule strength so we simply need help. I simply don’t think our name pops up on the screen in the weekly committee meeting and a bunch of their time is spent looking at our schedule and results. We are really in the top 28 in the country and have to battle 3 and maybe a 4 loss P5 and the other guys from 15-28.

Who said the MAC or CUSA matter in this? Boise State, Cincy, Memphis, and App are the only schools with a shot at the NY6 right now and I would handicap it at 40% for Cincy, 40% for Memphis, and 15% for Boise and 5% for us. The winner of the Cincy game this weekend is about a 70% chance that becomes a lock if they win the AAC title.

We just need Boise to lose one of their next two and then Cincy and Memphis both need to take a loss. I just don't see all 3 of those happening. I think 1 of those teams will definitely eliminate themselves but not all 3.

[Overcashed]

At least we're trying to hype ourselves up by showing highlights of our resume.

[AppStateMtneer]

Very well done graphic

[Yosefus]

Hope the CFP committee has that in their packet Tuesday.

[Saint3333]

The committee is positioning so many dominoes for the next two weeks it’s comical.