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SportsPulse: Dan Wolken and Paul Myerberg discuss the first standings of the University Football Qualifiers and what the committee did well and what they laundered.
UNITED STATES TODAY & # 39; HUI
Stephen Travis, of Clemson (9) celebrates with Milan Richard after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game against the state of North Carolina on Saturday 20th. October 2018 in Clemson, SC (AP Photo / Richard Shiro)(Photo: The associated press)
The outrage season is back in college football. The first College Football Playoff ranking has had its share of rights and wrongs, as this ranking always does, and the hope is that the confused pursuit in the playoffs will become clearer before the first Sunday in December.
Was Alabama a deserving No. 1? Does Clemson have a case for first place? And what about UCF? The Knights placed 12th in the standings, six places higher than the team's first ranking last season, but a distance was removed.
Every day, USA TODAY Sports will discuss what the playoff selection committee was right and where it missed. Here are the takeaways from the first ranking of the 2018 season:
Right
– LSU should be ahead of Notre Dame. Our power is undefeated: Notre Dame is ranked fourth because of her undefeated record, not the way the Irish seemed beatable in ball possession victories over Ball State, Vanderbilt and Pittsburgh. The Irish still have the road to the national semifinal: they are on the ground at 12-0.
For the moment, however, LSU # 3 deserves to be ranked ahead. Rob Mullens, the chair of the playoffs selection committee, has made the best point: LSU has six wins against opponents with a record of wins, the highest number in the Football Bowl Subdivision, and the only loss to the Tigers has been taken by 8 points against 11th Florida. The summary is pretty impressive today for one to wonder: Could LSU leap forward, No. 2 Clemson with a win on Saturday against Alabama?
ANALYSIS: The first ranking of the playoffs of university football shows the subjectivity of the process
FIRST CLASSIFICATIONS: Alabama, Clemson in the lead but the committee has a surprise
SCENARIOS: College Football play-off opportunities ranging from total chaos to probable
– The Iowa State deserved to be ranked. The No. 24 hurricanes could have the worst record of any team in the Top 25 – 4-3, a win behind No. 18 Mississippi State and No. 20 Texas A & M – but they remain a clever addition. The state of Iowa is suffering from quality losses: 10 points, the No. 16 Iowa and 7 Oklahoma join a three-point loss against TCU. Each of the Cyclones' four wins was won against teams with a winning record, the most impressive with a 30-14 record of 13th West Virginia. It should be noted that their current three-game winning streak coincides with the decision to start rookie Brock Purdy at quarterback. Wisely, the committee has exceeded the Cyclone record to see which one of the best teams in the country.
False
Clemson should be No. 1. Alabama has brilliantly passed the eye test, dominating to such a high level for eight games that experts are already wondering where the Tide could rank in the pantheon of the big teams. university football. But the indicators are not on the Alabama side. The tide has only two victories against opponents with a winning record and one against a team in the Top 25, the Texas A & M at home. The Sagarin rankings rank Alabama at number 60 in the FBS.
On the other hand, Clemson has three wins against teams in the Top 25: No. 19 Syracuse, No. 20 A & M and No. 21 State of North Carolina. In recent weeks, at least, the Tigers have seemed as dominant as Alabama – winning their last three games by a combined score of 163-20. Clemson has the resume and production to file before the tide.
For the moment at least. Alabama would deserve the first place once its schedule is strengthened. This will happen this weekend.
– UCF is ranked too high. The Knights are # 12 in the top rankings, which is their highest score of last year, but it's hard to see what the committee values from a team with one of the most weakest in the country. Consider that the UCF is the only team in the country not to win against a victorious team, as Mullens pointed out Tuesday night.
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– Three omissions. The committee missed three teams worthy of being ranked in the top 25. One is 7-1 in Houston, 17th in the Amway Coaches poll after last week's win over South Florida. Northwest, the Big Ten West leader, is now 5-3 with victories over Purdue, Michigan and Wisconsin for a tight loss to Michigan (and a bad loss to Akron).
And the third is Utah State's 7-1, No. 20 in the coaching poll, who lost to Michigan State by a touchdown in the opening of the season, but has since recorded seven wins in a row. The Aggies scored at least 42 points and won by at least 10 points in six of their seven wins, the most impressive being a 45-20 victory over rival Brigham Young.
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