When the first poll from the College Football Playoff committee was released last week, it was immediately greeted with scorn, derision, frustration, and even anger from many fans and analysts who questioned how the rankings were determined.
asserted
rankings → release → fans
The lapses in logic, clear mistakes, and often inexplicable justifications from committee chairman Hunter Yurachek during his post-release interview only served to make the poll appear worse.
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poll → serve → interview
But given the widespread discontent and overwhelmingly negative feedback pouring towards the committee, there was some small sliver of hope that the week two poll might address some of the issues.
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poll → give → issues
Or at least, provide some acknowledgment that the committee had overcorrected for "strength of schedule" in favor of one specific conference.
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committee → provide → conference
Well, hope everyone didn't get their hopes up too high, because week two's release on Tuesday night only served to reaffirm the same concerns and frustrations from week one.
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release → hope → week
This week's poll managed to take the clear bias towards one conference and make it even more obvious, while Yurachek's defense of an inexplicable ranking change only served to reaffirm that the committee is just making it all up as they go.
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they → manage → it
Let's start with the former No. 1 team in the country: the Miami Hurricanes.
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's → let → country
Miami entered the week undefeated and the consensus top team in the rankings.
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Miami → enter → rankings
They went on the road to play a highly regarded Notre Dame team, ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll and No. 11 in the CFB Playoff poll, without their best player, Malachi Toney.
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They → go → player
The Hurricanes had the ball 4th-and-6 with 3:36 to go at the Notre Dame 18-yard-line and seemed to complete a pass for a touchdown to tie the game.
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Hurricanes → have → game
It looked like a catch in real time and on replay; the Miami receiver came down with a foot in bounds, then stepped out of bounds, before losing control of the ball.
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receiver → look → ball
But the officials on the field called it incomplete and review upheld it.
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review → call → it
They lost 31-24, but that play served to underscore how close the outcome was.
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outcome → lose → ?
Surely, the Hurricanes dropped just a few spots, right?
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Hurricanes → drop → spots
After all, that's the standard that poll voters have set for the SEC; lose a close game on the road to a highly-ranked team and you'll drop one spot.
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you → set → spot
Instead, Miami fell six spots to No. 7.
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Miami → fall → .
When the Georgia Bulldogs lost, at home, to a mediocre Auburn Tigers team, AP Poll voters dropped them four spots.
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voters → lose → spots
That's why fans from other conferences get upset; there is very little consistency for how these "experts" evaluate losses, and the benefits always seem to point in one direction.
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benefits → get → direction
Speaking of absurd drops, one of Yurachek's most ridiculous post-poll comments was about the now-No. 9 Indiana Hoosiers.
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one → speak → Hoosiers
Indiana entered the week at No. 4 and didn't play, sitting out for their bye week ahead of a huge matchup against USC on Saturday.
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Indiana → enter → Saturday
While not playing, they dropped from No. 4 to No. 9.
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they → play → .
Again, they did not play.
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they → play → ?
And they dropped five spots.
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they → drop → spots
Well, Yurachek was asked about it and attempted to provide an explanation.
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Yurachek → ask → explanation
"Indiana was probably a victim of having a bye week at the wrong time with seven games between Top 25 teams," he said.
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he → have → teams
"The committee is really impressed with what UCLA, Texas, and Notre Dame did as well as Alabama and LSU."
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UCLA → impress → Alabama
"Every team that Indiana had played to date in the Big Ten all lost and that effected their strength of schedule rank and the committee's review of Indiana," he continued.
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he → play → Indiana
They've won games because of their defense and not their offense."
Dear lord.
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They've → win → defense
Who cares how Indiana wins?
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Indiana → care → ?
Why does that matter?
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that → matter → ?
When SEC teams dominated teams defensively, particularly Nick Saban's Alabama or the early Kirby Smart-era at Georgia, it was a testament to their toughness and quality and "defense wins championships" mindset.
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defense → dominate → championships
Now that Indiana is winning games with their defense, it's a negative?
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it → win → defense
Alabama doesn't get punished for Mississippi State's collapse, but Indiana's opponents losing justifies this?
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losing → punish → this
Indiana's non-conference schedule is frequently cited as unacceptably poor, yet per ESPN's own FPI computer metrics, the Hoosiers' best non-conference opponent, North Texas, would be an 8.5 point favorite over Georgia Tech, arguably UGA's "toughest" non-conference opponent.
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opponent → cite → Tech
Ironically, the committee was "impressed" with what UCLA did, which was beat Minnesota.
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which → beat → Minnesota
The same Minnesota team that Indiana also beat the week before their bye.
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Indiana → beat → bye
Yes, UCLA had a higher scoring margin, but since when has that mattered to the committee?
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that → have → committee
So Miami drops six spots after a close road loss to a top-11 team, Indiana drops five spots because they didn't play.
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they → drop → spots
Hilariously, the Kentucky Wildcats, who were exposed in a blowout loss to Tennessee, dropped just five spots as a result.
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who → expose → result
There's plenty more to cover further down the rankings, but Kentucky's two losses are by 28 points and...28 points.
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losses → be → points
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
