2019 CFB Pre Week 12 Thoughts | Barking Hard

2019 CFB Pre Week 12 Thoughts

The_QCT

Resident CFB Guru
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The committee released their 2nd CFP poll last night and came out with a Top 10 of:

1. LSU
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. Oregon
7. Utah
8. Minnesota
9. Penn State
10. Oklahoma

Let's talk about a couple of these:

1. LSU
- This is fine if we are going on resume alone. They clearly have the best resume (although there is quite a bit of bias involved to get that resume where it is) with 4 Top 10 wins. However, if we are going to rank a team #1, they should be a complete football team and LSU is far from it. LSU's defense is ranked 64th in the nation vs P5 opponents in total defense, 56th in YPP and 58th in the nation in scoring vs P5 opponents. That is very pedestrian to very bad. Defense was used by the CFP committee for years to knock teams like Oklahoma. But now that the 2 top teams in the SEC (Alabama and LSU) both have terrible defenses, they are going to ignore it? Par for the course.

2. Ohio State
- Let's be honest, Ohio State's schedule has been anything but difficult. FAU? Cincy? Indiana? Northwestern? Maryland? Mich State? Heck, Wisconsin is still trying to complete their first forward pass of the season. Nonetheless, I have no problem with Ohio State here as they have handled their business and are clearly 1 of only 2 complete teams in college football.

3. Clemson
- The only other complete team in college football. The only difference between 2 & 3 is the color uniform the team will wear in the CFP semifinal. Yes, I know Clemson’s schedule isn’t extremely challenging...but having the #5 SOR quiets some of that talk to the intelligent CFB fan. Clemson is the only team in CFB with 8 wins vs P5 teams. Clemson is the only team in college football in the Top 5 of both offense and defense. Clemson defense has only allowed 4 non-garbage time TD's all season and has yet to allow an opponent to gain 300 yards in a game.

4. UGA
- I though this was joke and ESPN was going to say just kidding and change it to Minnesota (who should be here). But as ESPN and the CFP committee annually does, they over-valued another SEC team that is undeserving. UGA has the worst loss of any 1-loss team in the country - a loss to a sub .500 SCar team ...at home. A team who just lost to App State..at home. UGA's SOR (a better measure than SOS) is 11..behind teams like Minnesota, Baylor, Oregon, Penn State, Georgia's offense is anemic. This is absolutely a joke ranking

5. Alabama
- Another joke ranking by the CFP. Alabama has the worst resume and 2nd worse SOR of any 1 loss P5 team at 10 (UGA has the worst). Alabama's defense has been so pedestrian that they just gave up 559 yards, 29 first downs and 46 points...at home. There isn't a single metric or eye test that justifies Alabama in the Top 5.

6. Oregon & 7. Utah
- These 2 are in prime position. Whoever, wins out will jump the 2nd SEC team and make the CFP as the 4th seed.

8. Minnesota
- They deserve to be 4th in the rankings. They are undefeated, just knocked off the previous 4th ranked team (PSU was a joke at 4) and have the #4 SOR in the country. Nonetheless, they control their own destiny. Win out and beat OSU in the B1G championship game and they are in. They won't though.

9. Penn State
- As some of us previously said...PSU at #4 was a joke. Their QB is awful and they don't have the speed or athleticism to keep up with really good football teams. OSU will destroy them. They are most likely out.

10. Oklahoma
- Bad resume. Bad loss. Bad showing vs ISU. They need a lot of help.

In case some of you are wondering. Approximate Vegas lines for the current CFP Semi games and most likely national championship match-up:

LSU (-6.5) vs UGA
OSU (-1.5) vs Clemson

Most likely National Championship line per Vegas as of today:

Clemson (-4) vs LSU

Clemson is going back-to-back. Take that to the bank.
 
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