Twitter has been ablaze with takes, tantrums, and told-you-sos since Tuesday night when the College Football Playoff committee debuted the initial Top 25 of the 2019 season.
Here's what CFP chairman Rob Mullens said when asked why No. 4 Penn State slotted ahead of No. 5 Clemson:
"You know, we had a lengthy discussion about Penn State and Clemson, two really, really good teams, both strong defensively. In the end, what it came down to, and again, much debate, Penn State has marquee wins against 14th-ranked Michigan and a road win at 18th-ranked Iowa. In addition, they have a non-conference win over Pitt, which is a pretty good win at this point. So sure, the close win over North Carolina is a factor because we're looking at the entire resume, and what we see with Clemson is an impressive team, an offense that's improved in the last few weeks, outstanding quarterback, outstanding running back.
"I hope that answers your question."
Not really.
George Schroeder of USA Today wrote a column revolving around Clemson and the discrepancy in the criteria used to rank teams.
"Two Big Ten teams. Two SEC teams. And all over college football, brain cells buzzing, because once again the results appeared to have been derived by a curious amalgam of methods.
"This team is ranked here because of the eye test. That team is ranked there because of its resume. It’s a moving target, with wildly inconsistent reasoning from one team to the next. Just like it’s always been, from the beginning. Just like it’s designed to be.
"Mullens has a thankless, basically impossible job. Each week, he gets sent out to answer questions and explain – sort of – how the rankings shook out like they did. The problem, of course, is that there’s likely never a real consensus among the 13 members...
“At the end of the day, when the committee watched Alabama, what they saw is a team that’s being dominant against that schedule and that was the difference between Alabama and Penn State.
"And apparently between Alabama and Clemson, too. It’s hard to figure what the committee did not see when it watched Clemson, which has been dominant against its schedule."
Here's ESPN CFP reporter Heather Dinich on Wednesday: "Wheels up from committee-land. This one was certainly ... different to explain. Eye test for Ohio State and Bama, resume for Penn State. Can understand each position individually, but the justifications by the group for each were inconsistent. Eventually protocol will matter."
Pretty much nails it.
It's not worth dissecting Clemson vs. Penn State on Nov. 6, but Penn State's offense, which is ranked No. 52 nationally, is sophomore wide receiver KJ Hamler and not a lot of anything else.
Given that Clemson went 15-0 last season and stomped on the Tide, it's pretty unbelievable that events have unfolded so that the disrespect and 'dog card is so incredibly ripe under current circumstances.
Would love to be a fly on the wall at today's practice in Clemson. Whooo boy, cannot imagine that the energy won't be off the charts. Same to be said for Saturday. Just when we thought the vibe in Raleigh might be a little less spirited than usual because of how down N.C. State is this year, we're given reason to project otherwise— and it has nothing to do with N.C. State but everything to do with Clemson.
Dabo Swinney might have to actually settle his guys down some this week instead of flaunting No. 5 in their faces, because the juices must be flowing right now inside Clemson's facilities. Energy is all well and good, but it doesn't outlast execution.
Swinney won't address outright the No. 5 ranking with his team. He said such on Tuesday. At least it's my belief that he won't verbalize it for the purpose of conjuring motivation. Because the players know. They don't live under a rock even if they're off social media.
What Swinney will pound home is the rankings do not matter -- one way or the other -- because if you do not execute at N.C. State then it's all for nothing. Swinney has mentioned at least three times this season in various media settings that Wisconsin was likely thinking too far ahead when it got tripped up by Illinois. In the same vein, Penn State head coach James Franklin tweeted the word "Minnesota" 25 times in one tweet following the rankings release on Tuesday. Franklin knows that if his team can't get past undefeated Minnesota, then No. 4 is all for nothing.
"If we lose to N.C. State are we going to celebrate, ‘Woooo’ we were third in the poll?' I don’t think so," Swinney said Tuesday. "All of that will go away... It just doesn’t matter one bit to me. What if they tell us we’re No. 1? Are we going to have a parade? We’re not having a pizza party. It just doesn’t matter. If we’re 2, 3, 4, 15, it just doesn’t matter. It’s not worth the brain cells."
What is worth the brain cells are focus, attention to detail, and execution. Everyone knows that Swinney is a master at playing the disrespect card. But what's maybe undervalued about Swinney is his teams never seem to get too high or too low on the emotional spectrum, and that seems important to mention here.
"We got a little saying around here, 'Some horses start fast, seem horses start slow, but the thoroughbreds grade at the final pole,'" Swinney said last Saturday.
We're not even on the last lap yet.
Couple of additional points:
1) Under zero circumstances is a 13-0 Clemson getting left out of the Playoff. Andrea Adelson of ESPN tweeted on Wednesday that she's "not 100 percent convinced" that an undefeated Clemson wouldn't be left out. And I strongly disagree there.
2) Clemson's next wave of players is sporting a chip on its collective shoulder, too.
Among the multiple Clemson commitments who voiced opinions over the rankings were the two most high-profile ones.
"The disrespect," tweeted five-star quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, who tacked on a laughing-crying emoji.
"Just wait..." tweeted No. 1 overall prospect Bryan Bresee.
Wait indeed. Seems like it'll be worth it.
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November 07, 2019 at 03:09AM
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Fine at five - 247Sports
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