The second week of the College Football Playoff rankings have been released, and controversy once again reigns around the CFP committee thanks to Big Ten and SEC placement.
asserted
controversy → release → placement
What was going to happen to teams like Ole Miss and Kentucky, who both suffered bad losses this past weekend against Georgia and Tennessee respectively?
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who → go → Georgia
Now, with former No. 1 ranked Miami taking its first loss of the season and dropping to No. 7 in the latest poll, Georgia was the obvious choice to take over the top spot this week, though Utah could have made a strong case as well after beating a Top-10 BYU team at home.
uncertain
Utah → rank → home
But, as the regular season comes to an end over the next three weeks, there are plenty of valid concerns coming from conferences like the Big Ten and Big 12.
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season → come → Ten
The SEC takes up a massive amount of spots in latest CFP rankings
And then we have the SEC, which currently has five teams ranked within the top-12, led by No. 1 Georgia, No. 3 Alabama, No. 6 Texas, No. 8 Tennessee and No. 11 Kentucky.
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which → take → Georgia
If the Wildcats were to catch another loss this season, the arguments are going to be made about the margin of defeat, and that's one kerfuffle.
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that → catch → defeat
I don't know if Kentucky could win against other conference teams.
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Kentucky → know → teams
As for the Tennessee versus Alabama argument, I think we can put a pin in that one for now.
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we → think → one
The CFP committee is not going to rank the Vols ahead of the Tide, based off the number of quality wins Alabama has compared to Tennessee.
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Alabama → go → Tennessee
And yes, the Vols defeated Alabama by sixteen points last month.
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Vols → defeat → points
If you look at their schedule compared to Alabama's schedule, the committee feels like Alabama has a stronger schedule," CFP's Hunter Yurachek noted.
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Yurachek → look → schedule
What happens with a team like No. 19 Ole Miss, who has wins against two top-25 opponents?
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who → happen → opponents
They are essentially eliminated from the postseason, unless a miracle happens.
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miracle → eliminate → postseason
The lopsided losses to Georgia and Florida, with the close loss against Texas has them needing help from others with a trip to Oklahoma this weekend, followed by games against Wofford and Mississippi State.
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them → have → Wofford
After the loss to Alabama this past weekend, Lane Kiffin's squad is barely hanging onto CFP hope.
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squad → hang → hope
If the Tigers were to win out (Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas), that would mean two wins against what should be Top-10 teams to wrap the season.
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what → win → season
Would the Tigers deserve a spot over a two-loss team?
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Tigers → deserve → team
The new ranking on Tuesday night is deserved.
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ranking → deserve → night
Sure, if they were to win out, which would include wins against two Top-10 teams, maybe the conversation changes in the last week.
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conversation → win → week
Well, the Big Ten has a numbers problem right now …
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Ten → have → problem
The bigger questions now turn to how many teams can the Big Ten get into the postseason over the next three weeks, with No. 20 Ohio State essentially being eliminated after their loss to now No. 16 Oregon.
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State → turn → Oregon
And, what happens this weekend if No. 18 USC were to stroll into Bloomington and beat No. 9 Indiana?
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USC → happen → Indiana
There is also No. 4 UCLA, which remains undefeated but has a weak strength of schedule that could hurt its playoff chances if it loses to Illinois on Friday night.
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it → be → night
UCLA also has a showdown against USC looming to close out the regular season.
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showdown → have → season
On top of that, the committee felt strong enough about Alabama's SOS to put them ahead of an undefeated Big Ten team, even with two losses on the season.
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committee → feel → season
In addition to that conundrum, Indiana dropped all the way from 4th to 9th in this week's CFP rankings, and the Hoosiers were on a bye-week.
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Hoosiers → drop → week
Teams that Indiana had already beaten this season that helped its case took losses this past weekend.
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that → beat → losses
"Indiana was probably victim of having a bye-week at the wrong time ...
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Indiana → have → time
Every team that they had played within the Big Ten lost," CFP's Yurachek noted about Indiana dropping during a bye-week.
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Indiana → play → week
In reality, this is probably where the Hoosiers deserved to be ranked last week, but the committee must have needed a little bit of anticipation for this reveal, which still does not make much sense.
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which → deserve → sense
If CFP members thought Indiana was the 9th best team in the country this week, then they should have had them around this spot in their first rankings.
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they → think → rankings
Again, questions we are still having a hard time grasping.
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we → have → time
The Big 12 is all sorts of crazy, and could still snag two bids to the CFP
Two weeks ago, most would've thought No. 10 BYU would find themselves in the postseason following their win over now No. 5 Notre Dame.
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BYU → snag → Dame
After a very bad loss to UCF on the road, followed by the loss to No. 2 Utah last weekend, it's the Cougars who are hanging on for dear life in terms of making the CFP.
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who → follow → CFP
There was a strong chance that if BYU would not have lost that game to UCF, they could’ve found themselves playing for a conference title, and most likely getting into the postseason.
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themselves → be → postseason
It's No. 12 Texas Tech that now finds itself in a great spot moving forward, with wins over Arizona and Houston to bolster their resume, even with the loss to Cincinnati.
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that → find → Cincinnati
If the Red Raiders were to make the Big 12 title game to face Utah, they could find themselves potentially earning a CFP spot.
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themselves → make → spot
Unfortunately for the Big 12, who are hoping to get at least two teams in, No. 12 Texas Tech still has to face Oklahoma State and Baylor to close out the regular season.
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Tech → hop → season
If they lose one of those games, the chances of representing the Big 12 are over, outside of whichever team could potentially knock off Utah in the conference title game.
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team → lose → game
But, Houston coming in at No. 14 could create an avenue that still gets the Big 12 at least two teams in.
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that → come → avenue
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
