A wise man once said, “A committee is a group of the unfit, appointed by the unwilling to do the unnecessary.”
That quote rang so true when the most recent rankings of the College Football Playoff selection committee were announced.
Anyone who pays attention to college football and has any objectivity can come up with a reasonable top 25.
The committee is unnecessary. It’s arguably unfit.
That’s obvious whenever committee chairman Mack Rhoades tries to explain the reasons No. 3 Texas A&M is ranked behind No. 2 Indiana.
Both teams, which are unbeaten, were ranked in the same spot a week ago.
Then last Saturday, Indiana rallied to post a last-second 27-24 victory over unranked Penn State (3-6).
Later in the day, A&M never trailed en route to a dominant 38-17 win over then-No. 22 Missouri.
The very fact that Missouri was No. 22 in the committee’s own rankings indicates A&M’s victory was more impressive.
Not so says Rhoades, the Baylor athletic director who earned a master’s degree at Indiana.
“Missouri’s a really good team, but probably not the team that they've been,” Rhoades said. “They’re starting their third quarterback, a true freshman. That's a really tough spot for that young man.”
Maybe it was a tough spot because he was facing A&M. Besides, Penn State also started freshman quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, albeit a little-used redshirt freshman.
Penn State almost beat Indiana with a freshman quarterback. A&M overwhelmed Missouri.
Rhoades suggested Indiana has better victories than A&M does. Indiana has beaten No. 8 Oregon and No. 21 Iowa.
Meanwhile, No. 9 Notre Dame is the only currently-ranked opponent A&M has defeated.
But Missouri fell out of the rankings, only after losing to A&M.
A&M also has a victory over LSU. Admittedly, LSU is unranked at 5-4, but its four losses were to No. 4 Alabama, No. 7 Ole Miss, No. 14 Vanderbilt and No. 3 A&M.
Three were closely contested. A&M’s 49-25 victory was the only game in which LSU was outclassed.
But what really makes Rhoades seem unfit is how he further tried to justify the committee’s rankings.
“When you look at both of these teams, they're really close,” he said. “They're really close defensively. Give Indiana the edge.
“And they're really close offensively. Certainly gave Indiana the slight edge there.”
Indiana does have a high-scoring offense, but it’s helped by a soft schedule.
For example, Indiana defeated FCS team Indiana State, 73-0. Indiana State also gave up 63 to Montana State, 55 to Southern Illinois and 52 to Illinois State.
Indiana defeated Old Dominion 27-14. The same Old Dominion gave up 48 points to Marshall and 63 to James Madison.
Also, Indiana won 38-13 over Michigan State, which has given up at least 38 points in four other games. The Hoosiers beat UCLA 56-6. UCLA lost to New Mexico.
Meanwhile, A&M faced three defenses that ranked among the nation’s top 21 in scoring defense. The Aggies scored the most points allowed by No. 18 Notre Dame, No. 20 LSU and No. 21 Missouri.
As far as defense goes, in nine games, A&M has faced six opponents that are among the nation’s top 50 in scoring offense — No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 21 Arkansas, No. 27 Utah State, No. 30 Missouri, No. 39 UTSA and No. 48 Mississippi State.
In 10 games, Indiana has faced three: No. 9 Oregon, No. 31 Illinois and No. 50 Old Dominion.
The committee should dig deeper.
Fortunately, none of that matters. Just keep winning. Do that, and A&M will rise in the rankings.
Even a committee can figure that out.
Heisman watch (If my ballot was due today)
1. Marcel Reed, Texas A&M, QB: Reed had an efficient effort in the Aggies’ 38-17 victory over Missouri last week. He completed 20 of 29 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 29 yards. Reed is now ranked 21st in the nation with 2,571 yards of total offense. He has passed for 2,193 yards and 19 touchdowns. He has run for 378 yards and six scores.
2. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana, QB: Last week, Mendoza overcame a lackluster showing by leading Indiana on a late drive, which ended with a game-winning touchdown pass to lift the Hoosiers over Penn State, 27-24. Mendoza completed 19 of 30 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown. He also had a touchdown run. Overall, Mendoza has passed for 2,342 yards and 26 touchdowns. He has rushed for 240 yards and five touchdowns.
3. Haynes King, Georgia Tech, QB: Georgia Tech was idle last week. King remains third in the nation in total offense. He has accumulated 2,642 yards in eight games. King has passed for 1,888 yards and nine touchdowns. He has rushed for 754 yards and 14 touchdowns.
4. Julian Sayin, Ohio State, QB: The leader of the top-ranked Buckeyes completed 27 of 33 passes for 303 yards and a touchdown in a 34-10 victory over Purdue last week. That raised his season totals to 2,491 passing yards and 24 touchdowns. He’s completing 80.9 percent of his passes.
5. Ty Simpson, Alabama, QB: Last week, Simpson passed for 277 yards and a touchdown in a 20-9 victory over LSU. That raised his season totals to 2,461 passing yards and 21 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 87 yards and two scores.
Predicted playoff participants (In alphabetical order)
Alabama: Challenging games vs. Oklahoma and Auburn remain. The Tide just needs to win one to ensure a playoff spot.
Georgia: The Bulldogs also have a couple of challenging games remaining vs. Texas and Georgia Tech. Winning one should be enough (provided they somehow don’t lose to Charlotte).
Georgia Tech: Still the pick to win the ACC championship, though next week’s game vs. Pitt could be dicey.
Indiana: Remaining games are vs. Wisconsin (3-6) and Purdue (2-8). The unbeaten Hoosiers are a lock.
Notre Dame: Beat Pitt on Saturday, and the Irish (7-2) are in. They close with Syracuse (3-7) and Stanford (3-7).
Ohio State: The undefeated Buckeyes don’t figure to be challenged until facing Michigan on Nov. 29. Maybe not even then.
Ole Miss: The Rebels can stumble once and still get in. They should beat Florida and Mississippi State. They cannot take either for granted.
Oregon: The Ducks (8-1) can afford one loss, but probably not two. They have hard work to be done with Minnesota (6-3), USC (7-2) and Washington (6-3) left on the schedule.
South Florida: The Bulls are in a good position to win the American Conference and get the Group of Five berth, but beware of James Madison (8-1), which is lurking in the Sun Belt Conference.
Texas A&M: The Aggies need one more win with three to play, but they have bigger ambitions than just getting into the playoffs. They could have a perfect season and perhaps get a No. 1 seed.
Texas Tech: Last week’s win over previously unbeaten BYU reinforces that the Red Raiders are the Big 12’s best.
Vanderbilt: Commodores (8-2) could sneak into the playoff field with wins over Kentucky and Tennessee. They’d still need help from Georgia and Texas A&M (vs. Texas) and Alabama (vs. Oklahoma). The bet here is they get it.
Games to watch
No. 10 Texas at No. 5 Georgia: Both have one loss in SEC play. The loser is probably out of the SEC Championship picture. If it’s the Longhorns (7-2), they could be out of the playoff picture, too.
No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 22 Pittsburgh: Pitt represents Notre Dame’s last legitimate obstacle to reaching the playoffs. Syracuse and Stanford, both 3-7, remain on the Irish’s schedule.
No. 11 Oklahoma at No. 4 Alabama: The Sooners (7-2) desperately need an impressive victory to enhance their playoff resume. Beating Alabama would qualify.
No. 21 Iowa at No. 17 USC: The Trojans (7-2) still have slim playoff hopes. Iowa is dangerous. That is, if the Hawkeyes (6-3) are still interested.
No. 19 Virginia at Duke: Both have one loss in the ACC standings. The loser likely falls out of the conference championship. That’s especially significant because the conference champion probably is the only ACC team in the playoff.
