College Football Rankings: Why the Committee Makes No Sense

Segment Spotlight: Quick Hits From Outspoken With Dan Sileo

College Football Committee’s Ranking Process Draws Questions Over Consistency

The college football committee appears to use a combination of strength of schedule, game control and the quality of a team’s wins and losses. Head-to-head results also factor into the rankings, but only when the committee considers the teams being compared to be in the same “pod.” The definition of a pod, however, remains unclear.

That explanation was used for Miami and Notre Dame last year. Notre Dame remained ahead of Miami until the teams were considered close enough to be in the same pod, at which point Miami could jump Notre Dame based on the head-to-head result.

The same issue has surfaced with Tennessee and Alabama. Despite Tennessee blowing out Alabama, the teams remain far apart in the rankings. Under the committee’s apparent reasoning, they are not yet worthy of being in the same conversation. If they eventually enter the same pod, Tennessee’s head-to-head victory could then become relevant.

The lack of transparency makes the committee system difficult to understand. The previous BCS approach had its own issues, including the use of margin of victory and Miami losing out to Florida State despite beating the Seminoles head-to-head. Still, that system combined six computer polls with the AP writers’ poll and the coaches’ poll. Leaving the current decisions to 12 people in a room, without clearly explaining which criteria they use each week, creates inconsistency.

Indiana illustrates the problem. The committee ranked Indiana fourth, but the team did not play the following week and still dropped five spots after Ohio State lost. That change suggested the committee believed its previous ranking had been a mistake.

Miami and UCLA provided another example. Both were undefeated, with Miami ranked first and UCLA eighth. Neither played, yet one week later Miami dropped seven spots while UCLA moved up four. Changes like these make the process appear flawed from week to week.