By: Charles W. Boatright

College Football Playoff Ranking Selections– There’s always debate on the Committee’s selection of teams in the CFP even with the 12- Team Playoff. But one pick by CFP is debatable that the committee selected in the first round of teams

The second  (or by week) round selections are pretty much set by the highest ranked teams in each of the conferences. The only question I would have involved Indiana in the bracket based on the following.

Indiana- The only reason I would question Indiana is their strength of schedule compared to the SEC schedule of South Carolina. Even though Indiana just had one loss to Ohio State, their other wins were against lower ranked teams consisting of Florida International, Nebraska, Western Illinois, Charlotte, Maryland, with their major ranked team wins being Michigan and Michigan State.

I believe strength of schedule should have been a significant factor in the CFP decisions that they made with consideration given to South Carolina (6th) rather than Indiana.

The reason that I would put South Carolina in to replace Indiana, first South Caroline with 9 major opponents and with their losses to LSU 36 v. SC 33, Ole Miss 27 v. SC 3, and Sc 25 v. AL 27 with the biggest being to Ole Miss. The reason Ole Miss is out is their penalty loss against Florida (Ole Miss-17 v. FL-24); The loss to Florida would put them out of consideration. There is some weight placed on when you lose your later games.

The Death Penalty of SMU

What is impressive about SMU is their resurrection from their death penalty of 1987, while they were members of the SWC. They were just a little ahead of their time of paying players to play. We in Arkansas would say that SMU had the best team and especially offensive line that money could buy.

The Head-to-Head Record of Teams that should be Consider in the CFP

Records for South Carolina, Alabama, Penn State, Ohio State, Ole Miss, and Indiana supports my observation of replacing Indiana with South Carolina in the CFP, would:  

South Carolina (9) Major Opponents:

South Carolina 31 v. Kentucky 6 W

LSU 36 v. South Carolina  33 L

Ole Miss 27 v. South Carolina 3 L

South Carolina 25 v. Alabama 27 L

South Carolina 35 v. Oklahoma 9 W

Texas A&M 20 v. South Carolina  44 W

South Carolina 28 v. Vanderbilt 7 W

Missouri 30 v. South Carolina 34 W

South Carolina 17 v. Clemson 14 W

Alabama Major (8) Opponents:

Alabama 42 v. Wisconsin 10 W

Georgia 34 v. Alabama 41 W

Alabama 35 v. Vanderbilt 40 L

South Carolina 25 v. Alabama  27 W

Alabama 17 v. Tennessee 24 L

Missouri 0 v. Alabama 34 W

Alabama 42 v. LSU 13 W

Alabama  3 v. Oklahoma 24 L

Ohio State (7) Major Opponents:

Ohio State 38 v. Michigan State 7 W

Iowa 7 v. Ohio State 35 W

Ohio State 31 v. Oregon 32 L

Nebraska 17 v. Ohio State 21 W

Ohio State 20 v. Penn State 13 W

Indiana 15 v. Ohio State 38 W

Michigan 13 v. Ohio State 10 L

Penn State (7)  Major Opponents: 

Penn State 34 v. West Virginia 12 W

UCLA 11 v.  Penn State 27 W

Penn State 28 v. Wisconsin 13 W

Ohio State 20 v. Penn State 13 L

Washington 6 v. Penn State 35 W

Penn State 26 v. Minnesota 25 W

Penn State 00 v Oregon 00 (Champ Game) 

Ole Miss (6) Major Opponents:

Kentucky 20 v. Ole Miss 7 L

Ole Miss 27 v. South Carolina 3 W

Ole Miss 26 v. LSU 29 L

Oklahoma 14 v. Ole Miss 26 W

Georgia 10 v. Ole Miss 28 W

Ole Miss 17 v. Florida 24 L

Indiana (6) Major Opponents:

Indiana 42 v. UCLA 13 W

Nebraska 7 v, Indiana 56 W

Washington 17 v. Indiana 31 W

Indiana 47 v. Michigan State 10 W

Michigan 15 v. Indiana 20 W

Indiana 15 v. Ohio State 38 L        

NOTE: Bold are home games

The only reason that I would give South Carolina a slight edge over Ole Miss in the bracket is the number of major opponents of (9) that South Carolina faced and the margin of the losses of 3 and 2 with 24 being the biggest margin of South Carolina loss to Ole Miss.

My List of Books on Kindle under my name, Charles W. Boatright:

01-THE QATSPY® MELIORA Health & Fitness Program Turbocharged DIET w/ Age-Defying Results!

02- EXCALIBUR Athlete’s Forged Performance, Faith-Based Homeschooling Strength & Conditioning

03- Golfer’s Sync-Preset Strike Zone APP for more Consistency

04- Operation DOG TAGS for Our Veterans and First Responders dealing with PTSD

05- ESPY Golf Swing Coach – Digital Download

The ACE COCKPIT HANGAR STORE