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Well, that was unexpected.

The College Football Playoff selection committee ranked No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 4 Clemson but also put No. 5 Oklahoma ahead of No. 6 Ohio State, acknowledging the head-to-head result and sending a message that the Buckeyes still have some work to do, despite their impressive win over No. 7 Penn State.

Eh, not really expected or unexpected. The only rankings that matter are the last week's.

To be honest, it gives them plausible deniability.
-Anyone who claims a OSU (big school=big audience) bias immediately gets shut up.
-They know Bama and Georgia play and one will be out.
-Clemson is the defending champ, but clearly don't have an easy road. Plus, they're not even winning their division in their conference...
-They can say OU has the head to head over OSU right now, but if OSU wins out, they will leap frog OU at that point due to strength of schedule and conference ranking. Plus, OSU will have two wins over top 5 opponents and OU would have 1. Next week will make things more interesting as OSU heads to Iowa who beat ISU. ISU is the team that beat OU.

(Psst...Vegas say the committee is full of shit and their odds have only Bama as favorites over OSU.)

Notre Dame will be the team that forces them to make a tough decision. If they win out they're in, and it begs the question why. Because they used to be a name? Why would they get in without a P5 conference win? Also, why would they get in over a Georgia team with one loss?

Now here's the REAL question: Why are undefeated Wisconsin and Miami not in the top 6? They're the ones getting disrespected. They're behind TCU!!! A team that just lost to ISU in a game where they failed to score an offensive touchdown! A TCU team in the P5 conference that is ranked 5 out of 5!

Wisconsin is undefeated in the #1 ranked P5 conference, yet they're not in the top 6? Yet, if they win out, they are in guaranteed. Miami's situation is similar, although their conference is ranked #4.

Also, UCF is out there being undefeated, but not being a P5 conference only seems to be ok if you're Notre Dame.

Let's end the Notre Dame bias already.

Well, barring another miracle, Ohio State's national title hopes are done. The team just wasn't prepared for this game. Oh well.

Urban had never played in Iowa, so now he knows they're not a joke. Lots of ranked teams have gone their to lose. They almost beat PSU earlier this year. I guess it was our turn.

I hope they make some changes at the O and D coordinator spots this off season. I have yet to be impressed with Kevin Wilson's offense and Greg Schiano's defense has given up 80 points and counting in two games.

Brutal day for Big Ten East.

(Go Spartans!)

Miami finally getting a quality win. Here's hoping they knock of ND as well.

The funny part is this is a nightmare scenario for ESPN and possibly the playoff committee.

ESPN doesn't want Georgia, Bama, Clemson/Miami, and OU in the final four because they are well aware that NOBODY will be watching. The Bama-Clemson game was a ratings dud.

Meanwhile, the CFP are all HUGE Wisconsin fans right now because if OSU wins out, they're the Big Ten champs. (They get Sparty next week in Columbus, then a bye week in Illinois, then that team up north. They would then play suspect Wisconsin.). Now what the fuck do you do? A 2 loss team at the top of the nation's #1 conference. The winner of Bama/Georgia on top of a weak SEC, so you let the one loss team in? Bama has played the weakest schedule of something like the top 50 teams. Joel Clatt went off this week about how they're the only top ranked school that still schedules Div II teams, AND they haven't played a non-conference road game in like a decade. (Seriously, look it up. They're all neutral site games closer to Bama than their opponent.) Does the 2 loss Pac 12 winner now get a look? How about a 2 loss Notre Dame team?

I was thinking about all of this after the game today, and I realize they need to move to an 8 team format. It just makes more sense. You have 5 Power Conferences whose champs could each take a spot. No more arguing over quality wins and conference rankings. You could give a spot to the best team from the Group of 5 (the smaller conferences). Base it on record, then SOS.

That leaves two spots. An undefeated Notre Dame can automatically take one of those spots. Otherwise, the two highest rated teams that aren't a conference champ can take those spots.

Granted, you'd have to switch other things up as well to make this work. For example:
-Force teams to play other P5 conference opponents (1 a year and they must be home/home series). If they did this like the NFL, they could match up equal powers. That'd be like adding a whole slate of bowl games in September. Who the fuck wouldn't want that?
-SOS needs to take center stage. Make it so a team's SOS HAS to be above a certain level to qualify. So, for example, Notre Dame wouldn't be allowed to schedule a bunch of creampuffs (and credit to them because they don't) so they go undefeated and get in every year.

Leisher wrote: Bama has played the weakest schedule of something like the top 50 teams.

Unlike Wisconsin, not their fault, entirely. FSU was supposed to be a top 5 team this year. And with MSU, Auburn, and (likely) Georgia on the schedule, things will get harder.

Right now, we've got Bama/Georgia, Clemson/Miami, UND... Oklahoma/Wisconsin?

TheCatt wrote: Unlike Wisconsin, not their fault, entirely. FSU was supposed to be a top 5 team this year. And with MSU, Auburn, and (likely) Georgia on the schedule, things will get harder.

Not playing on the road and the Div II team IS their fault. Conference games don't count.

Faces 3-10 years in jail!

Looks like U.S. diplomats will probably need to get involved.

Lavar Ball oddly restrained on the matter so far.

TheCatt wrote: Lavar Ball oddly restrained on the matter so far.

Here's why:

LaVar was expected to address the media from his hotel suite Wednesday morning in Shanghai, but he said he was advised by legal counsel not to speak "due to the legal nature of the matter."

Of course, he couldn't help himself:

Asked if he was worried about LiAngelo, LaVar said, "He'll be fine. He'll be fine. Everybody making it a big deal. It ain't that big of a deal."

Stealing might not be a big deal in the Ball family, but to others it's a pretty big deal. Stealing in a foreign country while representing your own country IS a big deal. Facing 3-10 years IS a big deal. I don't think Lavar realizes that nobody in China gives a fuck about him.

Bobby Knight throws shade at Wooden's historic UCLA run.

In 1981, UCLA received a one-year postseason ban and had its 1980 national championship game appearance vacated over Gilbert's actions, though the NCAA violations cited were not during the Wooden era.

Ah, the NCAA, sweeping stuff under the rug for decades.

I expect that they'll get out without issue within a month. But I could be horribly wrong. I would also guess no more NCAA games in China.

State Department ready to help with Ball.

Good as I don't want to see a kid's life be destroyed over a stupid mistake, but bullshit that he and the other two thought it'd be ok to shoplift in a foreign country as ambassadors of ours.

I saw a report that says Ball and the other two players may get 20 days of house arrest and then a ban from China.

Thinking more about the situation, how fucking stupid are these three?

You're in a foreign country representing your country, but beyond that, you're black in a country where black people are pretty fucking rare. Additionally, you're all tall. Probably taller than 99% of China's population. Point being, all eyes are going to be on you. That's when you decide to shoplift?

Fucking morons.

The 3 UCLA players will stay in China for now, were benched

The three players -- freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill -- were questioned about allegedly stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store next to the team's hotel in Hangzhou, where the Bruins had been staying before leaving for Shanghai on Tuesday. They were released on bail early Wednesday morning and have been staying at a lakeside hotel in Hangzhou since then while the team has been in Shanghai preparing for Saturday's game.

A source with firsthand knowledge of the investigation said the players could be in Hangzhou for "a week or two."

Shame their team managed to win.

Picked the wrong weekend to show up, Buckeyes.

Yeah, this is the team they should be, but they're too inconsistent. Still, they have a chance to be top ten on Tuesday because that was a routing of #12 who had just beaten #7. If they win out, they are not out of the national title picture. Based on what's been going on the past few weeks I'm not sure anyone wants to be the champion.

Goodbye Georgia. They had a shot at 1 loss, but unless they beat Bama in the SEC championship (or Auburn...) they're out.

Yeah, that was quite a beat down for UGA.

UND getting the shit kicked out of them, sure hope that holds up.