Scenario 1: Team A (ranked #3) plays Team B (ranked #7) in week 5 of the season. Let's say Team B pulls a mild upset, and wins the game. At the end of the year, Team A (for whatever reason) is ranked #12.

 

Does Team B get credit for playing a "top 10" opponent, due to the fact that Team A was #3 at the time the game was played?

 

Scenario 2: Team C (ranked #5) plays Team D (ranked #19) in week 2. Team C wins it. At the end of the year, Team D (for perhaps a multitude of reasons) is ranked #9.

 

Does Team C get credit for playing a "top 10" opponent, due to where Team D ended up at the end of the season?

 

 

I ask this, because I see people talk out both sides of their mouth sometimes by saying that such and such a team is great because they beat the #1 team in the land...but who the following week are now sitting at #7. And then, conversely, will criticize another team, who let's say beat #2, but say that win isn't worth anything because several weeks later they're #14 or something.

 

It seems like people like to pick and choose which method they use, depending on which team they're trying to promote.

It depends. If it's Alabama and they beat a team during the season that falls out of the top 25 they don't deserve credit. If it's Ohio State they deserve the credit. Hahahaha

But in all seriousness I think there has to be some level of just common sense to the argument and all ranked teams aren't created equal. There has to be some level of objectivity to it. Teams get better as the season goes on. Clemson is getting a ton of credit for the Auburn win. That was Week 2 and Auburn has improved significantly since then to the point where I believe Auburn is better than Clemson. Should Clemson get credit for beating one of the best teams in the country even though they weren't at the time they played? There isn't an easy answer to this question.

A team can have a big injury and fall off the charts like UCLA. They are not the same team now.

I saw a graphic this weekend that had the top 4 teams and what their record was against the current top 25. I would think that is what the committee looks at. The most obvious examples are the teams that beat Florida St or Louisville early in the year as ranked opponents.

I saw a graphic this weekend that had the top 4 teams and what their record was against the current top 25. I would think that is what the committee looks at. The most obvious examples are the teams that beat Florida St or Louisville early in the year as ranked opponents.

 

Not necessarily; contrary to the wishes of @GrantNKY the committee has already stated that they value Bama's win against FSU in the beginning of the season. So I guess injuries play a part in what that win meant at that time.

Not necessarily; contrary to the wishes of @GrantNKY the committee has already stated that they value Bama's win against FSU in the beginning of the season. So I guess injuries play a part in what that win meant at that time.

I never asked them to not value the win over FSU. But I don't think any realistic Bama is going, "Oh yeah we knocked off a 4-6 team. Wooo!"

Not necessarily; contrary to the wishes of @GrantNKY the committee has already stated that they value Bama's win against FSU in the beginning of the season. So I guess injuries play a part in what that win meant at that time.

 

Agreed. As someone else said, injuries play a part and this would be good example of that.

I never asked them to not value the win over FSU. But I don't think any realistic Bama is going, "Oh yeah we knocked off a 4-6 team. Wooo!"

 

I don't think anybody's thinking that. But when you get down to dissecting a team's season, what they were when the game went down matters. I think everybody realizes that if FSU wasn't wracked by injury and bad scheduling circumstance by the hurricane that they would likely be in the thick of things in the T25.

 

You could almost even envision a scenario where certain voters might give extra weight to a demolishing so thorough that it destroyed another contender's season and sent it into a death spiral. Twelve wins, two by super-knockout.

I don't think anybody's thinking that. But when you get down to dissecting a team's season, what they were when the game went down matters. I think everybody realizes that if FSU wasn't wracked by injury and bad scheduling circumstance by the hurricane that they would likely be in the thick of things in the T25.

 

You could almost even envision a scenario where certain voters might give extra weight to a demolishing so thorough that it destroyed another contender's season and sent it into a death spiral. Twelve wins, two by super-knockout.

I think FSU was just living off the reputation of last year and how the defense finished. Is this team better with Francois? Of course. But they are probably a fringe top 25 team with a record somewhere around 6-4. But if Francois doesn't get hurt against Bama he probably gets hurt in another game. That O line was supposed to be better it's regressed.

You all put way too much into this he said she said stuff. Let it all play out and we can talk about it.