This week, we acknowledge the truest, most purest idiot of them all: the fan.
Yes, the fan who goes into each and every season expecting that the college football season will be a celebration of the best that collegiate athletics has to offer, rather than a scheme to satisfy as many corporate entities possible by picking the same five teams over and over again.
How else can you justify Cincinnati, a team that still remains in the second spot of the AP and Coaches’ polls, being ranked sixth in the CFP rankings? What of UTSA not even getting a cursory nod in the poll? How about all of the other snubs that the CFP committee has done that are too numerous to note.
The reality is that the College Football Playoff is not here to crown the best team in the country. How could it? To only limit its tournament to four teams never should have been viewed as enough. The CFP is merely working to make a bunch of people money under the auspice of fair play.
In other words, it’s working exactly as it is supposed to. And we’re idiots for thinking otherwise.
Georgia over Missouri: What an unwatchable game this will be. BC beat Missouri with a backup quarterback and an offensive scheme that still mystifies to this day. What’s Georgia going to be able to do?
Ohio State over @ Nebraska: Ohio State -15 seems like a good pick here.
Wake Forest over @ North Carolina: We keep thinking the shoe is going to drop with Wake Forest. The thing is, it hasn’t. And at some point, we need to acknowledge Wake Forest for what it is, which is a legit football team.
Ole Miss over Liberty: Is Liberty going to really force the relevance issue here?
Minnesota over Illinois: Really good call extending PJ Fleck. The Gophers have a pulse for the first time in a while coming from their football team, and that’s worth holding onto.
Pitt over @ Duke: FiveThirtyEight published an article on Oct. 21, 2021 saying that Pitt was the ACC’s best hope for making the CFP. Pitt is 0-2 ever since. Great league we’ve got here.
Michigan State over @ Purdue: This feels like a soft upset opportunity.
Cincinnati over Tulsa: I hope the Bearcats launch Tulsa into the sun. I hope they launch every team they paly from here on out into the sun. I hope they make the College Football Playoff committee look as ridiculous as possible when they inevitably not let in Cincinnati despite the Bearcats doing exactly what was asked of them this year.
Notre Dame over Navy: Man, this whole Cincinnati stuff really makes Notre Dame a more desirable team to root for. Burn the CFP with fire.
Oklahoma State over @ West Virginia: If anyone at Oklahoma State has bad news they need to release, today seems like a good day to do it.
Baylor over @ TCU: I feel like I should know more about the Baylor football team this year than I do. Oh well, it’s not an Idiot’s guide because I know what I’m talking about.
Auburn over @ Texas A&M: Bo Nix is just going to keep falling upwards isn’t he?
BYU over Idaho State: This game is not on national television. Good.
Wisconsin over @ Rutgers: lol wisconsin is 21st what a dumb system this is.
Arkansas over Mississippi State: And Mississippi State is 17th! I’m pretty sure the CFP’s main job is just to get as much SEC teams in the rankings as is somewhat justifiable.
NC State over @ Florida State: NC State -2.5 feels like easy money.
Alabama over LSU: Having so few players available that practice can’t happen is definitely the mark of a functional program.
Kentucky over Tennessee: Sixteen Tennessee students are barred from all athletic events through the spring season for throwing objects onto the field at Neyland Stadium when the Vols played Ole Miss. This is, of course, the second most severe sanction the Tennessee Athletic Association can levy, the most severe of course being compulsory attendance. swish.
Iowa over @ Northwestern: Man, Iowa has had a fall from grace hasn’t it?
Fresno State over Boise State: There is no way the CFP committee actually thinks Fresno State is actually the 23rd best team in the country, the school just sounds esoteric enough that the CFP can point to it and go, hey, we let them in!
Oregon over @ Washington: I don’t want to say anything about Oregon being ranked fourth, because go Anthony Brown. But… yeah.
Michigan over Indiana: lol harbaugh did it again.
San Diego State over @ Hawai’i: You’re not watching this game. Don’t pretend you are.