Speaker 1: It's time to celebrate the previous team sport known to man,
where modern day gladiators collide from all.
Speaker 2: The glory on the grid. Ie, let's talk some college.
Speaker 1: Football a lot Cougar Sports with Ben.
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Speaker 3: College football talk and playoff talk as well. The new
committee rankings have dropped and we'll delve into that where
the Big twelve stands and where BYU and you currently
stand how many teams from the Big twelve will make
it to the college Football Playoff For the college football Insiders,
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Speaker 2: Let's get out to the hotline.
Speaker 3: Welcome in College Football Insider representing a ESPN dot Com
We got Kyle Bona Garral the line, Kyle, Heck are you?
Speaker 1: I'mder good?
Speaker 2: Ben? How are you doing? Fantastic? Man?
Speaker 3: It's a beautiful Wednesday afternoon here in Utah. And uh,
we got the rankings and uh, you know, all things considered,
you know.
Speaker 2: There's some some some interesting things.
Speaker 3: Going on, and uh, but overall, I think most people,
you know, feel pretty good about the coll Football Playoff
Committee rankings.
Speaker 2: Where do you stand? What what would you change? What
do you like? What do you just like in the
rankings coming out yesterday?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I'm probably with a consensus here in
that it's it's a pretty straightforward year so far. Like
there's I don't know, there's just a lot of agreement
on how to group teams for the most part, like
some of the head to head stuff makes it kind
of easy. You're not looking at very many circular situations
where so and so beat so and so maybe you know,
Team A or whatever it might whatever it might be. Right, So,
it certainly was more interested by the initial rankings because
that kind of sets the course. And so this week,
you know, there wasn't major changes or anything that was
certainly you know, a surprise considering the results from over
the weekend.
Speaker 3: The one thing that h you know, Big twelve fans
have been up in arms about is how high Notre
Dame has been when you look at their strength of schedule,
strength of record, do you feel like they got Notre Dame?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: Yeah? For me, that one is a little bit, you
know that that's the one, right, I mean, but I
think the fact that they the loss it's really about
who they They haven't really beaten many great teams, but
the losses weren't they weren't really dinged for those and
so I mean, and and the fact that it happened
early in the in the year also plays a role
in this. That's right. You always see the committee value
the more recent games than the ones at the start
of the year. So for Notre Dames two losses to
come against good teams early in the year, like I guess,
I understand it right, doesn't mean you have to agree
with it, but it's like, you know, there's maybe it's
justified for them to be a couple spots lower, But
you know, I think to be I think we'll have
to let that one shake out a little bit longer
to really have a great sense of where Notre Dame
is gonna fit into the whole picture come come.
Speaker 2: The end of the year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you have plenty of two loss teams essentially in
the in the top ten or top eleven. I guess
Oklahoma seven and two, Texas seven and two, Notre Dame
seven and two. In Utah sitting at number thirteen, seven
and two, Vandy's eight and two, Miami's seven and two
at seventeen, the USC Trojans are seven to two. Plenty
of two loss teams sitting in your top twenty five,
even a couple of three loss teams. That's unique to
college football, is it not?
Speaker 1: No? It is anything go all the way down right,
Cincinnati and the Big Twelve's got one loss in conference play.
They're seven to two and they and they didn't crack
the rankings until this week, right, So it's you know,
split it's really kind of splitting hairs at a certain
point because when you have that many teams with the
same record, you know, you could really make a good
faith argument for a lot of me mentioned Notre Dame. Well,
Notre Dame lost to Miami. Miami's you know, six spots
lower than Notre Dame, so so go make sense of that. Right,
So there's at a certain point it becomes kind of difficult.
I mean, like every week I fill out a top
twenty five ballot for the ESPN dot Com Power Rankings,
and you run into a lot of that stuff where
like after you get to about you know, twelve or
something like that, then it's like, you know, how much
does it really matter? But with the playoff committee, there
are real stakes here because they have to justify the
rankings week to week, and so you kind of get
to see the history of how a team progresses, and
you know, it really does matter where they come in
to start because everything is going to be based on
that going forward. As much as they like to say, hey,
we blow it up and start over every week.
Speaker 3: Is it a good thing or a bad thing for
college football to have so much parody in your.
Speaker 1: Opinion, Well, I guess that's how you define whether it's
good or not. I think that's ultimately like what it's
probably personal preference. I like the parody. I think it's fun.
I think it keeps more teams relevant, which I think
is good for the health of the sport. But if
you're talking about like what's going to generate the most
excitement for a potential title game or a playoff matchup,
you I think if you're evaluating it that way, it's
good to have the dominant teams and to build their
story over the course of the year and kind of
you have that collision course come playoff time. But you know,
for me personally, I'd like to see everyone lose a
game and make it really and just chaos every week.
I think that's more fun, more exciting. It does lead
to more debates and less less less agreement, but I
think that's what you know, I enjoy that with with
with college football, But certainly the ratings would be impacted
when you don't have those those standout teams.
Speaker 3: From a public perception standpoint, from an analytics standpoint, from
a committee standpoint, does do is the Big Twelve on.
Speaker 2: Better footing than the ACC? Right now? Are they on
equivalent footing?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I mean I think it's pretty clear that they're
on better footing.
Speaker 2: One.
Speaker 1: It's just that there's it's a deeper, better conference. I
think objectively that's it's hard to argue against that. But
also I think we sometimes give too much credit to
UH conference strength when we should be really crediting individual teams,
right because like you take you take Utah BYU in
Texas Tech, and you have three teams that would you know,
they would all be the top ranked team in the
a CC right now. So I think that you know
we're talking when we're saying why is the conference better,
we're really saying, well, the best three teams are in
the Big twelve? And then after that, you know, it
kind of it becomes a little bit more interesting. And
so yeah, they're there's certainly better teams at the top,
and then and this year it's I kind of think
throughout the ACC is just really down this year. I mean,
but again there's there's parody there too, and it's just
like a different level of parody. I think they have
five five one lost teams right now in the ACC,
which can is going to make the last several weeks,
you know, a few weeks here really interesting in that conference.
I just don't see any of those teams really being
a threat to do much damage come come to the playoff.
I think, you know, in the Big twelve, I really
think Texas Tech is probably the only team that you
can look at and say, yeah, to day you could
really see them make make a deep run like BYU
and Utah. Maybe they get in or one of them
gets in. But I don't think that you look at
either of those teams right now, just on the way
they've looked, and say, hey, that's a team that you
know they're really going to carry the flag for the
for the conference deep into the deep into the playoffs.
Speaker 3: B YU sitting at number twelve, they are only lost
to Texas Tech. Many field, Texas Tech is a top
five team in college football. They may have the best
defense in college but Paul ba, you lost to them
on the road.
Speaker 2: That's their only loss.
Speaker 3: Why are they at number twelve behind multiple two loss teams?
Speaker 2: Do you think so?
Speaker 1: I think at a certain point the style points do matter, right,
there's a lot of I mean, I think two things
can be true. Right, you should get credit for your
wins and not losing the game. And I think BYU
was rewarded appropriately when they had the eight to zero record,
you know, whether they were with them or seven to
to start, they were seven in the d DU rankings, right,
and so I thought that was fair. But at the
same time, it wasn't. It wasn't like they were turning
in comprehensive wins week after week to kind of build
up that goodwill that hey, this is a team that
is clearly better than X, Y and Z. And in
the fact that you know you're down big against Iowa State,
you get credit for coming back, of course and looking
good in the second half of the game. The Utah
game could again either way. Arizona, that game looked lost
at a certain point, right, Colorado, you're trailing going into
the fourth quarter. So there wasn't a lot of dominant performances.
Is that really build you know, built staith in Dyo
earlier in the year, and so yeah, for me, that
they're they're ranking at number five or number twelve is
a reflection of that. Again, Like, that doesn't mean you
have to agree with that, but I think that's why, Like,
that's how the committee chose chose to look at it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think, Look, there's plenty of games to be
played still, right, there's there for many of these teams
three games some too. And and look, there's plenty of
opportunity to have some style points on the back end
in the final stretch of these games. Who do you
feel like is gonna make a move, maybe make a
jump into the top twelve that maybe isn't currently there? Utah, Vandy, Miami, Georgia, Tech,
USC Michigan, Virginia, Louisville, Iowa, pitt Tennessee, South Florida, Cincinnati.
Is there a team there that you feel like, if
I was gonna bet on anyone to really make a
jump and solidify themselves in the top twelve or even
the top ten, who would it be?
Speaker 2: And why?
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's I mean a lot of teams, a lot
of options. I mean, I think Utah is interesting, right
because when they had like it's kind of like the
opposite of b why you they had they had the
losses that they got punished for, right, But in their
wins they've been like their wins have been dominant. I
think the last four wins or maybe in five wins
all been or they might have not even play the
I'm trying to take off to my head. I mean,
all their wins have been pretty pretty decisive, right, and
so I think when you have that situation, you're gonna
you know, you're gonna get more credit down the stretch.
And then look if you if they close with three
straight wins the end of the year, you're sitting there
at ten and two, then you then you enter that
that that the conversation about like what to do with
a team that doesn't go to the conference title game? Right,
because you can you could totally imagine a scenario just
if we just look at BUYU in Utah, right, say
they both went out by US eleven and one, and
then they go loose to Texas Tech and so they
finished eleven and two. You know, so they'll have lost
twice over the you know, the last you know, four
or five games of a year. Who knows how they look.
They don't have a lot of super impressive wins. But
then you have you ta if U tuck Heek's rolling.
You could make the case that hey, this is a
team that is playing better right now, and the head
to head thing is interesting, so that that makes it
you know, that's tough, right. I would always lean towards
head to head in terms of who's deserving. But I
could see the committee, you know, liking the way Yuka
is playing and using that for justification that hey, look,
you lost at Yu on the road in a close game,
like there's you know, there's ways to forgive that performance
to a certain degree. I think USC is interesting, right,
I mean I was really down on USC early in
the year, but I think you know, they seem to
have turned a corner here. They got a chance, you know,
a chance going to Oregon. If USC wins at Oregon,
you know, all of a sudden, their resume looks a
lot different. If they're ten and two with the win
against Oregon, I have a hard time believing that USC
kept out. So yeah, look look for the Trojans. And
then Utah becomes interesting to track in a similar way
because if you finish ten and two and you're not
playing for a conference title, it puts you in that
puts you right on the test there of being sitting
in a good spot.
Speaker 2: Kyle Bondager at ESPN dot com. You're on ESPN the
Fan Talk and some.
Speaker 3: College football Big twelve football b YU and Utah football
b YU. In their final three games have TCU. They
got TCU at home, Cincinnati away, UCF at home. How
do you see b what you finishing this season?
Speaker 1: So I think, I mean, I think p YU will
win all three games, But like I guess the question
is like how confident, like not super confident after watching
the Texas Tech game and just look they've they've squeaked
out so many wins over the course of the year.
They're like, we know they're a very very good team, right,
you don't end up at eight and one if that's
not the case. But you know, at a certain time,
at a certain point, you know, the close games don't
always go in your favorite So that's the reason for concern.
Was not last year, right, very similar to the last year.
I think they le they start nine to zer last
year and then lost it too late. You know, I
don't think I still think they're gonna get these done.
I think they'll get to the conference title game and
then lose into Texas techy And I just think Texas
Tech's a better team. So yeah, I mean, look, eleven
and two with two losses to what will probably be
a top four, top five team by the end of
the year, it's a pretty good resume to take to
take into that meeting at the end.
Speaker 2: Of the year.
Speaker 3: So if that happens, let's say they they get to
the they get to Arlington, they lose to Texas Tech again,
and we've already discussed some style points, right, style points
at the end of the year may matter. Do you
think BYU gets in with that resume? Two losses to
Texas Tech? A top five team in college football that's
been a little bit of a media darling is viewed
maybe by the Big ten, and SEC is a talented
team that paid twenty eight million for their roster for
some reports have published.
Speaker 2: So where did that? Where does that put be?
Speaker 3: Ay? You, do you think they get an at large
bid with that resume? Yeah?
Speaker 1: So I think there's a lot more contexts you need
to say, like to feel strongly about that, right, like
what's happening in other places. There's certainly I could drop
very plausible scenarios that they get in and they then
and they don't get in with with that scenario. It
really depends on what else happens. Like that's my lot,
my pret cursor, precursor to it. I think odds are
they probably do get in, would be my kind of instinct.
But again, like it's it's so tight and the fact
that they it is concerning that they fill the five
spots because if they had fallen, you know, three spots,
and they're sitting there at number ten, right, that gives you,
you know, you win the last three, maybe you climb up,
maybe you're at number eight, come come tile time and
title game time, and that maybe that's enough of a
buffers or where you if you lose it, you don't
fall you know, far enough to get dropped out like
a SMU from last year's the comp Right. I think
they went into the ACC title game eleven and one
lost a close game. I think that matters if they're
able to improve off their performance against against Texas Tech
the second time around, they show, hey, look we went
toe to toe with a team that's the top four,
top five team, like we are that caliber of team.
I think even if you lose, you can make a
statement about your being deserving of a spot in the playoffs,
and you know, if they go out and you know,
it's a it's an uncompetitive game again, then I think
that makes it much tougher for the committee to besify
putting them putting the playoffs.
Speaker 3: It seems like this year the committee is leaning more
into analytics, algorithms, numbers, and evaluating and grading and ranking
these teams. Last year it felt like it was very
human based, even the years prior to that, very human
based subjective, maybe with a little bit of a weight
towards some analytics. But this year it seems like they're
maybe leaning more into the algorithm, which is which is
interesting to me, and like, I think that's actually a
good thing all things considered. I I think it's, uh,
you want a human element and you want a and
a maybe metric element that that maybe takes into account
the the you know, some of the human it takes
away from some of the human folly.
Speaker 2: Right. Would you agree with that in kind of combining
the two.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that you spell that really well because
I think, like it's just it's just data, right, That's
all it is. It's it's it's it's acquiring more information
to evaluate the teams, right, And so I think you
really have to understand kind of the way some of
those analytical uh you know designations work, right, Like you
have to have a good sense of what strength of
record is, what gain control is, like all those things
like it has to they're all pieces in the greater
evaluation process, right, And you know, I think b y
U is kind of a good example for that. Right,
Winning matters, but like how did they look while they're winning?
There's games, Those games sometimes better than others, right, And
I think a lot of the advanced metrics do a
pretty good job now of contextualizing how a team looks
and wins and waiting them appropriately. I mean Utah is
a team that the metrics really like a lot. They
outperform the ape Pole significantly and all the you know,
just about everyone you look at, Utah is perceived stronger
by the computers than it is people. And you know
by U schedule is is is really valued by the
computers as well, And so there's you know, I guess
by extension, the big twelve is valued more so than
the A SEC when it comes to when it comes
to that. Yeah, So like I think it's good and
I think a lot of smart people put a lot
of time and the developing these these analytical databases that
are are really helpful in kind of breaking the tie, right,
because not all seven and two or eight one are
created equal, and anything we can use to be better
informed about look what to make of those records is
is certainly a good thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: In piggybacking off of that, right, I was evaluating, like
how BYU competed against Texas Tech. I was trying to
delve into this to understand the rankings a little bit more. BA,
you played at Texas Tech so in Lubbock. Lubbock is
a tough place to play. Obviously, sold out crowd, game
day was there, midday game, et cetera, all those things.
The scoring margin in all of Texas Tech's wins was averaging.
I think they were having thirty four points in those wins,
that scoring margin, that winning scoring margin. So in BYU's game,
it was twenty two, and I think that was the
lowest winning margin out of all the games in the
Big twelve thus far. In Kansas that Kansas State I
think lost by twenty three. Utah lost by twenty four
in Utah. Speaking of Utah, right, Utah had Texas Tech
in Salt Lake. So do you think they take that
into account? Are they just looking at the eye test
of how the game felt or what the you know,
the end result was.
Speaker 2: Does that make sense?
Speaker 1: Yeah, No, I's we're saying, and I think it's it's
this is a good conversation I have too, because it's
contextualizing how a team played. And I think the UTAH,
you know, the UTAH is a common appointed rank, so
it makes sense to compare how both those teams played
against them just to kind of add to that context. Right.
So I think like in one hand, BYU had to
go to Texas Tech and they lost by less points.
On the flip side, if you if you want to
make the case for Utah, like Utah was more competitive
for most of the game, right, I think they that
was a close game until the fourth quarter, while the
Texas Tech the YU game was pretty much put to
bed well before that, right, And so while BUYU lost
by more points in the end, like, it wasn't as
competitive a game. And so there are some of these
metrics do track like, you know, how competitive the game
was throughout it.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: So it's again like it's a lot of this is
personal preference, what an individual thinks is more impressive, like
you could because you could make the case for either team,
you know, with both of those games. Of course, Texas
Tech loses it's starting quarterback against Utah and they still
were able to score a bunch of points play and
so's they'll have any data points.
Speaker 3: Well will have it was the guy that led them
to that twenty four point victory will Haven. It was
also the quarterback that lost in ten b. Right, they're one.
Speaker 1: Exactly, and so I think that's it's like, that's why
you think they're not straightforward, and it takes a lot
of and like you can have smart people who are
you know, with good intentions and we're operating good faith,
disagree on this stuff. And that's what that's what makes
it so fun, right is if there's not a you know,
it's not a very clear hey, you win this game,
you're in there, there is a human element and I
think that's it's obviously so unique to college football, and
it's what it's what makes a lot of this fun
to follow and kind of dissect and argue and and
all of that. That's why I just love it.
Speaker 3: It, Kyle, our best way to support to what you do,
how you do it for all of our listeners that
are tuning in today.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you see all my stuffs on ESPN dot com.
You can complain on bull Bull projections every Sunday. That's
a that's a Staples News, a lot of West Coast stuff.
So yeah, we just appreciate anyone who's checking out the
site and just knowing that we're doing our We're doing
our best to say objective and cover the sport is
assaili and best we can love it.
Speaker 2: Kyle, We appreciate you man.
Speaker 3: Thanks for hopping on today to break break down the
college football playof Committee rankings and some of the storylines
coming out of the college football world. We invite everyone
to follow you Bonagura, ESPN and Reja at ESPN dot com.
Speaker 2: Thanks Kyle By, thanks for having me all right, there
you go.
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