The latest College Football Playoff rankings have dropped and they remain controversial and a conversation starter. Jason Fitz of Fox and Yahoo Sports joined Thursday’s GoJo and Golic to discuss the latest toxicity surrounding the race for the national title.
Mike Golic Jr. says this week has been HELL on the college football internet in talking about how champions are chosen and the importance of conference championships. GoJo wonders Fitz is surprised by how quickly the best versus most deserving narrative emerged with the move to a 12-team playoff format. Fitz said that, especially after seeing the rankings from the previous week, it became clear the system had issues. He even alludes to a Yahoo Sports video that he made at the time that went viral on TikTok, talking about the system’s issues. Despite backlash from people saying his concerns were overblown, this week’s rankings proved his point — only the No. 1 team is ranked and seeded in the same spot. After that it is pure BEDLAM where no one is ranked where they are seeded.
To all the people saying teams just need to “win their games,” Fitz noted that the CFP committee knows that Tennessee, lost. They also still believe the Vols are a top-12 team. However, in the current iteration, Tennessee at this time wouldn’t qualify for the playoff. Which brings up the dangerous thing down the road, which Fitz points out would be any number of scenarios where an unranked team could win a conference title and cause CHAOS. For example, Boise State could lose to Colorado State or Army could suffer a big loss to Notre Dame despite not being ranked or the highest-ranked Group of Five champion might not even be ranked yet could still qualify for the playoffs, which could very well happen this year. And if that happens in Year 1, that’s a broken system and Fitz wonders how did we not anticipate these problems from Day 1?
Following Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin’s remarks about dreading the SEC Championship due to its potential impact on College Football Playoff seeding, Mike Golic Sr. asked Fitz whether Kiffin and the SEC might be frustrated about potentially missing out on a conference championship game, given their rankings (7, 9, 10, and 11), compared to the Big Ten’s higher-ranked teams (1, 2, 4, and 5). Fitz agreed, explaining that the situation creates an odd dynamic. A team that loses in a conference championship game takes an extra loss, which can hurt their playoff chances. He noted that championship games are an additional resume opportunity, but they’re just one data point. If an SEC team gets blown out in the title game, that loss could cost them a playoff spot, while a team that didn’t even play in the game might avoid the extra loss and sneak in.
Fitz pointed to Penn State as an example in the Big Ten, saying they’re in a great position to sit back, avoid the chaos of a championship game, and STILL potentially make the playoffs without risking a damaging third loss. GoJo said Fitz was preaching to the choir, saying he finds it baffling that Indiana became the focus of criticism this week as Penn State gets to skate on by despite benefiting from a lighter schedule. GoJo thinks that we can have the Indiana debate after their game against Ohio State because he thinks that result, one way or the other, will alleviate a lot of the stress around the Hoosiers. The Nittany Lions are the team, if you’re an SEC fan, that GoJo thinks he would be enraged about given the burden they have NOT had to shoulder to remain in the top 5 week after week.
.@mikegolicjr questions why Indiana is taking heat for their CFP ranking when Penn State should be the team under the 🔬
"Penn State is the one, if I'm an SEC fan, that I am enraged about because of the burden that they've had to not shoulder in getting into the top 5 week after… pic.twitter.com/Kjk6UNiQLK
— DraftKings Network (@DKNetwork) November 21, 2024
GoJo thinks this whole conversation has felt like a push to pressure committee members to reward teams for making it to conference championship games. In the 12-team playoff era, where resumes from teams ranked 8 to 16 are closely scrutinized, qualifying for a conference championship — especially without divisions — should be considered a meaningful boost to a team’s playoff credentials, regardless of the game’s outcome.
GoJo has a feeling the SEC and the Big Ten are going to get their way and this is all a moot point. He hammered home his point by stating that while Big 12 and ACC teams might face consequences for a blowout loss in their championship games, the SEC and Big Ten are likely not going to have the problem of their conference championship runner-up not making the playoff in our lifetime.
Fitz challenged GoJo’s conference championship runner-up theory by asking GoJo if Ole Miss, with a third loss in the SEC Championship game, would still be a lock for the College Football Playoff. GoJo responded with a resounding YES, especially in this year’s chaotic landscape. He highlighted the circle of parity among SEC teams, creating a complicated and messy comparison scenario. Despite that, GoJo said Ole Miss would still be a strong contender if they made it to the SEC Championship game, barring an improbable blowout loss like 50-0.
.@mikegolicjr is adamant that the SEC and Big Ten runner-ups are as close to CFP locks 🔒as it gets.
“If you’re the Big 12 & the ACC, yeah, you got to be worried about if you’re in the conference (championship) & get blown out, not making the playoff…The SEC & the Big Ten are… pic.twitter.com/YCc15uQSJ3
— DraftKings Network (@DKNetwork) November 21, 2024
Fitz brings up a potential scenario to GoJo, asking who would get left out if Texas A&M won the SEC. GoJo says if Texas were to lose to Texas A&M and then miss the SEC Championship game, they might be the team on the outside looking in. He explained that when you stack Texas’s resume against other contenders, it might not hold up under scrutiny. The scenario is wild, but it’s not impossible. Fitz pointed out that the committee seems to be strategically ranking teams like Colorado, BYU, SMU and Miami in a way that ensures conference championship winners can be framed as legitimate top-12 teams. He hinted that this positioning is intentional, leaving room to justify those teams making the playoffs.
Watch or listen to the full show below and tune into GoJo and Golic weekday mornings from 8-10 a.m. ET on DraftKings Network! See more about how to watch DraftKings Network here.
SHOW BREAKDOWN
Hour 1: Steelers, Browns Thursday Night Preview, Eli Manning’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Resume & NFL’s Running Back Resurgence
Hour 2: Jason Fitz on Shedeur Sanders’ Draft Concerns, The CFP Committee’s Broken System and Bad Food Takes + The Sixers’ Struggles Continue
VIDEO
Watch GoJo and Golic every weekday on Samsung TV Plus, Roku, Xumo Play, Google TV and DraftKingsNetwork.com from 8 to 10 a.m. ET. The show is also available via audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow Mike Golic Sr. on X at @golic and Mike Golic Jr. on X at @mikegolicjr.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information
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