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OU at No. 3 Is Not a Problem, How It Got There Is Definitely a Problem

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I’m not sure why I was surprised when the CFP rankings came out on Tuesday night. It’s closing time for Jeff Long and Co. Time to shoehorn in the big boy brands and leave everybody else in the dust.

Oklahoma leaped all the way to No. 3 from No. 7 the week before after beating TCU’s third-string QB by one at home. Makes a lot of sense, right?

Now here’s the thing. I think OU is probably the third-best team in the country. Or at least one of the four or five best. They’re really good. I troll them on Twitter, but ultimately I have no issues with a group of people tabbing them a top four team. Especially when you remember how the committee said it was going to evaluate this stuff.

What I have a problem with is how they got there. Here’s Jeff Long last week and then this week.

Jeff Long (11/17)

Jeff Long (11/24)

“We discussed why the Sooners with one loss should rank higher than the undefeated Iowa. The answer: An increasingly impressive body of work that includes wins the past two weeks over ranked opponents Baylor and TCU.”

OK. They beat TCU by one (and probably should have lost) and jumped four spots? It gets worse, though. And this is the part I can’t stomach at all.

“I think when the quarterback (Baker Mayfield) went out, and I think later the running back went out as well, (the Sooners) were solidly in control of that game in the committee’s view,” Long said. “And yes, they held on to win that game against a ranked opponent, but certainly we evaluate that game based on the quarterback being out in the second half, and we believe that had an impact.”

Oh boy.

So you’re just re-writing what should have happened in a game (OU dominating TCU) if Mayfield hadn’t gotten hurt. Most of this stuff I can ultimately be OK with. Picking nits here and there, whatever. This, though? This is a systemic problem and it’s not going anywhere.

Extend this idea out. “You know, Alabama really should have gotten that five-star QB and if it would have, it probably would have gone 13-0. I know Bama went 6-6 but we think they should be in the playoff!”

“You know, Princeton really tore up the late 1800s. If the forward pass hadn’t been implemented, they would probably still be one of the best teams in the country.”

I’m (obviously) being ridiculous, but do you see the logic here? The committee, as we have seen with Ohio State all year (“their best football is ahead of them”) loves to re-write history as it should have happened and project the future as it’s supposed to happen. 

That’s a slippery slope to get on. And it’s a scary one for non-brand name teams once you realize what the committee is doing. OU lost its QB? Sweet. OSU has lost a QB for the three seasons until this one. Baylor is on its third QB. So is TCU. It’s part of the game. Recruiting two or three QBs is now a part of college football (and especially the Big 12).

But you don’t get to say, “well, OU would have been dominant if Mayfield would have played. We know they lost by one, but we think they’re much better than that.” No! That’s not what happened! That’s not reality! You’re setting up the final four on an alternate reality that doesn’t even exist! That’s insane!

The funny thing about all of this is that I actually don’t think margin of victory or any of that stuff should matter. But the committee does for some reason. Unless your star QB gets hurt. And then it doesn’t. All because OU wears crimson and cream and man, that Tide-Sooners sounds like a tremendous first round playoff game.

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