Parity, chaos, and a little Texas swagger.
The “Big Noon Kickoff” crew wasted no time diving into the first set of College Football Playoff rankings, dissecting every surprise, snub and sleeper that came out of Tuesday night’s reveal.
From Urban Meyer marveling at the balance across the sport to Brady Quinn calling out the “eye test” bias, the panel had plenty to say about what the initial CFP rankings mean.
Mark Ingram beamed with Big 12 pride, Chris Fallica stumped for Texas, Matt Leinart sized up a Big Ten brawl that could shape the entire postseason picture, and finally, Dave Portnoy echoed the crew’s collective excitement for the “wide open” CFP.
Here’s a look at the biggest takeaways from the first CFP reveal, with one word that ties it all together: parity.
Big Noon Kickoff on initial CFP Rankings: “Out with the old, in with the new”
Urban Meyer: “Parity in college football. I never saw this happening. I thought with NIL and the playoff, the rich would get richer and the poor would get poorer. That’s not what’s happening.
“Out with the old: Clemson, LSU, Florida, Florida State, Penn State, Michigan. In with the new: Indiana, Ole Miss, BYU, Texas Tech, Utah, Virginia, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Memphis and Iowa all have a shot at the CFP.”
Mark Ingram: “It’s the Big 12. The Big 12 always gets no love, and they got love. They got some respect on their name in these initial rankings, with three teams in the top 13. The seventh and eighth ranked teams set up a big showdown between BYU and Texas Tech. Regardless of that outcome, the Big 12 looks to get two teams into the Playoff. Finally. The Big 12 gets some respect on their name.”
Brady Quinn: “It’s the eye test. It’s not based on résumé. You could make an argument that Indiana has a better résumé than Ohio State. They had a great win vs. Oregon and they beat Illinois. They have a great win against Iowa. Then you look at a team like Notre Dame, they’re eight spots ahead of Miami, a team they lost to. It seems to be more of an eye test right now than looking at what these teams have accomplished. I’m hoping that changes going forward.”
Matt Leinart: “It’s the Big Ten, and they have a shot at maybe getting four teams in. We know the top-three teams in the top 10, and then there is a cluster of teams in the bottom half. I think it just sets up for an incredible November because all of these teams play each other. Oregon has to go on the road at Washington. You have ‘The Game’ between Michigan and Ohio State. I mentioned Oregon. They might have the most difficult stretch of any team in the Big Ten, and that starts today against Iowa.”
Chris Fallica: “You look at the rankings right now of where Texas is at No. 11, ahead of Oklahoma, like they should be. They already have a top 15 win over Vanderbilt. They have a top-15 win over Oklahoma. They played No. 1 Ohio State on the road to open the year. If the committee is serious about strength of schedule, I think Texas is going to get in. If Texas goes 9-3, that means either they beat Georgia on the road in Athens, Georgia, or they beat a potentially undefeated Texas A&M team at the end of the year. At 9-3 I think Texas would have a great chance at getting in.”
Dave Portnoy: “It’s all going to unfold over the next month or two. There’s going to be knockout games. This isn’t the old system where a lot of teams are eliminated. Everybody is in the hunt. I’m looking down that list and I see a certain team in maize and blue. If they win out, they’ll be in the playoffs. It’s wide open. I have no problems with it. I’m excited to see what the next month brings.”
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