BOZICH | Should Louisville be angry at College Football Playoff Committee? Sure

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — David Hale writes about college football for ESPN. He’s done that, and done it with insight and wit, for more than a decade at the national outlet.

This is a takeaway Hale presented Tuesday night after the College Football Playoff committee nominated Louisville as the team that should have the second-most anger about its ranking position in the committee’s latest batch of ratings.

Essentially, Hale asked the question many Louisville fans have posed:

Why are the one-loss Cardinals ranked No. 10, a spot behind two-loss Missouri?

I’ll dance out on a limb and take a wild stab at it:

Louisville plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Missouri plays in the Southeastern Conference.

The SEC has won the last four national titles, as well as six of the last eight.

Clemson, an ACC power on hard times this season, won the other two.

When in doubt, go with Nick Saban and Kirby Smart’s league, right?

But this season there should be some doubt, right?

Let’s not forget what happened in early September.

When Florida State took down mighty Louisiana State in Orlando. When South Carolina lost to North Carolina in Charlotte. When Miami gave Jimbo Fisher a major push toward the unemployment line by defeating Texas A&M by 15 points.

The leagues met in three other games: Tennessee overwhelmed Virginia; Wake Forest beat Vanderbilt and Ole Miss dominated Georgia Tech.

This has not been a vintage SEC season.

In addition to its 2-4 record against the ACC, the SEC also has a 1-2 record against the Big 12, headlined by Texas’ rousing win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

The SEC won two of three against the Pac-12. There have been no games matching the SEC and Big 10.

Yet, the playoff committee stuffed three SEC teams in the top nine of its latest rankings, while rewarding the ACC with one team, the Big Ten with two, the Pac-12 with two and the Big 12 with one.

No wonder Hale listed Florida State and Louisville as the two teams with the most reason to be angry, especially after the unbeaten Seminoles slid to No. 5 without losing a game.

When in doubt, go with the brand name. That’s the SEC, certainly in a season when the ACC’s primary brand name (Clemson) has floundered to four defeats.

Raise your hand if you think the committee would rank an unbeaten Clemson team No. 5 or a one-loss Dabo Swinney team No. 10, one spot behind two-loss Missouri.

OK. Now, raise your hand if you believe the committee would rank a two-loss ACC team No. 9.

Carry on.

This is what Hale reported:

• Louisville has six wins against bowl-eligible Power 5 opponents, more than any team in the nation.
• Louisville has a road victory over a ranked opponent (North Carolina State, No. 22 in the college football playoff poll), a credential that is missing from the Oregon, Alabama and Missouri resumes.
• That Louisville has a stronger strength of record than Missouri. I don’t know what “strength of record” is. Hale did not explain that one.

But I can tell you this: I checked the computer ratings from the six formulas that were used in the Bowl Championship Series system that preceded the college football playoff.

Louisville ranks ahead of Missouri in five of the six formulas. Those are mathematical formulas.

Allow me to call the roll:

• Jeff Sagarin Predictor: U of L No. 19, Missouri No. 27.
• Colley-Matrix: U of L No. 10, Missouri No. 14.
• Peter Wolfe: U of L No. 12, Missouri No. 13.
• Jeff Anderson: U of L No. 9, Missouri No. 12.
• Richard Billingsley: U of L No. 11, Missouri No. 12.
• Wes Colley: Missouri No. 15, U of L No. 16.

And, for bonus points, I’ll toss in the combined rankings from 93 computer polls collected by Massey:

• U of L No. 12, Missouri No. 15.

The folks in the playoff committee room appear to be punishing Louisville for its ugly loss at Pittsburgh more than Missouri takes a hit for losing to LSU and Georgia.

I get it. Georgia is impossible to beat, certainly in Athens. LSU has a nice squad. Pitt is horrible. That was a bad loss, even with Jawhar Jordan out for most of the game.

But the computer rankings disagree that Missouri is better.

Louisville, of course, can work on changing perceptions with an emphatic victory over Kentucky Saturday. Missouri, remember, rolled into Lexington, spotted the Wildcats 14 points and won 38-21 at Kroger Field.

U of L-UK is one of four ACC/SEC games on the schedule. The Cards need Clemson to handle South Carolina and Florida State to take care of Florida.

Even after Georgia defeats Georgia Tech, the ACC can finish with a 7-3 record against the SEC this season.

A victory in the ACC title game against Florida State would also be difficult to ignore, but I’m sure some people will subtract points because the Seminoles will be without injured starting quarterback Jordan Travis.

In the end, neither Missouri nor Louisville figures to make the four-team playoff cut. The Cardinals will be rewarded with a top-shelf bowl game. People who are paying attention are aware of the remarkable work Jeff Brohm has done with his first U of L team.

Even if the Cards have reason to be perturbed with the College Football Playoff Committee.

Related Stories:

• Louisville moves to No. 10 in the College Football Playoff rankings
• Week 13 | Looking back at preseason picks for UofL, UK, IU, WKU football
• BOZICH | Louisville determined to end its 1,828-day Kentucky malaise
• BOZICH | Louisville football rallies past Miami, 38-31, into ACC title game
• CRAWFORD | Makeshift magnificence: Brohm's improv puts Louisville in ACC Championship

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