(11-30-2014 02:51 AM)allthatyoucantleavebehind Wrote:  That message could be sent this very year when they do their final rankings. That's the one which will "stick" as the final word for the season. Does Baylor get dinged for its weak schedule? FSU surely has been sent a message about the unimportance of having a "zero" in your loss column, something that would never have happened before the CFP era, despite the fact that they scheduled aggressively non-conference. Nobody had three OOC games of the name brand quality that FSU did (ND, UF, and OkSt)...but the committee isn't really rewarding that, unfortunately.

Your point on the actual match-ups of ACC vs. SEC is well-made. But my assertion stands. We need MORE data points to make a definitive (or even SEMI-definitive case). We can't start the season with trumped up SEC conference rankings, especially when a large portion of their important OOC games don't even happen until late November!!! Previous season bowl records should not matter as much as they do in the current season.

No doubt that FSU made the attempt to schedule well OOC. It's not their fault that all three teams were down this season, but you can't reward a team for good intentions. Mississippi State didn't know USM would be horrible the last three years after more than two decades of winning seasons. You have to judge the team, in this case FSU, on what is and, unfortunately for them, their schedule has been mediocre to bad, except for Louisville, Clemson and Georgia Tech in their upcoming game.

I completely agree that previous season records or bowl records shouldn't factor in current season rankings. I have cringed every time I hear the argument for FSU that includes references to last year's success. It just doesn't matter in the context of THIS season. But the fallacy of your statement, as it relates to the playoff, is that the CFP committee didn't consider preseason rankings and waited until several weeks into the season before announcing their first one. The old poll system's biggest flaw was the weight given to rankings before any substantive games were played.

One correction. The SEC doesn't play a large portion of their OOC games in late November. A few teams play rivalry games then, after their conference schedule is complete, but most "important" OOC games are played in September. They also throw a conference game in early, which should aid in determining how strong they are, while other schools are padding their records with weaker teams. A lot of SEC schools pad their records right before their respective team's rivalry game, e.g just before the Iron Bowl or Egg Bowl.

(11-30-2014 02:51 AM)allthatyoucantleavebehind Wrote:  That message could be sent this very year when they do their final rankings. That's the one which will "stick" as the final word for the season. Does Baylor get dinged for its weak schedule? FSU surely has been sent a message about the unimportance of having a "zero" in your loss column, something that would never have happened before the CFP era, despite the fact that they scheduled aggressively non-conference. Nobody had three OOC games of the name brand quality that FSU did (ND, UF, and OkSt)...but the committee isn't really rewarding that, unfortunately.

Your point on the actual match-ups of ACC vs. SEC is well-made. But my assertion stands. We need MORE data points to make a definitive (or even SEMI-definitive case). We can't start the season with trumped up SEC conference rankings, especially when a large portion of their important OOC games don't even happen until late November!!! Previous season bowl records should not matter as much as they do in the current season.

Mississippi St. hasn't been dinged for its weak schedule yet.

Looking forward to crushing an SEC WEST team any time.