Greg McElroy calls out takes on conferences based on outcomes of games

After a wave of blowouts in the first round of the College Football Playoff, thousands of fans were quick to claim conference supremacy, one way or another. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Greg McElroy weighed in on these rash conclusions.

“I am so sick of the argument: ‘Well, because Indiana lost, the Big Ten stinks,'” McElroy said. “That really bothers me because SMU lost and Clemson lost. You know, ‘The ACC — see, I told you. They’re terrible.’ That, to me, is just such, one, low-hanging fruit. Two, I just don’t know how you can draw those conclusions.

“In what court of law could you ever present that argument and allow a judge to rule in your favor? Why is that an argument? And it goes across the board. See, the SEC is overrated because Tennessee got blown out. It’s all over the place. I just don’t understand the thought process or the logic of it.”

All of the Power Four conferences had a team suffer a double-digit loss in the first round. Clemson (ACC) fell 38-24 to Texas, Tennessee (SEC) lost 42-17 to Ohio State, SMU (Big 12) fell 38-10 to Penn State and, as McElroy mentioned, Indiana (Big Ten) suffered a 27-17 loss to Notre Dame.

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With all four of the Power conferences suffering a loss in the first round, none of them have any more room than normal to criticize the others. Alas, this common sense won’t stop fans from making definitive statements about inconclusive data.

McElroy believes that fans need to simply appreciate the widespread talent in college football this season instead of trying to assert their respective conferences as the best.

“We just saw a Pac-12 team come into the Big 10 — the big, bad Big Ten — and go undefeated, but the Pac-12 hadn’t made the playoffs, but like, two times in the last eight years. And yet, Oregon‘s the No. 1 team in the country,” McElroy said.

“Arizona State‘s also in the field. Colorado is almost in the field. Like, there’s a lot of really good football being played all over the place. So why do we have to paint with a broad brush when it comes to evaluating conference supremacy based on individual outcomes that support your narrative?”