Greg McElroy on College Football Playoff Rankings: ‘This committee is irritating’

With the release of the latest College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy was annoyed. Drawing his ire: The apparent intellectual inconsistencies from the committee with the ranking, particularly among a trio of one-loss teams.

Basically, McElroy was upset that the rankings appeared to use the eye test to justify certain rankings where others were based on resume. It had McElroy sharing his distaste for the decisions on the rankings reveal show as he discussed the triumvirate of No. 6 Oregon, No. 7 Texas and No. 8 Alabama.

“And Texas should go in front of Alabama. There’s no one that would push back on that. But what you’re telling people to an extent, schedule Texas Tech in the preseason. Because that’s who Oregon played. And Oregon went on the road and looked ugly in that game, by the way. Got a late touchdown that made it look a little better. But if you look at the strength of record, it’s not comparable. Alabama and Texas are both operating, right now, pretty well. I wouldn’t say that they’re passing the eye test with flying colors, but they don’t have the luxury of playing Cal. And I’m not trying to take shots at Cal. I’m not trying to take shots at Colorado and these other teams, I’m not. I just think, why is the committee — and this committee is irritating, I’m going to be honest with you,” McElroy said.

He continued, pointing out inconsistencies in how the five undefeated teams were sorted atop the rankings.

“Why are we using resume to define Ohio State as No. 1, we’re using eye test to define Georgia and Michigan as No. 2 and No. 3, we’re using resume plus eye test to find Florida State at No. 4,” McElroy said. “And we like Washington —”

“It bothers you that there’s no consistency?” Booger McFarland interjected.

“There’s no consistency,” McElroy said. 

Oregon shouldn’t be ahead of Texas and Alabama, McElroy said, as the committee is placing too much emphasis on how Oregon has looked versus the actual resumes of the Texas and Alabama.

McElroy said the Longhorns, followed by the Crimson Tide, followed by the Ducks, would be the right order.

“It should be Texas, they have the best resume. They have five wins against teams that are above .500, including a win on the road in Tuscaloosa. To me, that stands above all else,” McElroy said, pausing for a follow-up question that prompted him to continue. “I would put Alabama behind them because they challenged themselves on the road and have wins against LSU, which is not great, they got a win against No. 9 Ole Miss. They also some other pretty good wins along the way, as well. So I would put Alabama at No. 7 and I’d put Oregon at No. 8 until proven otherwise. And they’ll have their chance when we get to the Pac-12 championship.”