On the Gridiron

Texas Tech is No. 15 in the first College Football Playoff rankings and I suppose I’m not surprised at all. Here are the top 25 teams:

1. Miami Hurricanes (8-0)
2. Georgia Bulldogs (7-1)
3. Utah Utes (8-0)
4. Indiana Hoosiers (8-1)
5. Alabama Crimson Tide (6-2)
6. Kentucky Wildcats (7-1)
7. Texas Longhorns (6-2)
8. UCLA Bruins (8-0)
9. BYU Cougars (7-1)
10. Ole Miss Rebels (6-2)
11. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-1)
12. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-2)
13. Tennessee Volunteers (6-2)
14. LSU Tigers (6-2)
15. Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-1)
16. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (7-1)
17. Houston Cougars (6-2)
18. Missouri Tigers (6-2)
19. Iowa Hawkeyes (6-2)
20. USC Trojans (7-2)
21. South Carolina Gamecocks (5-3)
22. Arizona Wildcats (6-2)
23. Oregon Ducks (5-3)
24. Florida Gators (5-3)
25. Boise State Broncos (7-1)

As you all can probably guess, this probably isn’t good enough for a lot of you and wonder about teams like Texas, Ole Miss, and Ohio State (without their QB) may not be as good as Texas Tech. However, Texas Tech also could have been better in close games that likely should not have been close. Having to make a quarterback change halfway through the season probably affects voters and I sort of get that. The Committee will have to determine at some point a 3-loss SEC team and a 1 or 2-loss Big 12 team. Regardless, if you listen to anything from the committee it will be this circular logic that sort of justifies itself. This weekend will be a big weekend as well regarding how things shake out with so many big games.

ESPN’s Heather Dinich and CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford and Adam Silverstein have thoughts on the initial CFP rankings.

The latest episode of What’s Next from Robert Giovannetti and head coach Joey McGuire. Good discussion about Will Hammond and McGuire’s optimism.

Red Raider Sports has summaries from the player pressers this week: L. Jordan with Jacob Ponton and Mateen Ibirogba and Mason Turnbow with Terrance Carter.