Spartans Playoff Ranking

[tomdalton22]

With the release of the first playoff rankings, MSU sits at a tidy 8th. Teams ahead include Miss State, Florida State, Auburn, Ole Miss, Alabama, Oregon, and TCU. The SEC obviously dominates these early rankings just as they do in the polls.

I think the road is still set up well for MSU to have a shot if they win out. For one, all of the 4 SEC teams ahead of us play 2 of the other 3 by the end of the year. 2 losses should drop any team out of the playoff, so we can hope that ends up being the case for 3 of those teams. That leaves at least one spot filled.

FSU is expected to win out. They just don't have anyone left on their schedule that should give them any trouble. That's one spot filled.

Oregon, TCU, and Kansas St. are the real competition right now. Oregon will be expected to win out, but they always struggle with Stanford, and we should hope they find another loss along the way. TCU and Kansas St play each other to knock one out. In an ideal world, TCU loses to WVU and then beats Kansas St so both get stuck with two losses. If either win out, they will have more wins over highly ranked opponents and a relatively equal loss to MSU. The only saving grace MSU might have if either wins out is that MSU will play a championship game right before the final playoff rankings while the Big 12 teams will not.

Win or go home, that's the season for every team in the top 10 right now.

Side note: OSU has to be a little upset. Being ranked 16th right now essentially eliminates them from the playoff picture. Even if they beat MSU at home, there are too many one-loss teams ahead of them. There's a good chance that even a 2-loss Ole Miss/Auburn/Alabama wouldn't slip all the way below OSU in the polls.

I guess this goes to show every team that strange things can happen

 

[everyoneneedsasmil]

I guess this goes to show every team that strange things can happen

It's pretty incredible. There was justifiable outrage when OSU got in the playoff over same loss teams TCU and Baylor. OSU wasn't given much of a chance against Alabama or Oregon. And they came through. I still feel the decision to include them had a $$$ bias, but they validated the hell out of that selection.

 

[Michchamp]

Not to take anything away from Ohio St., but they owe Gary Andersen a thank you note, for basically tanking any chance his team had to compete in the Big Ten title game.

A closer result (or even a loss) may not have catapulted Ohio St. into the national press.

 

[Sbee]

Not to take anything away from Ohio St., but they owe Gary Andersen a thank you note, for basically tanking any chance his team had to compete in the Big Ten title game.

A closer result (or even a loss) may not have catapulted Ohio St. into the national press.

in hindsight it seems like he had one foot out the door before that game

of course they were good enough to be there and win, they would have been screwed out of their chance in favor of Baylor

 

[Spartanmack]

It wouldn't have mattered if Anderson was there. Wisco is the most one dimensional team in the country. After seeing what they did to us, Wisco, Alabama and Oregon it's crazy to think Anderson would have made a difference. Maybe they don't get shut out but odds are they still get rolled. Wisco didn't play anybody and lost to NW - they did hang w/ LSU for 3 qtrs but then LSU went .500 in conference and lost to ND in a pre-new year's bowl game.

 

[Michchamp]

It wouldn't have mattered if Anderson was there. Wisco is the most one dimensional team in the country. After seeing what they did to us, Wisco, Alabama and Oregon it's crazy to think Anderson would have made a difference. Maybe they don't get shut out but odds are they still get rolled. Wisco didn't play anybody and lost to NW - they did hang w/ LSU for 3 qtrs but then LSU went .500 in conference and lost to ND in a pre-new year's bowl game.

No, I'm saying I think Anderson made things worse.

If he had the decency to leave the week before and let Barry Alvarez coach the Big Ten title game, I think they would've done better.

there were some rumors wolverines24 posted on our board that Andersen's last couple weeks in Madison were ugly all around. He was in the process of burning bridges, and that can't have been good for UW's performance. They bounced back a bit to win their bowl.

 

[Spartanmack]

No, I'm saying I think Anderson made things worse.

If he had the decency to leave the week before and let Barry Alvarez coach the Big Ten title game, I think they would've done better.

there were some rumors wolverines24 posted on our board that Andersen's last couple weeks in Madison were ugly all around. He was in the process of burning bridges, and that can't have been good for UW's performance. They bounced back a bit to win their bowl.

apologies - I knew what you and meant. I meant to say it wouldn't have made a diff if he was not already "checked out". And I don't think it would have mattered if he left and Alvarez coached the game. I just don't think they were all that good - sure Gordon is a great TB but Stave absolutely sucks and their defense is nothing special - certainly not the kind of defense that could stop OSU. Based on the way OSU ran through the toughest games they played, I think while they may not have shut them out, they would have still won the game decisively. They might have lost to MSU by less than 3 TDs without all the turmoil but I think OSU rolls them no matter what.