Gary Stokan: SEC concerns valid, but plenty of season left
Gary Stokan knows the enjoyment — and controversy — that comes with talking about college football.
ESPN knows all about that, too, and that’s why there’s a program each week on the network discussing the College Football Playoff rankings.
This, even though Stokan points out “none of it matters right now.”
That should serve as some consolation to SEC fans after hearing speculation that Texas Tech ultimately could pass Georgia in the rankings and seeing the CFP committee keep Indiana over Texas A&M in their rankings.
“Everybody gets worked up, and it’s great to talk about college football,” Stokan, president and CEO of Peach Bowl Inc., said. “But it’s when you get to the league championship games that things will truly get granular.”
For now, the Aggies have a better schedule strength than the Hoosiers and beat a Top 25 Missouri team on the road by three touchdowns while Indiana needed a last-minute touchdown to beat a Penn State team that has yet to win a Big Ten game and has lost six in a row.
Texas Tech jumped Ole Miss in the rankings, too, even though the Rebels were dominant in their 49-0 victory over The Citadel.
“The reason Ole Miss dropped and Texas Tech moved up is Texas Tech beat BYU and Ole Miss played The Citadel,” Stokan said. “So, it just depends on who you play that week.”
Stokan pointed out one advantage SEC programs have over teams in other conferences is there are still a lot of matchups between two ranked teams.
“If Georgia beats Texas, and Alabama beats Oklahoma, you could put the Georgia and Alabama resumes up against the resumes of Ohio State and Indiana,” Stokan said. “Indiana has two games left, and neither of those teams are ranked.”
Stokan said it comes down to the fact there are so many games left to be played before the final rankings come out.
“You’ve got to let the season play out,” Stokan said. “Georgia Tech plays Pitt, and Georgia plays Texas and Georgia Tech, and then Texas A&M still has South Carolina and Texas and then this Saturday, Notre Dame plays Pitt. There’s a lot of football left.”
About the Author
Mike is in his eighth season covering SEC and Georgia athletics for AJC-DawgNation and has 30 years of collegiate sports multimedia experience, 25 of them in the SEC including beat writer stops at Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee and now Georgia. Mike was named the National FWAA Beat Writer of the Year in January, 2018.
