Hey y’all.
Let’s discuss Tuesday night’s most shocking results.
RELAX, I’M TALKING ABOUT FOOTBALL
As a general rule, I encourage agnosticism when it comes to early rankings from the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. They don’t mean anything, they’ll change and, by the end, the folks in charge are gonna do whatever they want anyway.
You’d be better off complaining about the weather. Or Mike Bobo. Or your 7-year-old always finding and eating all the Double Stuf Golden Oreos, no matter where you hide them.
Sigh.
But I did say “general rule” earlier. Because there are exceptions. And Ye Olde Committee just dropped a whopper.
↕️ The first four are undefeated Miami, one-loss Georgia, undefeated Utah and one-loss Indiana, in that order. Fair enough.
↕️ Then we have No. 5: Alabama. Two-losses-in-early-November Alabama.
“CFP loves saying Roll Tide,” DawgNation’s Connor Riley told me. (I asked several colleagues to express their reactions to the rankings in five words or less; he’s the only one who complied.)
↕️ But wait, there’s more!
- Kentucky came in at No. 6, which is deserved and also rules.
- But then you have to get past TWO-LOSS Texas before arriving at the third and final undefeated team in the Power 4: UCLA.
Nasty work.
The eighth-ranked Bruins are followed by BYU (7-1) and Ole Miss, yet another two-loss SEC team.
↕️ Here’s where it gets spicy: Notre Dame sits alllll the way down at No. 11 and may miss the party entirely if the Irish don’t beat the top-ranked Hurricanes on Saturday. (Which reminds me: Have you voted for the Win Column Upset Pick of the Week?)
- Ohio State and its backup quarterback rounded out the initial 12 — but would be left out of the bracket after Boise State (No. 25) claimed the Group of Six’s guaranteed spot.
Smarter people than me — including our own Mike Griffith — have posited that these initial rankings suggest the committee is finally taking strength of schedule seriously. Perhaps that’s true. But maaaaybe the whole SEC thing is getting a little much. Or the Bama thing, at least.
Tennessee beat them by roughly 1,000 and is ranked 13th … and now the CFP has most of America rooting for LSU and Lane Kiffin to take the Tide down another peg Saturday.
What a world.
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MEANWHILE, AT GEORGIA TECH …
Half-price tickets and $5 beers* are cool things to offer your fans — but they are not signs that things are going well.
Nor is your head coach saying things like this: “I do not by any means think the program is broke. The program is not functioning worth a damn right now on the field. That’s on me to make the necessary adjustments, tweaks, changes, whatever it is for it to improve and play to the level and standards.”
Such is life for Georgia Tech football these days.
- Just about 53 weeks ago, Brent Key’s Jackets were 8-0 and ready to conquer the world.
- They’ve gone 3-10 since and need to win out (unlikely) to avoid their first losing season since the one that forced Geoff Collins and his Styrofoam cup to flee the Flats.
- They may be changing quarterbacks, and Key’s already fielding questions about firing staffers.
The falloff is frankly staggering. As part of his grieving process, Win Column Data Man and sad Tech grad Rahul Deshpande put it all in a chart.
The Yellow Jackets aren’t just bad right now — they’re among the worst teams in football.
In pretty much every aspect.
Another translation, courtesy of beat writer Fletcher Page: “Can’t stop the run. Can’t run. Can’t sack the quarterback. Their quarterback is inconsistent. Too many injuries to build continuity. Not enough depth to overcome said injuries. Two new coordinators and more than 30 players gone from last year’s team (26 seniors, plus transfers) left a talent and leadership void that was not properly filled with transfer portal additions.”
Is that all?
*They’re really offering half-price tickets and discounted beer for Saturday night’s game against Louisville (7:30 p.m. ACC Network). Enjoy responsibly.
OTHER GOOD THINGS TO KNOW
🐝 Some positive news for Georgia Tech: The Scott Cross era of men’s basketball is underway with a win.
🇪🇸 Our guys Daniel Flick and Ken Sugiura have landed in Madrid, where the Falcons take on the Bengals on Sunday. We have an initial dispatch — and video confirmation of James Pearce Jr. on a Spanish practice field.
📺 The Dream’s Game 7 clash with Golden State reportedly drew 3.3 million viewers, the most in WNBA playoffs history. Also the second-most of any game since the league’s inaugural season in 1997.
❤️ Rumors have tied the Braves to starting pitcher Sonny Gray for basically a decade. Could this be the offseason they finally get their Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan moment?
🫣 MLB owners released a new proposal that still includes a salary cap but pushes its implementation back to 2028. The players union’s response: “Um, no.”
🚨 GIFT LINK OF THE DAY 🚨
Today it’s a Sugiura column about a deaf high school football player and the teacher-turned-interpreter who makes it all possible. How lovely!
(On another note: Several undefeated Georgia high school football teams stand to receive worse playoff seeds than schools they beat. What is this, the CFP?)
OH HEY, TRAE
As we briefly mentioned Monday, the Hawks face the Wizards in Washington, D.C., tonight — and Trae Young is healthy. If that holds, it’ll be the first time the longtime Atlantan actually plays against his former team.
So, uh, what’s he been up to?
- Wednesday’s game (7 p.m., Atlanta News First) would mark just the 13th Young has played in a Wizards uniform since being traded in January. (CJ McCollum, Atlanta’s primary acquisition in the swap, has played 49 games.)
- Young has started all seven of Washington’s games this season, though, logging an average of 36 minutes.
- The vintage Trae stats are there too. He sits at just under 20 points a game, with a league-leading 10 assists per contest to boot.
Should be fun — and Washington’s Friday night visit to State Farm Arena will make the homecoming official.
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of the Win Column. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.