When the lords of college football finally approved a playoff system to begin this season — and all it took were years of BCS humiliation and a $5.64-billion contract with ESPN — there was a sense of relief. The overwhelming expectation was that the sport’s postseason would unfold with greater acceptance, less condemnation and little chance of a lingering hangover until the next fall.
It will be two weeks before the first official college football rankings come out (Oct. 28) and seven week before the four-team field is announced (Dec. 7). So there is still time for some sense of normalcy to this season. But we’re not nearly there yet.
The AP rankings look like something crafted by Hans Christian Andersen. Let us entertain you with tales like “The Little Mermaid” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and “Mississippi State is Ranked No. 1.”
OK, the first two — maybe believable. But the third?
Mississippi State, which won its lone SEC championship in 1941 (leather helmets), has an all-time losing record against every conference team except Vanderbilt (sorry, doesn’t count) and has one top-10 finish in its history (been playing since 1895). The Bulldogs climbed two spots to No. 1 Sunday, leap-frogging Florida State, after upsetting No. 2 Auburn.
It’s only the middle of October. Most teams still have half of their schedule to play, so there’s still time to wake up from Candy Mountain. But take a look at this new top four: Mississippi State, Florida State, Mississippi and Baylor. It reads more like a preseason blind draw than a legitimate pecking order.
Four weeks ago, Mississippi State wasn’t even ranked. Life was so innocent then.
If you are a Georgia or Georgia Tech fan and you’re grinding your teeth about losses to South Carolina and Duke, no worries. All seems possible this season. Todd Gurley may ascend to NCAA president before this is over.
This is how strange a season it has been. Alabama, LSU and Auburn — who’ve accounted for the last five SEC titles and 10 of the last 15 — have a combined conference record of 5-4.
Compare: Mississippi State and Mississippi, predominantly SEC punchlines since the Rebels’ last championship in 1963, are a combined 6-0.
I see your Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa in November and raise you an Egg Bowl in Oxford. At this rate, I figure there’s a decent chance Faulkner will be attending for the honorary coin flip.
Consider what the view of the AP rankings was going into the seventh week of the season Saturday:
- No. 1 Florida State beat Syracuse and has won 22 straight. But the Seminoles haven't left anybody with a sense of dominance. Or maybe it's just that every new investigative story that makes the Tallahassee police department look like Chief Wiggum is tainting the analysis.
- No. 2 Auburn had its doors blown off in Starkville in the first nine minutes (21-0) and lost 38-23.
- Mississippi State coach Dan "Bear" Mullen destroyed Texas A&M and Auburn in consecutive weeks. That came after winning in Baton Rouge. Anybody have that trifecta? Those Bulldogs have gone from unranked to No. 1 faster than any team in poll's 78-year history.
- No. 4 Mississippi beat Texas A&M, one week after upsetting Alabama. You know, we've always suspected there might be something in the water in Mississippi. We just assumed it was toxic.
- No. 5 last week was Baylor. Sorry. I don't know what sport they play in the Big 12 but it's not football. Baylor defeated TCU 61-58, scoring 24 points in the final 11 minutes. After the game, 46,803 fans returned their joy sticks to the ushers.
- No. 6 Notre Dame needed a fourth-quarter rally at home to beat North Carolina, whose only wins this season have come over Liberty and San Diego State.
- No. 7 Alabama nearly lost consecutive SEC games for the first time since 2007. Probably should have. The Crimson Tide needed a fourth-quarter touchdown to escape Arkansas with a 14-13 win, overcoming two interceptions, only 227 yards in offense and four fumbles on special teams.
Suddenly, Georgia blowing away Missouri 34-0 without Gurley and Georgia Tech losing at home to Duke after beating Virginia Tech and Miami makes perfect sense.
There is a 13-member selection committee that will rank the teams and pick the playoff field. The committee is chaired by Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long and we know he’s a visionary because he hired Bobby Petrino. Wait a minute …
Maybe this will all make sense at some point. But at the midway point, we haven’t even been spotted the “c” in clarity.
By the way, Mississippi State’s next game is at Kentucky in two weeks.
Don’t even think about it.
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