2022 Blog Poll Regular Season Finale — Don’t schedule quality teams; don’t leave your fate to others

Dec 5, 2022 - 12:06 PM

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After weeks of whining about the unfairness of conference title games by the access sports media — desperate to cover new teams in the playoffs rather than good ones — followed by “upsets” abounding over the weekend, those tasked with writing about the sports news rather than attempting to create it finally had their way: The conference title games were rendered absolutely useless. And their pathetic simpering trickled upwards to those who appointed themselves as sole arbiters of postseason fortunes.

It all culminated in a CFP Selection that was more about optics than data; geographic inclusivity than strength of schedule; human interest over quality.

The CFP Committee in essence signaled that quality wins are meaningless, that stepping outside of an average conference to schedule quality games is irrelevant, that not getting the shit kicked of you is unimportant. And, in just a few short weeks of inconsistent talking points and indefensible analysis, the Exalted rendered almost a decade of all prior CFP “rationale” moot.

I’m so glad we destroyed college football for this.

And I shan’t be watching a second of it, despite my disgust, frustration, and even disinterest with this iteration of the Alabama Crimson Tide. It really is about selecting the four best teams; the rightness of the cause. And there is no actuarial or analytical case that can be made for TCU’s inclusion.

If any football teams or coaches out there don’t like how their seasons ended, or they came up just short this year in the moment, perhaps they will look back on this day as one they created for themselves with their own stupidity, inattention, apathy, and slovenliness. You, and you alone, put your fate in someone else’s hands; you have no right to whine about it after the fact.

Real men don’t do that — either the weak-kneed capitulation, or the post hoc mewling. Accountability comes from within. Let’s see over the bowl season and next season — from those who fell short of their goals, who actually has anything resembling pride left or is accountable to more than short-sighted, short-term gains.

I very much fear that we will not like the answer.

Here is the season finale Blog Poll. We’ll have the final when the bowl season is done.

The usual caveats apply. The criteria are nebulous, far-ranging, and capricious — strength of schedule, bad and good coaching, injuries, exigent circumstances, home/away results, defense or lack thereof, offense or lack thereof, line play, power poll-ishness, can you cover a spread (Vegas is pretty smart about how good a team is), head-to-head where possible or prudent, and my own lying eyeballs.

• Kansas State is this high because all season the analytics have loved them. They played eight quarters and on OT of football against TCU, and prevailed in 75% of those snaps (plus the OT). This team has not once been below 14th in any opponent-adjusted stat. They deserved to be the B12 Champs because they’re the best of a lot of mediocrity.
• Where will DJU land next season? There’s absolutely no way he’s back at Clemson. For the second straight week against a Bottom 30 defense, he struggled. If you’re keeping track at home, he’s now thrown for sub-50% with 1 TD, 2 INTS and 120 yards against UNC and South Carolina. Colorado may be a good landing spot — Deion is used to coaching guys with marginal talent. Klubnik actually does look good (grading against the ACC, that is).
• Utah required a lot of uncharacteristic, even lucky things to go right in their first contest against USC. On Friday night, all it required was letting their nuts hang and daring Lincoln Riley to match their toughness. The October National Champions were not up to the task. As usual. But Caleb Williams has some very precious manicured hands.
• Georgia is so bored with this season. And I honestly don’t think anyone in the playoffs will put up enough of a tussle to breakthrough that ennui. Enjoy your second ring, Kirby. I won’t be watching a second of this shit.
• Michigan has been putting together a lot of late surges to blow games wide openand gussy up the scoreboard of mostly competitive games. One has to ask: 1. at what point is that good coaching vs. outlasting opponents with talent, and 2. what happens when they meet the first team that punches back for 60 minutes? (I suspect the answer is that Georgia beats them by four touchdowns or so).
• Willie Fritz’s Tulane rebuild is complete: 11-2 Tulane is your AAC champ, and defeated the B12 champ. That says a whole lot about Willie Fritz and the Big 12. Guess which one is speaks more highly of? Auburn should have backed the Brinks truck up in NOLA a month ago.
• UTSA is two field goals away from being undefeated. Had they picked up wins against Houston and Texas, we’d be arguing whether they or Tulane is more deserving of the NY6 appearance. Traylor has to be on every AD’s radar for the next few seasons. See also, Troy’s Jon Sumrall. It’s fitting these two teams are meeting in a bowl.
• Tennessee vs. Clemson is the most despicable bowl pairing I can imagine. Those fanbases deserve one another. Miami is going to think it’s a Clampett family reunion.
• Fresno State was 1-4 in October, with a loss to UConn and a 20-point beatdown by Boise State. Then they got Jake Haener healthy, the secondary became more aggressive, the Bulldogs discovered themselves, and they won 8 straight and the MWCCG. Tedford can coach his ass off, man.