ALTOONA, Pa. -- Seriously? I mean, what in the world, man? The College Football Playoff committee folks cannot possibly be taken seriously if this is the kind of foolishness they're going to come up with.
This committee is made up of extremely intelligent people, including Penn State product John Urschel, who is a legitimate genius.
But there's just no understating how dumb the committee looks following Tuesday night's weekly ranking.
Just a week and a half ago, Michigan State beat Michigan, 37-33. Both of those teams are 8-1, because the Spartans got caught in a tough trap game this past weekend and lost at Purdue, 40-29.
Head-to-head competition is supposed to matter in sports. If I beat you, then I'm better than you. If you beat me, then you're better than me.
This isn't complicated, people.
But it's apparently too complicated for the College Football Playoff committee.
The group decided to rank Michigan No. 6 this week, one spot ahead of -- you guessed it -- the team it lost to just 11 days ago. Sparty is No. 7.
That is insane. Truly. The kind of insane that makes you want to throw out this entire system, because these people that we're entrusting to get all of this stuff right cannot even get the most basic thing in sports right.
One team beat the other. It's not rocket science which one should be ranked higher if they both have one loss.
If only there was a way they could know for sure which team was better… https://t.co/WBcx5emrz3
— Donnie Collins (@PennStateTT) November 10, 2021
The committee already has dealt with this scenario with Oregon and Ohio State. The Ducks beat the Buckeyes, both have one loss, and Oregon is No. 3, one spot ahead of Ohio State. It's been that way for two weeks now.
But in the same situation with Michigan and Michigan State, the committee made a different decision. (Yes, Oregon won on the road at Ohio State, and Michigan State won at home over Michigan, but I'll still argue it's a no-brainer to have Sparty ranked ahead.)
OK, OK, if some people are out there thinking, "Well, Michigan State shouldn't have lost to Purdue."
Fine. Whatever. Again, that was a massive trap game for Michigan State coming off a huge win over its hated rival.
Barring some other ridiculous element that could exist -- and doesn't in this case -- a team's head-to-head win over another team should take precedent over just about anything else when doing comparisons or rankings.
In basically every tiebreaker situation in every sport in every league in the world, if two teams are tied, the first tiebreaker is head to head. Because it's freaking common sense.
Except to the folks on the CFP committee.
CFP chair Gary Barta on H2H with Oregon-Ohio State and Michigan-Mich State: "The Michigan-Mich State discussion started last week. The Committee went back and forth. Michigan, statistically, is probably a more complete team."
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 10, 2021
There are a lot of things to dislike about people who do rankings, because we all have opinions on these things. Just last week, ESPN's Andrea Adelson ripped the CFP committee for snubbing undefeated Cincinnati by ranking it No. 6.
Hey, I personally don't believe Cincinnati is one of the four-best teams in the country, so I don't have a problem with keeping the Bearcats out of the top four.
See, we can have disagreements here.
Penn State also is involved in a bizarre set of circumstances with the CFP rankings. The Nittany Lions beat Auburn and Wisconsin. All three of those teams have three losses. But Auburn (17) and Wisconsin (18) are in the CFP rankings, while Penn State was shut out again.
The committee is really, really holding it against Penn State that it lost at home to Illinois. But the Lions' starting quarterback, Sean Clifford, was clearly banged up in that game, and that should be taken into consideration.
Barta on why Penn State is not ranked: "We talked about them more than we did a week ago. They are in the conversation and the committee sees them as a tough team to play. When somebody beats Penn State, it's seen as a good win."
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 10, 2021
All of this stuff just makes you want to pound your head against the wall.
Do better, playoff committee. We're all watching your every move, so earn your money and show us how smart you really are -- or are supposed to be, at least.