There is quite a bit to follow in college football this season — and that’s before you even get to what’s happening between the lines.
Players getting paid directly by schools, coaches getting paid even more to stop working, dueling legislation in Congress — those are only part of the off-field chaos that pales in comparison to the actual games being played.
Indiana is a new blue blood? Sure! Neither Alabama nor Georgia are the top-ranked team in the SEC? That’s right! And we haven’t even gotten to the guaranteed bids that are wreaking havoc on the bottom of the bracket.
With all that in mind, let’s run through just how strange this college football season has been so far.
Here’s the playoff field, for now
First and foremost, this would be the 12-team playoff field if the postseason were to begin tomorrow, starting with the 12th seed: Memphis, Virginia, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas Tech, BYU, Ole Miss, Georgia, Alabama, Texas A&M, Indiana and Ohio State.
The top four seeds — currently the Buckeyes, Hoosiers, Aggies and Crimson Tide — all receive first-round byes. And the first round playoff games would take place on the campus of the higher-seeded team — so the Tigers would play at the Bulldogs, the Cavaliers at the Rebels, the Fighting Irish at the Cougars, and the Ducks at the Red Raiders.
Wait, did you say Memphis and Virginia?
Not exactly college football royalty, huh? The Tigers and Cavaliers are not actually ranked in the top 12 by the CFP committee, but they are in the 12-team playoff field because of a rule that guarantees playoff berths to the five best-ranked conference champions.
Memphis isn’t even in the committee’s top 25, but it would still receive a playoff bid as the best team in the AAC. Virginia’s case isn’t as egregious — the Cavs are ranked 14th, best in the ACC. But the inclusion of those two schools would currently come at the cost of Texas and Oklahoma, which surely wouldn’t make many people upset.
Forget Memphis and Virginia, did you say Indiana?
Anyone who thought last year’s Hoosiers team, which went 11-1 and finished 8th in the final CFP rankings, was a one-year wonder simply needs to enter coach Curt Cignetti’s name on their search engine of choice.
“It’s pretty simple, I win,” Cignetti said when asked how he would sell recruits during his introductory press conference at Indiana. “Google me.”
So far, he's right! Cignetti followed up his 11-1 regular season with a perfect 9-0 record so far this year, including a statement win on the road against Oregon in October.
Led by transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the Hoosiers are legit. They are on a collision course with the Buckeyes for the Big Ten championship game. That will be another opportunity for Indiana to bolster its reputation — and perhaps grab the No. 1 seed in the bracket.
Wait, wasn’t Penn State in the playoff last year?
Yes! Not only did the Nittany Lions make the CFP last season, they actually won their first two games. But not even 10 full months after the school’s second-round win, Penn State fired head coach James Franklin after a three-game losing streak.
Franklin, along with Brian Kelly at LSU, Billy Napier at Florida, Hugh Freeze at Auburn and Mike Gundy Oklahoma State, is among several coaches who have already been fired at programs of note this season. And his firing should be a warning to the coaches who feel confident about their chances of punching a playoff ticket: A postseason berth does not mean schools won’t pay tens of millions of dollars to get rid of you.
What happened to all those great quarterbacks I heard about?
There were supposed to be some truly great QBs this season, all of whom had varying degrees of NFL potential. And while there has still been some great play at the game’s most important position, it hasn’t come from whom most expected.
Consensus was particularly high on players such as Penn State’s Drew Allar, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Florida’s DJ Lagway, Texas’ Arch Manning and Clemson’s Cade Klubnik, for example.
Allar’s stats largely declined from his junior season, and he struggled in the Nittany Lions’ three-game skid before a knee injury ended his season.
Nussmeier is also off his pace from last season, and is 1-3 against ranked opponents.
Lagway has been turnover prone (nine interceptions) for the 3-5 Gators, and he’s connecting on fewer explosive plays.
Klubnik threw 36 touchdowns in 14 games last year. He’s only on pace to throw 17 in the regular season right now.
And Manning has improved as the season has gone along, but he’s hardly played to the level the preseason hype (and his name) would have suggested.
There has been some good QB play, however. The aforementioned Mendoza could be a top pick in next year’s draft, Julian Sayin has given Ohio State a downfield attack it hasn’t had in years, and Ty Simpson has 20 touchdowns compared to only one interception for Alabama.
What happens next?
There is time for teams to jockey for position, as the regular season runs through the end of the month. The Longhorns, Sooners, Miami and USC are among some of the higher-profile teams lurking on the fringe of the bracket, while schools such as Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and Utah could still find a way to crash the party.
There is quite a bit of chaos still at play.
