College Football Playoff Anger Index: B1G love, BYU disrespect and

what to neglect, what’s signal and what’s sound. Which’s where the outrage truly assists. It’s definitely not indicate, but it can be an actually loud noise.This week’s Anger Index:Could BYU and the Huge 12 face some major headwinds from the committee? Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

There are just two possible descriptions for BYU’s treatment in this preliminary ranking. The first is that the committee members are too sleepy to see games beyond the Central time zone. The 2nd, and honestly, less reasonable one, is they simply didn’t do much homework.It’s definitely possible the committee members are so enthralled with metrics such as the FPI( where BYU ranks 28th )or SP+ (22nd) that they have actually identified the Cougars’actual record isn’t as essential. This is extremely silly. The FPI and SP+definitely have their value, however they’re probabilistic metrics, developed to assess the probability of future success. They remain in no way a ranking of actual outcomes.(That’s why USC is still No. 17 in the FPI, regardless of Lincoln Riley investing his days wistfully scrolling through old images of Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray and wondering if Oklahoma might wish to get back together.) To take a look at actual outcomes paints a clear picture.BYU (No. 4 )has a much better strength of record than Ohio State (No. 5), has played approximately the very same

quality schedule as Texas and has 2 wins versus other groups ranked in the committee’s leading 25– as many as Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, Tennessee and Indiana(all ranked ahead of the Cougars) combined.Indiana’s rags-to-riches story is fantastic, naturally, however how can the committee compare what BYU has done(wins over SMU and Kansas

State)against Indiana’s 103rd-ranked strength of schedule?And this specific snub has considerable impacts. The distinction between No. 8 and No. 9 is a home game in the preliminary, obviously, though as a possible conference champion, that’s a moot point. However what if BYU loses a game– possibly the Huge 12 title game? That might not just doom the Cougars from getting a first-round bye, however it might quite likely established a scenario in which the Huge 12 is shuffled outside the top four conferences entirely, passed by upstart Boise State.What’s clear from this preliminary of rankings is the committee definitely loves the Big Ten– with four teams ranked ahead of a subjectively more accomplished BYU group– and the Big 12 is going to face some major headwinds. There’s a fantastic, however little watched, television show from the 2010s called “Rectify, “about a guy who gets away death row after new evidence is found, just to be continuously harassed by the very same system that fraudulently locked him away for 20

years. This is essentially the story of SMU.Let’s do a quick blind résumé here.Team A: 8-1 record, No. 13 strength of record, two wins vs. ranked opponents, loss to SP +No. 22,.578 challenger win portion Group B: 7-1 record, No. 15 strength of record, 2 wins vs. ranked challengers, loss to SP +No. 91,

.567 opponent win percentage OK, you most likely thought Team A is SMU. The Mustangs have wins against Louisville and Pitt– both fairly emphatic– and their lone loss concerned No. 9 BYU, which came before a quarterback modification and included five red zone drives that totaled up to only six overall points.Team B? That’s Notre Dame. The Irish have the worst loss without a doubt( to Northern Illinois )of any group in the top 25, beat a typical challenger by the very same score(however, while SMU outgained Louisville by 20 lawns, the Cardinals actually outgained Notre Dame by 115)and have played one less game.The distinction? SMU has the preconception– of the capital punishment, of the upstart program new to the Power 4, of being unworthy. Notre Dame is the big brand name, which leads to being ranked 3 areas greater and, if the playoff were held today, getting in, while the Mustangs are overlooked. There are 3 two-loss SEC teams ranked ahead of Ole Miss, which appears to be a completely sensible agreement if you look at the AP poll, too. But are we sure that’s so reasonable?Two stats we like to take a look at to determine a group’s quality are success rate (how frequently does a team make a play that

enhances its odds of winning )and explosiveness. Measure the differentials in each between offense and defense, then plot those out, and you’ll get a quite clear appearance of who’s genuinely dominant in college football this season.Explosive Play differential vs. Successful Play differential Auburn & Ark make no sense Iowa & Iowa St are twinsies!Is Ole Miss underestimated? pic.twitter.com/h87SKCdOtr!.?.!—(@ADavidHaleJoint) November 3, 2024 That external band that features Penn State, Texas, Miami, Ohio State and Indiana(and especially, not Oregon, Alabama, LSU or Texas A&M )? That’s where Ole Miss lives.The Rebels have 2 losses this season,

each by 3 points, both in games they outgained the winning group. They lost to LSU on the road and, yes, somehow lost to a dismal Kentucky group. However hey, LSU lost to USC, too. It has been an unusual season.SP+likes Ole Miss. The Rebels sign in at No. 4

there, behind just Ohio State, Texas and Georgia.The FPI concurs, ranking the Rebels fifth.In ESPN’s game control metric, no group is much better. Ole Miss has the third-best average in-game win portion. That recommends a great deal of weird twists, and bad luck was included with its losses. These are things the committee need to be evaluating when comparing like teams.But how about this comparison?Team A: 7-2, 23 points per game scoring margin vs. FBS, 1 loss to unranked, three wins vs. SP+ top 40 Team B: 7-2, 19 points per game scoring margin vs. FBS, 1 loss to unranked, three wins vs. SP+top 40 Pretty similar, eh?Of course, one of them is Ole Miss. That’s Team A this time around.Team B is Alabama, ranked 5 areas higher.Sure, this scenario can be dealt with quite easily this weekend with a win over Georgia, but Ole Miss beginning at the back of the pack of SEC contenders appears like a miss out on by the committee, even if the mathematics will alter considerably

before the next rankings are revealed.

Should Army be ranked greater with a best record? Danny Wild-Imagn Images Oh, thanks a lot for the No. 25 nod