Why are Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon in the AP rankings?

The Big Ten and Pac 12 weren’t banned from starting their college football seasons in September, as scheduled. They chose not to do it, and then used the data the ACC, SEC and Big 12 compiled to reverse their course and decide to play in late October.

So how is it, without playing a game, Ohio State shows up at No. 6 in this week’s AP poll, with a record of 0-0, as does Penn State at No. 9 and Oregon at No. 12? And we all know that where you begin in those rankings can have a big bearing where you finish and affect your chances of getting into the College Football Playoff and a top 6 bowl.

Are you kidding me?

Forget about No. 1 Clemson, which has now played three games, including wins at Wake Forest and at home over Virginia, and won them all. And No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Georgia, and No. 4 Florida, which have each played two conference games, one on the road and are all 2-0. And No. 5 Notre Dame, which is also 2-0, albeit it against Duke and South Florida.

Then comes Ohio State, which some media must really want in the CFP, ahead of 3-0 Miami, which beat Louisville on the road and clobbered FSU at home. Or Carolina, which won its conference opener and then had to wait three weeks to play at BC and win there?

And there’s Oregon, which won’t play until even later than the Big 10, ranked seven spots ahead of Virginia Tech, which beat N.C. State and Duke pretty handily with 23 and 21 members of the team out with COVID. Don’t voters have compassion, or are they just dumb?

Why not do what the CFP committee does and wait till the teams play a few games before ranking them? How about the AP leaves the Big Ten and Pac 12 out until they prove on the field they are deserving? I know COVID has made it hard, but don’t make it worse.

By the way, what about Coastal Carolina, which wouldn’t come to Chapel Hill and play on its open date, but won at Arkansas State, which beat Kansas State, which beat Oklahoma, which lost at Iowa State and fell out of the polls. Voters did rank Iowa State No. 24. Yeah!

 

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