The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - College Football Playoff Reaction, Committee Got It Right, College Football Is A Beauty Pageant

Episode Date: December 3, 2023

Colin reacts to the final College Football Playoff rankings! He breaks down why the committee got the rankings right, and why an undefeated record isn’t the only thing that matters.  He explains why the “eye test” matters and that Florida State is NOT one of the four best teams. He gives props to Alabama and Texas for scheduling each other out of conference and believes they should be rewarded for that. (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith ruling. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. All right. Instant reaction for the first time I can ever remember. I completely agree with the committee and therefore I believe they got it right. Of course I do. Michigan number one, Washington number two, Texas number three, who beat Bama number four.

Now, there's a lot of outrage by Florida State fans, but they have multiple things working against them. First of all, the construct of this playoff is four teams, and we have five power conferences. So there could be a year when they all go undefeated. One of them would be left out. So disharmony and angst is part of this. And it also shows when you have only four spots available and five power five conferences that strength of schedule nuance matters. It's not just, hey, we went undefeated in a conference

because you could potentially have five teams that do that, and one would be left out. Otherwise, the playoffs should be five spots and one getting a buy, but it's four. You have to make hard decisions. So the feeling is, well, Florida State doesn't have their starting quarterback, so that's not really fair. It's not about being fair.

Remember Kenyon Martin years ago played for Cincinnati, broke his leg before they got into the tournament. You know, the committee's like, well, you're not the same team. Of course you're not. And Cincinnati was quickly extinguished from the tournament. Florida State's not the same team. Louisville is one of the worst teams I've ever seen play in a conference championship, and Florida State struggled to put them away.

Louisville got destroyed by Pittsburgh, and just two weeks ago got beat by Kentucky. That's a bad team, and Florida State struggled to put them away. So last night, Florida State wins 60 to 7. I think the committee feels differently. College football's always been a beauty pageant. That's undeniable. How you look. I mean, why would Michigan be ahead of Washington? It's a beauty pageant. Ohio State is viewed as bigger and better than Oregon, and they beat them. Even though Washington beat Oregon twice, it's, oh, Michigan, Harbaugh, 20 NFL players, lots of dominating wins, whereas Washington won lots of games narrowly. Yes, they beat Oregon twice, narrowly. So Michigan's had lots of blowout, wins. It matters when Alabama was a number one seat or Georgia. It's not just winning. It's blowout wins. So what it looks like matters. Florida State struggling to put away Louisville,

a mediocre Louisville team. It mattered. I think last night 60-0, 567, 4-2-10, it may feel differently. But when you're struggling to put away Louisville, I gave him a shot last night. I watched and I said, let's see what it looks like. It was it done. You know, these are the other thing is there's two things working against Florida State. Number one, they lost their starting quarterback, all right? So they're to a backup. So they would be an underdog substantially to Bama, Texas, Michigan and Washington, substantially, like 14 points or more, especially after what you witnessed last night. But the other thing is their conference is weaker. This is as bad as the ACC's been. Like, I don't remember it being this bad. When Clemson's down, the conference is bad, right? So you got two things

working against you. Three actually. Backup quarterback, you're not the same team. You laid a dud on television last night and your conference is weak. Those are three things working against you. The committee has to watch the games, right? You have to watch the games. I didn't think, for instance, Georgia was saying, we're going to get in. I didn't think Georgia looked good last night. Brock Bowers, the tight end, their star is not at 100%. It's not the same player. They had other injuries to that team last night. They're not as fluid. They're not as explosive offensively. Last two years, Georgia, Georgia trailed in a half dozen games this year.

It's not Georgia of last year. It's not Georgia of the year before. Watch the games. Can you watch them last night? They were not a very dynamic offensive team. Texas can be, Washington can be, Michigan can be, even Bama. Auburn last play of the game. And Bama last night was more dynamic.

So you have to watch Georgia. And my takeaway is, I don't care about how great the SEC is. and the SEC isn't as good as previous years. How do I know that? Because LSU lost out of conference early and Bama lost at home to Texas. So the SEC may still be the best conference, but it doesn't feel like it did three years ago. It doesn't. I thought the conference came down a bit this year.

Still may be the best conference, but the PAC 12 was very good. Nobody could deny that. SEC and Big Ten, very solid. ACC was a mess. It's a mess. And you watch that mess on TV. So you've got a backup quarterback, you laid a dud on TV, and your conference. difference stinks. It can't just be about being undefeated. Can't. So they got it right. And I just didn't think

they had the courage to do it. I felt it would be much easier to just say, yeah, put Florida State in. Remember this. We're going to a 12-team playoff next year. Okay. So this is the last time the committee has to worry about this argument. Much easier to do 12 than four. I mean, if the NCAA tournament March Madness was eight teams? How ugly would the arguments be? You get to 64, 68 teams. You know, I'm not going to lose too much sleep over VCU, being mad with eight losses they didn't get in. When you go to a 12-team playoff, everybody would have gotten in. It's going to be a much easier argument. You're going to be arguing for a four-loss SEC team that lost to Bama and Georgia getting in over a two-loss team from a lesser conference getting in. Nobody's going to

lose sleep over that. But so this is a four-lossed. is the last year for, you know, to be very combustible in these arguments. And the committee said, you know what? Our swan song? Four best teams. Florida State would be a massive underdog to Georgia, the sixth team, Michigan one, Washington two, Texas three, Bama four. Well, well, well, well, upsets happen. Yes, they do. You know, they do. But in the end, can't go in with a second or third string quarterback, you're not the same team. Those Cincinnati teams without Kenyon Martin, they were not the same team. Nuance matters, not just undefeated. And, you know, the one thing I'll give Alabama credit for is that Alabama, and I'll give Texas credit for this too, is that if it's all

about undefeated, then people will be paralyzed and never schedule games out of conference. I give Alabama a ton of credit for scheduling Texas. And I give Texas a ton of credit for taking that phone call and say, yeah, we'll go to Tuscaloosa. And what the committee said is, if you're willing to play these big boy football games on the biggest stage, and that game was very close until the end, right? Now, Texas won by 10 in Tuscaloosa and was rated higher than Bama in the playoff rankings, as they should be. But I also feel like you have to reward competition. This can all be about going undefeated and scheduling week at a conference nonsense. That can't be the sport. And so Texas Bama were both considered kind of elite programs, they said, let's play each other. I like that.

And they ended up being elite teams at the end of the year. Not only did they schedule each other, but they ended up being elite teams at the end of the year. So I'm not going to punitively punish Alabama, right? I'm not going to. I can't go and drop the hammer on Alabama. They lost the game. Then they ran the table. And frankly, much like Washington did to Oregon, Alabama was the better team last night. I didn't think it was. I mean, I don't care what the score was. Washington was better than Oregon. In fact, the first game, I thought Oregon was better than Washington and lost. The second game, Washington took control from the first series. I thought Alabama was absolutely in control of that game last night. There was never a point where I thought Alabama was reeling. So they got it, in my opinion,

right? I didn't think they'd have the guts or courage to do it, but their final big opinion, the committee. We believe these are the four best teams. And I agree with that. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel,

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert. It's Michael and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Bo Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.