Ten Takeaways: Week Ten
The college football playoff race is starting to get some clarity.
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Ten Takeaways: Week Ten
For my Ohio State subscribers: Check out my full thoughts on Ohio State's 38-14 win over Penn State in Bulletpoints:
Colton Denning
1. Don't let the first playoff rankings get you mad
The only thing I'm 100% sure of when it comes to tomorrow's initial College Football Playoff Rankings drop is that people across the country will lose their minds over it. That's why I want to show you what the first playoff rankings last year looked like:
Nine of the 12 teams in this graphic made the playoff, so I don't know if that makes you feel better or worse about the system. The point here is that we've still got a month of twists and turns left. Teams that look like locks (Miami, BYU) will fall, teams on the bubble (Alabama, SMU) will switch places, and we might even get another great story from out of nowhere (Arizona State). Take every playoff ranking that isn't the final one for what it is: A TV product that's an ESPN advertisement for the upcoming playoff.
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2. Hugh Freeze couldn't field a decent offense, and that's why Auburn canned him
Here's a list of SEC teams who've given up fewer points (or the same amount) than Auburn's defense (117) in conference play:
- Missouri (81 in four games)
- Alabama (101 in five games)
- Texas A&M (103 in five games)
- Vanderbilt (105 in five games)
- Oklahoma (108 in five games)
- Texas (117 in five games)
Being tied for sixth doesn't seem all that impressive until you realize that the Tigers have played more SEC games (six) than all of them, and still lead the conference in points per game allowed (19.5). Their reward for fielding such a dominant defense against SEC foes? A 1-5 record in conference play, thanks to another dismal offense.
A year after fielding the third-worst offense in SEC play, the Tigers have somehow dipped into last at an even 15 points per game. There's no world where Auburn should lose to Kentucky at home, let alone one where they give up seven sacks and lose 10-3 to a Wildcats team who hadn't won an SEC game prior. Some head coach firings have depth and nuance to them - this one doesn't. Auburn hired Hugh Freeze in part because of his reputation for fielding elite offenses. Almost three years later, they fired him because he couldn't even field a competent one.
