Wherein the schedule myth is revealed

As expected, the prevalence of byes and weak matchups last Saturday left the nation with meager fare. The most exciting game everyone got to see was Ohio State-Nebraska, which was most notable for how horrible the Cornhuskers looked for the first two-and-a-half quarters. Yikes. We know Ohio State is bad; they’ve proved it more than once this season. If freshman quarterback Braxton Miller hadn’t suffered an untimely injury, we might be talking this week about Nebraska, not Florida State, being the most disappointing team in the country (upon sneaking out that win, of course, Nebraska failed to drop a single spot in the polls).

But unfortunately for the Buckeyes and Seminoles, Miller was injured. Of course, that wouldn’t have been as big of an issue if FSU hadn’t dropped another head-scratcher to Wake Forest. After that physical, emotional game against Oklahoma, I said two things: first, that Florida State was “back,” and second, that the ‘Noles had to keep proving it the rest of the year. I guess I was right about both. During the OU game, Florida State looked like a top-15 team. That game must have really drained them, though, because they’ve looked awful ever since. Part of that has to do with the injuries the Seminoles sustained against the Sooners and part of it has to do with Clemson and Wake Forest being better than anticipated, but it’s still pretty shocking to see FSU sitting at 2-3 right now.

Meanwhile, those wacky pollsters are at it again! Wisconsin jumped Stanford because playing Colorado is apparently now viewed as easier than a bye. Seems kinda harsh, guys. Now, I’ve had Wisconsin above Stanford for a few weeks already, but how could the Badgers move up without playing? If the voters don’t want to admit they’re just following my lead on this, it’s OK. I’m just asking for a little consistency. In unrelated news, Texas’ offense was outscored 21-3 by Oklahoma’s defense and the Longhorns only dropped to 22^nd. Rather than about 70^th, where they belong. Am I a little giddy about that game? Yes, I am.

Coming up this weekend there are once again very few good games. The day starts off great, with the in-state rivalry of Michigan-Michigan State and a Big 12 showdown matching Baylor and Texas A&M. Then there’s literally nothing. Look at the schedule, and there’s not a single game to get excited about until the Oregon-Arizona State nightcap. What are you going to watch? Miami (FL) and North Carolina? LSU-Tennessee? BYU at Oregon State? Oklahoma State’s visit to Texas is a top-25 matchup in name only, and after that the only game featuring two ranked teams is the one in Eugene. Terrible. The only potentially interesting tilt is Kansas State on the road at Texas Tech, who’s actually pretty good. Possible upset there.

Top 25

1) Alabama

2) Oklahoma

3) LSU

For my detailed breakdown on the top three, refer to the “Random Thoughts…” section.

4) Boise State

Boise rebounded from their weakest effort of the season to floor former and future league rival Fresno State by 50. Regardless of how good the Broncos are, their fate yet again rests in the hands of other teams, particularly Georgia. If the Bulldogs win the SEC East – which is now a distinct possibility – BSU’s case will be helped immensely. But they still have to hope for losses from Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

5) Wisconsin

The Badgers were off, so there’s not a whole lot to say. Should they have moved up in the polls? Probably not. Will it matter in the end? Probably not. Wisconsin faces three road tests in their final seven games (at Michigan State, Ohio State and Illinois, they also play at Minnesota, but come on) and are more than capable of winning each one handily. Is missing Michigan a blessing (for the W/L column) or a curse (for BCS respect)? Not sure yet.

6) Oklahoma State

Kansas is pretty bad. That said, dropping 56 in a half against a BCS conference team is ridiculous. OSU is absolutely rolling right now, and the Cowboys have to be salivating after watching Oklahoma dismantle their next opponent, Texas. What’s the over/under on Brandon Weedon’s yardage total in this game? 450? The Longhorns had better make some wholesale improvements fast if they want to last past halftime.

7) Stanford

Andrew Luck was incredibly efficient again, though it’s a mystery why some writers thought blowing out Colorado was a big deal. You realize the Buffs are 1-5, right? Now the Cardinal get to travel to Pullman to face frustrated WSU, who may have let a bowl bid slip through their fingers against UCLA last week. Sadly, this will be the hardest opponent Stanford has faced so far. It shouldn’t matter, but… I might be able to talk myself into thinking this has upset potential.

8) Oregon

Oregon remains an enigma in some ways. We know the Ducks have top-end skill position talent. We know the offensive line is still a work in progress. But what about the defense? A unit that was so good a year ago and returned a lot of guys simply can’t pressure or force turnovers this season. The run defense has been too soft, the pass defense too loose. And why has Darron Thomas’ play been so inconsistent? This week’s ASU game is an important test for UO.

9) Clemson

I’m fond of Clemson, so hopefully Tajh Boyd isn’t too injured. The Tigers couldn’t afford to see him go down. Fortunately, there’s not a legitimate threat on the schedule for a couple weeks. However, that’s because Clemson plays in the ACC, which has (deservedly) gotten less respect in the last few years than any BCS conference except the Big East. Will voters’ prior prejudice against the conference hurt this team at some point?

10) Arkansas

Now that’s more like it. Arkansas came out roaring after a slow start and buried Auburn in the Razorbacks’ most complete performance of the season. After the embarrassing loss to Alabama I would have thought it crazy to take this team seriously. Two weeks later, they’ve bounced back impressively and are now staring at a very easy stretch run. This could be a one-loss team when they go to LSU in the finale. What if Alabama beats Arkansas, LSU beats Alabama and Arkansas beats LSU? Big 12 South 2008, anyone?

11) Georgia Tech

Tech jumped out to a comfortable lead against Maryland and then kind of shut it down. Perhaps they were thinking about the next two games on the road. The schedule sets up nicely for the Ramblin’ Wreck, as the road trips to Virginia and Miami (FL) – not exactly frightening – are followed by back-to-back home dates with league-leading Clemson and Virginia Tech. At the very least, this team should contend for the ACC championship game.

12) Illinois

Looking at Illinois’ schedule, I’m not sure what exactly the Illini did to make voters so sour on them. Illinois is 6-0, like Michigan, has played just once away from home, like Michigan (gutsy, guys) and has wins over Western Michigan and Northwestern, like Michigan. The only difference is that Illinois has actually beaten a ranked team (Arizona State), whereas UM has defeated only Notre Dame. So why is Michigan five spots ahead in both polls? Because the Illini weren’t supposed to be good? The horror!

13) Arizona State

Looking at Illinois’ schedule also allowed to me come to another conclusion: I’m now 100 percent convinced that ASU is a better team. Still, in the interest of fairness to an Illini team that won the game fair and square, I’m leaving the Sun Devils lower. Unless, of course, they beat Oregon in Eugene this weekend, at which point the discussion will be over. Oregon has won 14 straight conference games. If ASU dethrones the Ducks, they should get top-10 consideration.

14) Texas A&M

A&M got back on course by beating Texas Tech, but it wasn’t easy. Somehow, Texas Tech never is for the Aggies. I count it as a quality win, though. This week brings Baylor, after whom A&M can finally breathe for a couple games. One thing you can say for sure about this team: at least they’re battle-tested. Because the Big 12 plays a round-robin this year, A&M still has to face Oklahoma and K-State, so they’d better beat the Bears.

15) West Virginia

I’ve always liked West Virginia and I want to believe in them now. But as a member of the Big East, they’re always going to be questioned. The good thing is that you can usually count on WVU. Do you know who the Big East’s BCS wins have come against? In the past six years, the conference has gone 3-3. One win was over the ACC, so it doesn’t count. West Virginia has the other two, and they were against big-time conference champions in Georgia (2005 Sugar Bowl) and Oklahoma (2007 Fiesta Bowl). The Big East better not lose these guys…

16) Michigan

As I said in my Illinois write-up, Michigan should not be ranked as high as they are. However, the Wolverines are still undefeated, and I think Notre Dame is pretty good. My problem is with the rest of their wins – against nobodies – and last year’s history as a blueprint. I don’t know how UM is going to avoid a similar drop-off when they start playing some real teams.

17) Baylor

The Bears get a real chance to prove themselves against Texas A&M this week. They have to take advantage of it to be a player in the Big 12 race. The loss to Kansas State put them in a bad spot to start conference play. At times Baylor didn’t look great against Iowa State, either. They have to up their level of play to compete with this league’s elite squads, starting right now.

18) South Carolina

Is beating Kentucky really that exciting? Thankfully, Mark May was on the set at ESPN last week to calm any ridiculous overreactions, though he was needed more over at SEC-loving CBS. With Stephen Garcia benched and now dismissed, where does this team go? Fortunately, the Gamecocks had already made the QB switch, but this kind of thing can really take an emotional toll on a team.

19) Nebraska

Nebraska is fortunate to not fall farther. It’s OK to drop a team if they get lucky to win, voters. No one thinks Ohio State is good, but for more than two quarters they dominated the Cornhuskers. Nebraska’s offense has been great at times yet inconsistent, though the real issue is the defense. It’s odd to see a Bo Pelini team play so poorly defensively. The Huskers have given up a lot of points in multiple games this season.

20) Houston

Out of nowhere, Houston delivered their best performance of the year. ECU isn’t a bad team and the Cougars took them apart 56-3 last week. Wow. I was this close to writing Houston off completely, but maybe they can still be the team I hoped they would a few months ago. Once again, this is a mid-major, so opportunities to impress are limited, but I liked what I saw out of the Cougars last week.

21) Kansas State

I’m willing to budge on my “K-State got lucky against Baylor” stance, but the Wildcats have to make a statement against Texas Tech this week. The Red Raiders are certainly no pushover, and KSU has played a few close games already in the young season. The game’s in Lubbock, too. Upset alert? It’s not panic time, but Kansas State had better be ready.

22) Michigan State

Back in the rankings after a little hiatus and a well-timed bye, the Spartans have to win this week against rival Michigan to stay here. A lot of things are in MSU’s favor – the home environment, the three-game win streak over UM, the aforementioned bye – but the last time we saw these guys on the field they barely beat Ohio State. Now, Nebraska wouldn’t scoff at that, but anyone who’s been watching knows that’s not a good sign.

23) Washington

Why not? UW has looked very good this whole season outside of a 20-minute stretch in Lincoln. Young Keith Price has been a revelation at QB and the ground game with Chris Polk continues to do its thing. The defense has been a disappointment thus far, but at 4-1 it’s hard to complain too much. It’s possible that the Huskies’ biggest wins to date (Cal and Utah) were merely the result of average competition, yet you can’t help but feel like the team has turned a corner in Seattle. Stanford is next week, so let’s hope so.

24) Notre Dame

I’m back on the Irish bandwagon. After those two fluky opening losses, in which ND committed approximately 85 turnovers, the team is 4-0 with a trio of dominating performances. I think Notre Dame has settled in and they get a bye before the annual USC showdown. Nobody is too sure about the Trojans right now. Notre Dame should win that game and jump back into the rankings soon.

25) Virginia Tech

I really, really wanted to drop VT out of my rankings completely after they barely squeaked by Miami (FL), but in all honesty there wasn’t another worthy team. Yes, Logan Thomas finally lived up to the hype, but come on. The Hokies have some serious issues if they’re beating the Hurricanes by a field goal. The only good team they played spanked them and they’re giving up an additional 19 points a game now that the cupcake nonconference schedule is over.

Teams I wanted to rank but just missed the cut: Texas Tech, Florida State, SMU, Auburn, North Carolina.

Pac-12 Thoughts

Well, this week ought to be interesting. Arizona and UCLA are taking a seat this week, but everyone else is in action and there should be some decent games. I’m fascinated to see how USC-Cal is going to play out on Thursday night. The Trojans have had the Bears’ number for a while now, but SC just clearly isn’t that good this year. It would go a long way toward getting Cal’s season back on track if they can win this one at home.

Washington gets Colorado and should have no trouble there, but the Huskies’ attention will likely be on the Palouse, where next week’s opponent Stanford meets Washington State. Before the season there was talk among Cougars fans that Wazzu could be 5-0 and get College Gameday to come to town for this game, but alas, the team dropped a pair of tight games and sits at just 3-2. That said, the Cougs are no longer pushovers, and they’re honestly the best team the Cardinal will have faced to this point (which isn’t very impressive for Stanford). Additionally, it’s been almost a month since the Cardinal played away from home. The last time they did so, they got off to a very rough start in Tucson.

The two nonconference games involving the Pac-12 are Utah at Pitt (please Utah, for the love of God, win this game) and BYU at Oregon State. Now, I know Oregon State is 1-4, with their win coming over a bad Arizona team. But BYU has been very disappointing this year and their 4-2 record is a mirage. Three of the Cougars’ wins came by a combined 11 points, and the best team they’ve played has been Utah. Who killed them. In Provo. See where I’m going with this? Oregon State should win this game. Riding the momentum of their first win, at home again, I think OSU is the better team here.

The final game of the day is Arizona State at Oregon. Oregon is the better all-around team and should win at home, but there are a lot of things that make this game a question mark. ASU knows how to play Oregon and could have won last season if they hadn’t turned it over seven times. The Sun Devils’ strength – fast, physical defense – is the exact weakness of Oregon’s offensive style. ASU can also move the ball in chunks by both land and air – Oregon’s underwhelming defense struggles when it can’t make teams one-dimensional.

With those concerns in mind, though, I still have to go with the Ducks because of their recent history of Pac-12 dominance and the belief that a Chip Kelly team will never, ever lose a battle of composure with a Dennis Erickson one. ASU hasn’t played in this kind of spotlight for a long time, while Oregon is pretty accustomed to it. And can’t you just see the Sun Devils racking up a dozen penalties and a half-dozen turnovers? It’s kind of their M.O. at this point.

Heisman* Watch

*Luck. That is all.

Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor

Still quietly doin’ work at 80 percent completions and a 19:1 TD-to-INT ratio. His accuracy and release are so impressive; the defense rarely has a chance to make a play on the ball because it gets to his target so fast. I love this kid, though I wonder if his poise will hold up once the Big 12 heavyweights force him to run around a little bit.

Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State

There’s not a more polished, traditional QB outside of Luck. Moore has excellent pocket presence, eludes the rush nicely and can place the ball into some tough spots. I have seen some uncharacteristic bad passes from him the last two games, but he’s still hitting on nearly three-quarters of his throws.

Random Thoughts and Observations

Congratulations to TCU on getting into the conference (Big 12) they probably should have been included in a long time ago. Moving to the Big East would have made no sense other than from a “Hey, we’re in a BCS conference now!” standpoint. Problem is, the Big East probably won’t have a BCS bid much longer. With TCU now out of the mix, the league is down to six football schools, and is reportedly considering SMU, ECU, UCF (like I said before, logical fits) and the service academies, among a few others. Ugh. That conference ain’t getting its BCS membership renewed, I can guarantee that.

I really had to take some time to think about my top three teams this week. We’re roughly halfway through the season, and as much as I’d like to include Wisconsin in the discussion, the reality is that it’s LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma. Oklahoma has only played five games to the SEC teams’ six, but by October 29^th it will have all evened out at eight games apiece. That date is significant because it’s the final week before LSU and Alabama play in Tuscaloosa (both teams have a bye the previous week).

Provided all three teams are undefeated at that point, we should be in for a monster final month of the season. And I think they will all be unbeaten. LSU plays Tennessee on the road and Auburn at home, Alabama gets Ole Miss on the road and Tennessee at home (poor Vols), while Oklahoma plays Texas Tech at home sandwiched by visits to the Kansas schools. The winner of the SEC West showdown on November 5^th will obviously be number one and the frontrunner for the conference and national championship. But I wanted to bring a certain point up now, because it’s an idea that started as a whisper and has now been bandied about in earnest for a couple of weeks.

Suppose LSU and Alabama are the two best teams in the country, which is possible. Should the voters ensure that the best two teams in college football play in the BCS title game, even if one has a loss to the other? That is to say, should the two teams play again, even if it means overriding an undefeated team from another BCS conference?

I bring this up now because the idea will gain traction in the next few weeks and the losing coach in the LSU-Bama game will assure everyone that it makes complete and total sense. The voters should obviously vote his team second, right? While it’s arrogant in the extreme on the part of the SEC (surprised?), I wasn’t too averse to it for a while. LSU and Alabama might very well be the two best teams. But then I remembered several things.

First, this has happened before. The “top two teams for the same conference” scenario played out in 2006, when top-ranked Ohio State beat second-ranked Michigan by just three points, at home, in the teams’ regular-season finale. The general consensus was that the Buckeyes and Wolverines – both thoroughly dominant in Big 10 play – were the two best teams in the nation. It was also widely believed that if the game had been played on a neutral field, or in Ann Arbor, the result might have been different. This sentiment was reflected in the following week’s AP Poll, which still had Michigan at second despite the loss. The Wolverines were eclipsed by USC a week later.

But then USC collapsed in the Trojans’ finale against rival UCLA. Florida, ranked below Michigan before the SEC championship game, jumped the Wolverines after beating Arkansas – a team USC had already beaten more handily – thanks in part to a injury to star Razorbacks running back Darren McFadden. The debate was on. Everyone knew Ohio State was the unquestioned top team. But should Michigan be voted into the second spot?

The problem was that the BCS computers liked Michigan a lot, so it was theorized that if the voters (who comprised two-thirds of the BCS ranking) were logical and ranked Florida second and Michigan third the computers might make UM number two in the BCS anyway. To combat this possibility, voters were advised by analysts to artificially deflate Michigan’s poll ranking (i.e., rank them lower than third) if they wanted Florida to come in at number two in the BCS. It’s unclear if the strategy worked – Michigan was still third in the polls, though Florida got the BCS nod – but the Wolverines would have to prove themselves against USC in the Rose Bowl.

Everyone wasn’t satisfied (Michigan fans primarily) but going into the bowl season the two Big 10 teams were still widely thought of as the elite of the elite. This was due to the fact that the Big 10 was unquestionably considered the nation’s best conference. Outside of Ohio State and Michigan, Wisconsin was also 11-1 (thanks to missing both OSU and UM) and the conference had seven bowl teams. Then came what I like to refer to as the Bowl Massacre of ‘06. Minnesota went down. Purdue went down. Iowa went down. That was just the Big 10’s first three postseason games. After Penn State and Wisconsin squeaked out close wins, the picture looked a little better. But the BCS storm was brewing.

Michigan bowed out with a whimper, giving up four second-half touchdown passes in a blowout Rose Bowl loss to USC. Heavily favored Ohio State returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown against Florida – then scored once more all game. Final score: Gators 41, Buckeyes 14. OSU Heisman winner Troy Smith completed just four of fourteen passes, and the age of the SEC had begun.

Looking back, it seems obvious that the Big 10 wasn’t nearly as good as people imagined and the SEC was better than people thought. The SEC’s five straight national titles (along with the Big 10’s repeated failures on the national stage) can attest to that. But that’s exactly why we can’t give the SEC the benefit of the doubt this season. In 2006, everyone knew the Big 10 was the best conference and had the best teams. In 2011, everyone knows the SEC is the toughest conference. In 2006, everyone turned out to be wrong. 2011? We don’t know. We can’t know until the year ends. You can’t automatically give teams from one league more credibility because popular opinion holds that they’re better. Because everyone might be wrong again.

This is before I even get to my personal and highly logical aversion to non-conference champions playing for the national title. It’s absurd. It shouldn’t be allowed. In fact, the BCS should enact a rule against it. Tell me how a team who does not win – or even play for – its own conference championship should be eligible to win the national championship. Find a way to make a logical argument for that.

It should take any rational thinking person about one second to realize that it is impossible. The chant isn’t “We’re number one – except in our own conference.” It’s a paradox to argue otherwise, a logical fallacy. No team that fails to win its conference should ever be allowed to play for the BCS championship. You play in a tough league or tough division? Too bad. You still have to win it, on the field, to earn the right to play for the ultimate prize.

And finally, the biggest reason why both LSU and Alabama shouldn’t play for the title? It’s in the schedule. Look at the list of opponents for the Tigers, Crimson Tide and Sooners. Tell me exactly how either LSU or Alabama’s schedule is superior to Oklahoma’s. In the second half of the season, LSU will face three top 25 teams (going by the AP Poll) and Alabama will play two, with one of the teams’ games coming against each other, obviously. Oklahoma will play four, three of which come on the road. Bama and LSU each play one such game away from home. You want to talk second-half schedule? It isn’t even close.

LSU plays a trio of patsies – Tennessee, Ole Miss and Western Kentucky – to go with home games against Auburn and Arkansas and the road date at Alabama. Alabama gets four pushovers – Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Georgia Southern – plus LSU at home and Auburn on the road. Oklahoma? Here’s the final six games (assuming a win over Kansas this weekend): Texas Tech, at Kansas State, Texas A&M, at Baylor, Iowa State, at Oklahoma State. There’s only one bad team in the bunch! Texas Tech is a fringe top-25 team, and other than Iowa State everyone else is ranked!

So now we look at the first half of the season (once again, counting an upcoming Sooners win against Kansas). All three teams commendably traveled away from home to play BCS teams. But that’s where the similarity ends. The problem with judging teams based on how their opponents were ranked at the time they beat them is that it ignores the rest of the season. It’s completely illogical. Common message-board arguments go something like this: LSU’s beaten four ranked teams, Alabama’s beaten three, Oklahoma’s beaten two. Therefore, the polls are right. This is where I slap my head in frustration.

LSU hasn’t beaten four ranked teams. They’ve beaten two: Oregon and West Virginia. Mississippi State WAS ranked when they lost to LSU. Guess what? MSU is garbage. They’re 3-3 and winless in SEC play. The Bulldogs were horribly overrated coming into the season. Same with Florida. At least the Gators piled up some wins against bad competition before getting exposed, but Florida is a bad team, too. The second they faced a squad with a pulse they got hammered.

The same is true for Alabama. I’ve already been over Florida, how about Penn State? The Nittany Lions are terrible. So what if they’re 5-1? They were completely outclassed against the only good team they played. PSU’s wins are against Indiana State, Temple, Eastern Michigan, Indiana and Iowa. Penn State is not a good team. Alabama’s lone top-25 win came against Arkansas, which does count as a quality victory.

Oklahoma has beaten just one currently ranked team in Texas (although, truth be told, they shouldn’t be). Interestingly enough, Florida State (now unranked) is probably a better team than Texas and should prove it by the end of the season. But we’re going by the AP Poll, so the Sooners have one ranked win, too.

What does this all add up to? LSU has the best win (Oregon) of the three, and also showed very un-SEC like boldness in scheduling two nonconference games away from home. Alabama has the best win because the Tide didn’t just beat Arkansas, they crushed them. And as fate would have it, Oklahoma has the toughest schedule.

What’s that? OU has a tougher slate than the SEC teams? Well… yes. It’s actually pretty obvious, when you look at it based on what we now know, rather than what we thought we knew:

All three teams have five away games and seven home games (LSU was the designated away team against Oregon, but the stadium was overwhelmingly pro-Tigers). Their nonconference schedules are fairly comparable. LSU’s was the hardest (two good teams, two creampuffs), followed by Oklahoma’s (one good team, one decent one, one creampuff) and then Bama’s (one decent team, three creampuffs). But Oklahoma plays nine conference games to LSU and Alabama’s eight, because the SEC still hasn’t adopted a big-boy schedule yet. That’s a huge leg up – conference games are way different than nonconference ones. That’s what you’re always telling us, right, SEC?

But it’s not just the number of conference games, it’s the quality of opponents too. Who does LSU play in their league? Mississippi State. Kentucky. Florida. Tennessee. Ole Miss. That’s five mediocre-to-bad teams right there. The rest of the conference slate – Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn – is daunting, but that’s only three games.

Look at Alabama: Florida. Vanderbilt. Ole Miss. Tennessee. Mississippi State. Five bad teams on that schedule too. Once again, the common opponents (Auburn, Arkansas) are tough, but the only really scary game outside of Arkansas is the head-to-head with LSU. Is this picture starting to become clearer?

Now take a longer look at Oklahoma. I see three bad teams: Kansas, Iowa State and Texas (once again, prove me wrong, Longhorns). Missouri, Texas Tech, Kansas State and Baylor? All decent-to-quite good. Then there’s a pair of unquestionably good teams in Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. Argument over. As it turned out, the Big 12 was better than anyone thought. Before the season, this would have been ludicrous. Now, it seems obvious. Sound familiar?

This is why, after much deliberation, I decided to not make any changes to my top three. Nothing about their past or future opponents swayed me from what I’ve seen on the field. As such, Alabama remains first, Oklahoma second, and LSU third. And if OU goes undefeated, well, that’s just too bad for the Tigers-Tide loser. Such is life. And by the way…

This whole debate I haven’t even brought up the elephant in room: what about undefeated Wisconsin? Clemson? Boise State? It might not even matter if Oklahoma DOES lose. An unbeaten team should trump a one-loss team every time. If every team in the country has a loss, we can start talking about the possibility of a title-game rematch. But not before. And that’s the most obvious thing of all.