Do we even need Top 25 rankings anymore??

[rmilia1]

With the advent on the playoff and the fact that CFB is using a committee to selct the participants do we really NEED a Top 25 anymore?? I know we all love the rankings and debating what teams belong where so Im not asking if you want the rankings. Im asking if we need them?? Isnt it possible we dont?? And may it be better if we didnt have them?? That way the committee isnt swayed by them and can focus solely on on field performance and merit.

 

[Jack_John_Mark]

The media will still need them to overhype games for TV ratings and what have you

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

I don't know, even in college basketball the rankings play a roll in the playoff picture. While not perfect, it's a decent way to judge strength of schedule and things like that. Plus, I don't know about you, but I enjoy having my team ranked and striving to get into a certain ranking (top 25, top 15, top 10, top 5...). It's the same reason that sites like ESPN do power rankings for pro-sports.

 

[rmilia1]

I don't know, even in college basketball the rankings play a roll in the playoff picture. While not perfect, it's a decent way to judge strength of schedule and things like that. Plus, I don't know about you, but I enjoy having my team ranked and striving to get into a certain ranking (top 25, top 15, top 10, top 5...). It's the same reason that sites like ESPN do power rankings for pro-sports.

In basketball though you have a MUCH higher % of teams that get a chance to play in the torunament AND you have every team with a chance to make the tourney via their league tournament. WHile I dont think we need a 24 team playoff in CFB the rankings in that sport are way more important than they are in CBB as it pertains to the chance to play for a title ( at least they have been ). Why not just get rid if them? It really doesnt matter anymore since they supposedly wont be used in the selection process and merely having them may sway a committee member.

 

[WhiteMamba]

I think as fans we need them for a gauge. And also we are so tuned into having this every Sunday that it wouldn't be right without them.

But they are meaningless ultimately. The committee's poll is the only one that matters.

They pick the big 6 Bowl games of course as well as the CFP.

I for one will still look forward to the release of the ap and coaches poll, knowing that it is ultimately academic.

 

[bamabear82]

We need these rankings, sir. Without them we won't get to hear near as much bitching about the awesomeness of the SEC and their #1-14 rankings.

 

[Jack_John_Mark]

Seriously though.......the real reason rankings existed in the first place is for the media to hype the games.

We have never EVER needed preseason rankings, but have always had them anyways. All for hype.

 

[Jack_John_Mark]

Imagine the amount of random viewers that would be lost.

There are millions of people who know nothing about College Football but will turn the TV on just because the #1 team in the nation is playing.

 

[charlie42s]

... but we couldn't complain about it and that would be awful.

 

[H2S]

dunno...seems, if football is life -which it is- then, it seems

It's not that we necessarily "want" rankings...

It's that we absolutely "need" rankings, whether we like em or not.

Sanity relies a lot on having a good idea of where you stand in an insane world.

 

[rmilia1]

It's not that we necessarily "want" rankings...

It's that we absolutely "need" rankings, whether we like em or not.

Sanity relies a lot on having a good idea of where you stand in an insane world.

Fair point. SO that leads to if rankings are a "gauge of where we stand" then why have them before the season startts?? We have no clue where we stand before there has even been one snap so what is the purpose of a preseason ranking system??

 

[7NationalChampionships]

I think if they had an unbiased and educated committee doing rankings and cfp games then I wouldn't mind, but politics have to be involved, the "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" thing runs rampant in everyday life, unfortunately people that are in high level negotiations know about these things, everyone else is oblivious.

"Back room negotiations" is the term I'm looking for.

 

[4down20]

Checking the rankings after a big win has always been a big part of college football to me. Lately that is less because Alabama is ranked so high so often that there isn't much room to rise. But in general and before our latest run checking the rankings when they came out was something I looked forward too.

People who get butthurt about them are silly. Their complaints about the rankings themselves are generally unfounded and the same perceptions would still exist without the rankings, or even if the rankings weren't released for X amount of weeks.

 

[Jack_John_Mark]

The AP rankings will never go away. That little number next to our team's names when we turn on the TV will be there forever and for always.

What is going to happen though is some character like a Joe Lunardi is going to emerge as the guy who predicts teams chances of being picked for the playoffs, and ultimately he'll probably have his own rankings. These will end up becoming popular.

Bookmarkit

 

[WhiteMamba]

Preseason rankings also are evened out by the end of the year the large majority of the time by play on the football field.

I would not be cool with taking away preseason rankings. Even though they are at best an educated guess.

Main point is that wins, losses, and team performance take care of any bias in rankings from preseason all the way through December.

 

[DearSirOrMadam]

I need rankings. I need order in my life. Be lost without.

 

[rmilia1]

Preseason rankings also are evened out by the end of the year the large majority of the time by play on the football field.

I would not be cool with taking away preseason rankings. Even though they are at best an educated guess.

Main point is that wins, losses, and team performance take care of any bias in rankings from preseason all the way through December.

I actually disagree with that I think. Its almost impossible for a team to pass a team that was ranked more than a few spots ahead of them IF the teams have the same record regardless of how they actually perform. IE a preseason #5 11-1 Oregon is going to be ranked ahead of a preseason unranked 11-1 Texas Tech everytime. Now if the rankings truly dont matter then that is fine but we all know that no matter how hard the committee tries not to look at them they will still see them and probably use them even if its not intentional.

 

[WhiteMamba]

Well, let us remember LSU a couple of years ago. They started off ranked quite high, and were winning their games by much narrower margins than expected. Several teams passed them that were also undefeated. The. They started losing anyways.

USC the year they started #1 same thing. They dropped before their losses.

Auburn and Notre Dame are examples of teams that faired just fine in the rankings after getting no preseason love.

 

[WhiteMamba]

Also, in your example. I think that is assuming a lot. A team like Oregon and a team like Tech. How are they winning their games and whom are they beating.

 

[Jack_John_Mark]

I think the Coaches Poll should be eliminated and the AP Poll can stay.

I do think that the committee would refer to the Coaches Poll, but they probably wouldn't pay much attention to what a bunch of Writers have to say.