I’m taking a break from watching another one-sided NFL playoff game Monday night to contemplate what all the alleged college football experts would say about this.
I mean, the LA Rams are up 24-3 at the half against Minnesota. So, the Vikings obviously don’t belong in the playoffs, right?
That has been the sort of continuing mantra heard from the people who sit at those pre-game, halftime and post-game tables, sometimes ridiculously placed at the end of the playing field, and turn thumbs-up or thumbs-down on the worthiness of competing college football teams, largely based on the score.
They are the people who told you, after the fact, that teams such as SMU, Boise State, Indiana, didn’t belong in the 12-team college football playoff field. Those teams lost by 28, 17 and 10 points, respectively. Curiously, when SEC team Tennessee went to Columbus and laid a 25-point loss egg against Ohio States we heard crickets.
Of course Tennessee belonged because, well, it’s an SEC team. Forget the way the Volunteers put up, shall we say, limited resistance.
As an aside, zero SEC teams remain in the college playoffs. Our next national champion is going to be either Ohio State of the Big Ten or independent Notre Dame, the latter of which rankles Penn State coach James Franklin, who could better spend his time figuring out to beat tough competition for a change.
The college experts were struck similarly mum when Ohio State dominated Oregon, 41-21. That would be Oregon, No. 1 for much of the season, unbeaten until that loss to the Buckeyes. But the Ducks lost by 20 points, so obviously they didn’t belong here.
Neither, apparently, did Georgia, which dropped a 23-10 decision to Notre Dame. And so it goes.
Back to the NFL. Through five games completed thus far this weekend, there has been only one with a margin of victory under 12 points. That was Washington’s 23-20 win over Tampa Bay.
The other games were decided by 24, 20 and 14 points in the AFC and 12 and in the NFC. It didn’t look like the serial choker Vikings were going to be competitive in the second half of this ongoing game, either. They weren’t and ended up losing, 27-9. Yet another blowout.
But, nary a word is heard that all these overmatched teams didn’t deserve to be in the NFL playoffs.
Why?
In a curious common feature, the seedings have been off-kilter both in college and pro playoffs. Technically, the Rams were the host team in the Monday night game, although it was moved to Arizona due to Los Angeles wild fires. But the Rams got the home call based on winning their division, despite a record of just 10-7. The Vikings, second-place finishers in their division, traveled despite a 14-3 record.
As whining Franklin would say, we need to have everyone in conferences so we can make assessments and get seedings correct. But all NFL teams are in divisions, conferences and the same league. And still we get this.
Washington (12-5) also got to go on the road for its first-round game against Tampa Bay (10-7) Sunday night. Tampa won its division and Washington did not.
Stuff happens. Just play the cards you are dealt and win the games.
All the college teams whose coaches, fans and media sycophants whined about their playoff exclusion, could have made it by winning just one more game. Whine about that, guys, while looking in the mirror.
It’s both unfair and unintelligent to presume to determine the relative worth and legitimacy of teams based on a single outing, something the NFL playoffs are proving in spades. Are you college gurus paying attention?
Sam Ross Jr's site 