Welcome to the MVP Chase, where I, James Leroy Wilson, rank players and teams using objective data.
On Halloween, the Playoff Committee is releasing its first rankings of the season. My own rankings are below.
The Top 25 was selected entirely on winning percentage and overall strength of schedule. That is how I've presented the Top 25 the past few weeks. But now that the rubber meets the road and the Playoff Chase is tightening, I'm also considering the quality of opponents in losses and the margin of defeat in losses. For example, losing to a 4-loss team by a wide margin hurts more than a narrow loss to an undefeated team.
Defending national champion Georgia remains the lowest-ranked undefeated team, but their remaining opponents are a combined 24-8. If they win those games and the SEC Championship game, I think they'd crack my system's Top Four and make the playoffs. I'm assuming they'll already be in the inaugural Committee rankings tomorrow night.
Ohio St 8-0 107.0
Florida St 8-0 106.0
James Madison 8-0 102.0
Texas 7-1 101.5
Air Force 8-0 98.0
Michigan 8-0 98.0
Alabama 7-1 94.5
Liberty 8-0 94.0
Washington 8-0 93.0
Oklahoma 7-1 92.5
Notre Dame 7-2 91.78
Ole Miss 7-1 91.5
Louisville 7-1 90.5
Oregon 7-1 87.5
Penn St 7-1 87.5
Georgia 8-0 87.0
Missouri 7-1 84.5
Memphis 7-2 83.0
Utah 6-2 83.0
Troy 6-2 82.0
Tulane 7-1 81.5
Louisville 7-1 81.5
Kansas St 6-2 78.0
Kansas 6-2 77.0
Rutgers 6-2 76.0
About the Author
James Leroy Wilson writes The MVP Chase (subscribe) and JL Cells (subscribe) and is a monthly columnist at Meer. Thank you for your subscriptions and support! You may contact James for writing, editing, research, and other work: jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.