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Spirit Halloween may have missed out on the spookiest costume of the year: the Connor Stalions disguise …
Before we get into that, we have new rankings to discuss and a coaching outburst for Stewart Mandel to break down. Here’s what’s happening in college football Until Saturday …
Ohio State No. 1
The Athletic has live coverage of the College Football Playoff rankings release.
What we learned from CFP rankings
The College Football Playoff committee released its first rankings of the season last night. Here are the top four (all four are 8-0):
1. Ohio State
2. Georgia
3. Michigan
The first two out? No. 5 Washington (8-0) and No. 6 Oregon (7-1). (The Athletic has reaction and analysis here.)
- What’s surprising? I’m not surprised to see Ohio State at No. 1. It has two of the strongest wins of any team, against No. 11 Penn State (7-1) and No. 15 Notre Dame (7-2). What does surprise me is Michigan at No. 3, ahead of Florida State. The Seminoles have a win against No. 14 LSU (6-2). The Ohio State ranking feels like the committee was leaning heavily on schedule strength, but that’s not reflected by putting Michigan, with a schedule strength at No. 111, ahead of FSU. And for that matter, maybe Washington deserves more credit for its win against the committee’s No. 6 team.
What to know from ESPN’s interview with committee chair Boo Corrigan:
- Ohio State’s two top-15 wins gave it the biggest boost to No. 1. Corrigan pointed to the Buckeyes’ top-five defense and key difference-makers on offense (Marvin Harrison Jr. and TreVeyon Henderson).
- Michigan’s two-sided dominance helped the Wolverines pass the eye test. Despite criticism of the Wolverines’ schedule, Corrigan pointed to their four wins against plus-.500 teams as a factor. As for whether the sign-stealing and in-person scouting allegations against Michigan came into play, Corrigan said: “Our job as we look at it is to rank the teams to follow our protocols, and as we went through it, that really wasn’t part of any of our discussions during our time together.”
- Oklahoma debuted at No. 9, two spots behind Texas, which it beat. Sandwiched in between is Alabama, which lost to Texas. Head-to-head is “really important,” Corrigan said, and Texas came out on top of this trio thanks to its win in Tuscaloosa and because of Oklahoma’s loss to No. 21 Kansas (6-2). 🤔
What would these rankings mean in a 12-team Playoff? Stewart lays it out here.
Mandel’s Mailbag
What to make of Dabo Swinney’s snap-back
Is the Dabo meltdown just a bad moment for a pretty good coach, or is it a sign of something bigger? — Todd, Greenville S.C.
First of all, it’s silly in 2023 that some coaches still participate in these call-in shows. It seems like a recipe for disaster. Nick Saban has fun with his, but, he rarely (ever?) has to deal with angry callers.
I was mostly Team Dabo on this one. Clemson fans have every right to be frustrated with the direction of the program, but Tyler made it personal. I don’t care how much money Swinney makes, if someone calls you on the phone to tell you you’re arrogant, insult the coach (Tommy Bowden) who hired you, etc., you shouldn’t be expected to just sit back, take it and say, “Thanks for your call.” But Swinney punched down with a few of his jabs. Neither one of them came out of the exchange for the better.
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You’re seeing a coach who was once the toast of college football dealing with heavy criticism for the first time in a long time and not taking it well. Swinney always has been stubborn and defensive, but it’s particularly exacerbating this season given that his team stinks. And while he’s right that he deserves appreciation for the historic success he has brought to Clemson, it’s disingenuous to frame this as “one bad year.” Everyone saw the erosion during the past two seasons that led to this one. Swinney acknowledged something was wrong when he fired offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter after last season. The fact that it’s only gotten worse tells you there are more systemic issues.
It’s going to be interesting to see how he deals with the aftermath of what’s probably going to end up being a 7-6 type season. I still contend he can turn it around pretty quickly once he embraces the transfer portal. It’s Clemson. It has NIL money. Big-time players will want to go there. Upgrade the offensive skill talent, and the program will at least get back to ACC contention, if not CFP contention.
But it’s going to get awkward if seasons like this become the norm and Dabo just keeps reminding everyone how great he was in 2018. I’d like to believe most Clemson fans (98.5 percent?) still love him and want him to succeed, but even the most loyal die-hards will start to lose patience at some point.
Read the full mailbag here.
More on Michigan
Was that really Connor Stalions?
The Michigan in-person scouting investigation just keeps getting more bizarre (and more hilarious). Yesterday, screenshots of a person who resembles suspended Michigan staffer Connor Stalions standing on the Central Michigan sideline during a Sept. 1 game against Michigan State emerged on social media. CMU athletic director Amy Folan said the school will investigate the facts surrounding the photos.
The person in question is wearing sunglasses and is dressed similarly to most of the CMU staff. The screenshots of the individual were grabbed from the FS1 broadcast of the Friday night game in East Lansing. Michigan hosted East Carolina the following afternoon.
My two cents: If the person in the photos isn’t Stalions, who is it? Folan said CMU became aware of these photos late Monday night. Wouldn’t someone be able to quickly shut this down and identify the individual? The person’s identity still technically remains unknown, but the prolonged silence feels telling.
Quick Snaps
Speaking of Michigan, The Athletic surveyed 50 FBS coaches about the investigation in Ann Arbor and sign stealing in general. Ninety-four percent said Michigan should be punished.
Colorado coach Deion Sanders said the Rose Bowl stadium should reimburse his players for what was stolen during the Buffaloes’ loss to UCLA on Saturday. On Monday, Pasadena police launched an investigation into alleged money and jewelry stolen from the locker room.
Kirk Ferentz spoke to the media for the first time since it was announced that his son, Brian, won’t return as Iowa’s OC next season. What seemed to aggravate him the most was the timing.
At 7-1, Missouri has been one of this season’s most surprising teams. David Ubben has the story of how it all came together in Columbia.
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(Top photo of Ryan Day: John Fisher / Getty Images)