Teams get ranked based on who they avoided, not who they beat
A college football analyst's playoff projections reveal the absurdity of subjective rankings.
The story
Joel Klatt projects an updated 12-team College Football Playoff bracket, with Indiana as No. 1, Georgia as No. 2, and UCLA as a surprising No. 9 seed despite only one loss.
Source: www.foxnews.com
Our reading
Joel Klatt’s playoff projections treat college football like a board game where the rules are made up as you go. Indiana, with one loss to Ohio State, is the No. 1 seed because they ‘avenged’ it in the conference championship—though that game hasn’t happened yet. The logic is less about performance and more about who has the best story to tell.
UCLA, with just one loss, is slotted at No. 9, ahead of three-loss teams like Ole Miss, because they ‘avoided’ Ohio State and Indiana. It’s not that they’re better, it’s that they’re less inconvenient. The playoff isn’t a meritocracy—it’s a popularity contest with a spreadsheet.
Klatt’s projections end with LSU, a 9-3 team, getting the last spot because they ‘beat’ Alabama and Tennessee in November. The timing of losses matters more than the losses themselves. It’s not about winning, it’s about who can afford to lose the right way.
