It’s almost like you need breathing exercises for college football fans across America. ‘Don’t overreact to the first week of rankings.’ ‘Don’t overreact.’ But there were some surprises as one should expect there to be with college football and rankings. Texas A&M, a team we discussed yesterday about being lower than Wisconsin, found themselves to be in the fourth position. The only people who didn’t get the memo about the SEC being a middle of the road conference was the playoff committee.

There’s no real strong case for Aggies. They beat a good Arkansas team on a neutral field, took care of Tennessee in a double-overtime thriller then got smacked by Alabama. Does losing to the Crimson Tide hold that much weight? Some conspiracy theory artists out there think it’s a ploy to draw people in for the next couple of weeks because there’s a realistic chance the top four could stay the same for multiple weeks once Washington moves into the four spot. I’m not certain about that though. Alabama’s game with Auburn is much tougher than we thought in September. Michigan still needs to travel to Columbus for an Ohio State showdown. Washington and Clemson are in great position to make it all the way through. Aggies aren’t in terrible position either with this being their last road game versus Mississippi State then two big home games with Ole Miss and LSU with a cupcake in the middle of that.

Wisconsin being slotted at eight makes sense with who is higher than them. There’s no real reason to complaint about this week. I do think if they go into Northwestern and dominate the game, it might be a different story next week. Additionally if Nebraska loses to Buckeyes, they become the Big Ten West favorite which will hold more weight with the committee.

Charlie.