James Franklin fires back at CFP rankings ‘narrative,’ Big Ten vs. SEC debate

James Franklin has joined the College Football Playoff debate. Speaking to the media following Wednesday night’s practice, the Penn State football coach offered his thoughts on the ongoing discussion surrounding the postseason rankings, where his 9-1 Nittany Lions have been disparaged by many critics for their No. 4 ranking.

Here is the full statement from James Franklin on the current College Football Playoff rankings:

“I think it’s interesting because there’s this battle going on right now in terms of the narrative of college football, of who should be in, right?” Franklin said. “We talked about this before. It was four, and everybody argued, ‘We got to go to 12.’ We get to 12. And what’s happening? Everybody’s arguing that 14, 15, 16 are getting screwed. And we talked about the basketball tournament, right? How many is that? Sixty-eight [teams], and what happens there? Sixty-nine and 70 [get left out]. So, this is part of it.

“But I’ll say this. I mean, obviously, I’m concerned about Penn State, and obviously, I’m concerned about the Big Ten. But I’m one of the few guys that have been a head coach in both conferences. And to me, the right thing to be talking about is the two best conferences in all college football [are] the Big Ten and the SEC. And, we should have the most teams in.

“I don’t think there’s any question to that. I think where it becomes problematic is, when you have rules for certain teams and certain conferences to get in, and maybe people don’t feel like they’re actually in the top 12.

“So, I get it. We’re fortunate. We’re part of the two conferences that I think everybody would agree are the two strongest conferences. I don’t think we need to take shots in the Big Ten at the SEC, because that’s been proven over time, and I don’t think the SEC should be taking shots at the Big Ten. We’re in a really, really good position, both conferences. I don’t think there’s any argument there.

“And the reality is, whether people’s feelings are hurt or not, these two conferences need to have the biggest number and the biggest presence in the playoffs because we’ve earned it throughout the season.”

Finebaum: No way anyone can tell me with a straight face that Penn State is better than Georgia

Based on Tuesday night’s College Football Playoff rankings, Penn State football would host Georgia in a first-round playoff game at Beaver Stadium if the season ended this week. The Bulldogs’ lower ranking has evoked strong opinions over the last two weeks. But perhaps no one was more vocal than ESPN personality Paul Finebaum.

After saying there was “no justification” for ranking Penn State football over Georgia last week, Finebaum took to the airwaves again on Wednesday to slam the CFP Selection Committee and the Nittany Lions.

“But this Committee is not serious,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s Get Up. “There are football coaches on this Committee and there is no way those football coaches can tell me or anyone else with a straight face that they really think Indiana, Penn State, Miami, schools like that are better than Georgia. It’s not possible.

“We shouldn’t [be fine with valuing losses and eye test over strength of record]. Listen, just because there are new members on the Committee doesn’t mean they have to do a lousy job and, so far, they have done a lousy job. What they’ve really done is they’ve put Georgia in a box because Georgia doesn’t have another quality opponent, although they’re playing a team in two weeks that beat Miami. They don’t have a route to get higher.

“Why is that important? Yeah, they’re in the playoff, but they’ll start the playoff on the road at Penn State, at Indiana, at one of these schools that, in my opinion, really haven’t done anything. If Indiana has a great game Saturday [against Ohio State], good for them, but I don’t think they will and they should not be where they are based on their schedule so far because they have beaten no one so far.”

Georgia’s Kirby Smart slams’ unjust’ criteria

© Brett Davis-Imagn Images

On the other side of the debate, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart also spoke his mind during an SEC teleconference this week. With the toughest strength of schedule in the country this season, Smart expressed frustration with the Selection Committee’s criteria.

“It’s a hard one because I don’t know what they’re looking for,” Smart said. “They can’t define that. It’s not simple, either. I mean, anybody can be on that Committee and say, ‘This is what we’re looking for. This is our criteria, and there’s so much that it overlaps things, and everybody debates it, and I don’t have time to really waste energy on it.

“So, I think it’s more than your non-conference games and who you play; it just seems unjust to me when you evaluate somebody’s got a third-ranked defense, or somebody’s got a fifth-ranked defense, well don’t you think their defense is dictated by who they played on offense? And how many top offenses they played? Because last time I checked, our offense and our defense have played the top offenses and defenses across the country. Well, you’re not gonna be ranked as high if you play top ones than if you play lower ranked ones, and that’s what gets me.

“They talk about the eye test. How do you play in the game? Well, how you play in the game is dictated by where you’re playing — home or away — and who you’re playing. That’s the two number one indicators of how you play. It’s who you’re playing, who you line up across from that matters. But point differential, I don’t believe they look at just that. I don’t know if that’s actually the case. They’re looking at the whole picture of how you play, and that’s dictated by who you play.”

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