Shotgun's thoughts on Playoff Rankings

Sitting here trying to make sense of the committee's rankings, and how they effect MSU.

Here is what I got:

1. Something interesting happened tonight: the committee moved away from complete objectiveness, in regards to Top 25 wins, and began to use common sense. This is a major plus for MSU because we were all wondering how the committee would handle SEC West teams cannibalizing themselves when they are clearly among the best teams in the country from a talent and coaching standpoint. Thus, instead of ranking SEC teams with 3 or 4+ losses higher in the rankings than teams with less losses, they are simply using common sense. This puts Jeff Long in a very tough position when trying to explain why MSU is ahead of teams with more "Top 25" wins, but it IS the right thing to do and just. I mean, how many points would Arkansas be favored by if they played Minnesota? It's just difficult for Jeff Long to go on TV and tell TCU, Baylor, and Ohio State fans, "THEY ARE F(C(*&* BETTER THAN YOU".

2. Although, TCU remained 5th, Long said that TCU was penalized for barely beating Kansas. Therefore, we need to pound Vandy. I don't think beating them 65-0 will do much for us, but it would be in our benefit to cover the spread or come close to it. That brings about some interesting decisions for Mullen this weekend: When do you take Dak and Robinson out? Do you kneel the ball if only up 25 in the 4th quarter? Do you go conservative if Damien Williams enters the game?

Personally, I understand that there is code between coaches with these types of decisions, but Mullen's job is to do what is in the best interest of his team and Mississippi State University first. Derrick Mason will understand.

3. While it's not a certainty, I believe it's in our best interest for Ole Miss to beat Arkansas. I love MSU more than I hate Ole Miss, and therefore, I need to cheer and support what is best for MSU. From a rankings standpoint, the reason we need Ole Miss to beat Arkansas, is because we need Ole Miss to stay ahead of Wisconsin in the rankings. We may need this trump card if Ohio State beats Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship. If Ole Miss doesn't beat Arkansas, then we may need to soundly and convincingly beat Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl; something like 24-7 or 24-10 should work.

4. SOMEONE IS GOING TO LOSE, and everyone, including the committee, hopes it is us. Every year in the old BCS system, someone lost to clear things up. With this being the history, we should all expect someone to unexpectedly lose this year. It's likely going to happen, and it will make everything clear up to some degree. With that being said, everyone hopes it's us or Alabama that loses. It simply makes the committee's final decision much easier.

5. With all this being said, I think if we convincingly beat Vandy and beat Ole Miss, without needing a fluke, we will be in the playoffs. Again, someone will likely lose to clear things up. I'd be shocked if they pick a 12-1 Ohio State team that lost V Tech BY 14 POINTS, over an 11-1 MSU team that lost by 5 points at Alabama. Ohio State can talk all day about their QB situation in that game, but how about the fact that they gave up 35 points to V Tech, which is V Tech's season high for points. Yes, V Tech scored more points against Ohio State, on the road, than they have against any other team all year.

What are your thoughts?

If we sit people, don't play inspired, or let up on any way ...I'll be severely disappointed.

Dan better not worry about Derrick Mason. That guy won't be around long enough to ever act on his anger of getting curb stomped in Starkville Saturday.

OM winning or losing to the Hogs won't affect us. OM won't fall out of the top 15 with a loss. We need to win out - period. Even if we win out I don't trust the POC to put us in the final 4 over a B1G or Big 12 conference champion.

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Originally Posted by Catdawg

OM winning or losing to the Hogs won't affect us. OM won't fall out of the top 15 with a loss. We need to win out - period. Even if we win out I don't trust the POC to put us in the final 4 over a B1G or Big 12 conference champion.

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If TCU and Baylor tie, the Big 12 champion is no different than MSU and Alabama tying for the SEC West.

We need Ole Miss to win so that they stay ahead of Wisconsin in the rankings. I think Ole Miss would fall out of the top 15 with a loss to Ark. That would be 3 losses.

Beat vandy like we should and beat ole miss. We are 4. That will keep is at 4 at the worst. Let's not make this more complicated than it needs to be.

Hell yeah, our playoffs start for us today!! It's like we're in the SWEET 16 right now.

One last thing: I think the media and fans are paying more attention to the whole conference argument than the committee is.

I remember earlier this year when the media did a "Mock Playoff Committee" they said that what conference particular teams were in never came up.

It seems like the media and fans continue to assume something will happen in regards to this, but the committee has shown absolutely no signs of this. I think the committee is just trying to rank the best teams and could care less which conference they are in.

That's my opinion anyway. I don't think they would have put us 4th tonight unless they intended on keeping us there, if we win out. They could've easily ranked us behind OSU or TCU, but they didn't.

It's a fantasy for B1G and Big 12 homers to think that OSU or TCU are going to make it in. They'll only do that if FSU implodes or if the Pac-12 becomes a shit show down the stretch. Both are possible, but very unlikely. They're not getting in, I don't care about the B1G conference champ (which will probably be Wisconsin anyway) because that league is not good this year and the committee clearly understands this.

If I'm Dan, I'd play the starters for three quarters and limit Dak's running. We should be able to beat them with Dak passing the ball- which he needs to work on anyway. I'm not too worried about Josh- but I wouldn't run him 25 times either. Also, I want to get Jameon back in a groove and continue to feed Bear. I would like to see Griffen, Shumpert and Holloway get some touches and some work as well.

Should we need our starters in the fourth, by all means play them. But we should be able to win convincingly without running up the score.

The 1A's and 1B's should be fine against Vanderbilt.

I'm not too worried about Ole Miss Arkansas one way or the other. Really, it comes down to us winning our games. I can't see the committee dropping us down as long as we win.

If we barely get past Vandy, I see is dropping. I'd make sure I won that one by 21-28.

Here's something interesting:

This is how Las Vegas ranks college football teams. I would guess the committee knows this

RJ Bell ‏@RJinVegas 2m2 minutes ago
Vegas Top Ten: 1) Alabama 2) Miss St 3) Oregon 4) Florida St 5) TCU 6) Baylor 7) Ohio St 8) Ole Miss 9) Mich St 10) Georgia

I wondered how much of Dak and Robinson performance during the Bama game was influence by them not playing much the week before.

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Originally Posted by ckDOG

Beat vandy like we should and beat ole miss. We are 4. That will keep is at 4 at the worst. Let's not make this more complicated than it needs to be.

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I think we win both and we are 3.

Bama v FSU Oregon v MSU in semis.

MSU BAma rematch in finals.

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Originally Posted by ScottH

I think we win both and we are 3.

Bama v FSU Oregon v MSU in semis.

MSU BAma rematch in finals.

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I hope you're right but I don't think the committee will do it. They'll make us face off in the semis to avoid the criticism and ratings hit for an All-SEC final.