By Joe Joe Wright

Yes the headline is sarcasm!

College football is in a mess. Now don’t get me wrong the Big Ten has propelled themselves into the top spot this year and the SEC by virtue of beating each other up has slipped a bit. Alabama is an absolute lock at number one, actually they could lose the SEC championship and still be a lock, (but that ain’t happening). Oh but the tricky part is deciphering the next 3 for the playoffs. I will just come out and say it #2 is Ohio State. Why them and not Penn State well because Penn State won over them on a fluke and even if they win the Big Ten they are not one of the top four teams. Penn State got embarrassed at Michigan barely beat Ohio State at home. Wisconsin on the other hand lost to Ohio State and Michigan but the games were very close. However, here is the main point if any conference is ever going to have two representatives in the 4-team playoff system that would have to be the SEC. Certainly not the Big Ten ever. On to # 3 and clearly with just 1 loss that is Clemson. Now if Clemson loses the ACC championship then it will really get to hairy. Clemson will prevail and play Alabama in the first round of the playoffs. The number four seed is going to be a game changer.

You can almost count on this selection causing the committee to ask the NCAA to move it to 8 teams. Candidates for #4 slot are in no order Washington, Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State, Oklahoma, Colorado and get this Western Michigan. I will go ahead and say that in my eyes Washington has played a weak schedule and I have not been impressed by them as others have been. Michigan lost to Iowa on the road 14-13 and to Ohio State, I have them 5^th and Washington 7^th.  Colorado I have at 10^th and 9^th is Penn State. In the 8^th slot is Wisconsin. Now a note right here if the Badgers win the Big Ten by say 28 points this all changes. This leaves Oklahoma and Western Michigan. In the last 9 weeks the Sooners have been pretty dominant over opponents especially on offense. Early losses at Houston and at home to a very good Ohio State team have clearly been put behind them.

Did I really put Western Michigan in the contention? Yes I did and here is why. They are 12-0 and undefeated. Oh so everyone says but they don’t play anyone. I beg to differ they spanked Central Michigan 49-10 who has beaten Oklahoma State in Stillwater. They beat Northwestern in their place and Northwestern owns victories over Duke, Iowa, Michigan State and a close match to Ohio State in Columbus. Duke beat Notre Dame and North Carolina and gave Louisville and GA Tech a scrap. Iowa of course beat Michigan and Nebraska. Of course just to show that the media really is ignorant of who is the best Michigan State is 3-9 but were pre-season #12. I can keep going but you get the picture. Western Michigan is deserving of the #6 slot and if they win Friday against Ohio in their Conference championship and Oklahoma loses to Oklahoma State they will be the new number 4 seed pole-vaulting over the Wolverines, that Iowa loss plays real heavy in this analysis. Of course come Sunday morning and if the earth stops spinning and Alabama, Clemson, Washington and Wisconsin all were to lose, I sure would feel sorry for them committee folks.