College Football Playoffs

Alex Easton, staff writer

The college football season is coming to an end, yet there are still big conversations to be had about the ranking heading into playoff season. Lots of social media have been in a war about who should be ranked number one in the nation this year. Most have voiced opinions that Indiana should be number one because of their strength of schedule compared to current number one, Ohio state’s schedule, where they have only played preseason number one Texas which has not aged well. Which raises the question of how does the AP Poll rank College football teams? On that same note, which team is going to overtake the rest and rise to the top of the national championship. 

The Associated Press poll or the AP poll is how college football teams get ranked throughout the season. The AP poll has about 62 sportswriters, and broadcasters vote for their top 25 teams each week. Voters assign points to each team: one point for first, two points for second and so on. These individual ballots are combined to create the final weekly Top 25 poll that the public views during that weekend of college football. 

With the upcoming College football playoffs soon to begin, recent disputes among fans have begun to appear on who should be the number one ranked team in the nation. Ohio State is ranked number one in the nation with Indiana right behind, but these two teams are where the controversy stems from. Throughout the nation fans have been making a case that Indiana should be number ranked in the country due to their strength of schedule with their win over Oregen in the seventh week of college football. Although Indiana has a very strong schedule compared to the consensus number one Ohio State, Ohio State’s states of having one of the best goal lines and passing defense in the country along with their offense having some of the best passing and rushing metrics in the country. Allows them to be ranked first in the nation ahead of Indiana although Ohio State has a weaker schedule  

On that same note which team is the odds-on favorite to win the national championship this year? Currently, Ohio State is still the odds-on favorite to win the national championship back-to-back at a +175 odds. Indiana, Texas A&M and then Georgia are the favorites after Ohio State. Yet, with the newer version of the College Football Playoff system predicting who will win it all is very hard, because of the large chance of an upset in the first round of the playoffs to a team outside the major divisions.