Why does it seem as if the Clemson Tigers aren’t being penalized by the College Football Playoff committee for their loss to the 4-6 Syracuse Orange? Plenty of people are taking issue with this, chief among them being Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt. The former colorado QB has been vocal in his praise of Baker Mayfield and the Oklahoma offense, and he used his position to stick up for the No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners following the release of this week’s rankings.
When speaking to Colin Cowherd, Klatt addressed Kirby Hocutt’s reasoning for putting Clemson at No. 2 in this week’s rankings. Last weekend, Hocutt cited Clemson’s wins over .500 teams and the fact that quarterback Kelly Bryant was injured against Syracuse as justification for the Tigers’ ranking. Here’s part of what Klatt had to say:
“Guess who go hurt in the Iowa State game? Six Oklahoma starters.” He then told Kirby Hocutt and the committee to “go pound sand” with their Kelly Bryant argument. In short, Joel Klatt is my hero right now.
Joel Klatt going to bat for the Sooners and the BIG12 as the #CFBPlayoff Rankings came out last night. pic.twitter.com/ckIkAJj4rB
— Tattoo Baker (@OUQB1Tattoo) November 15, 2017
Klatt later joined Undisputed — featuring Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe — and was once again the smartest person in the room. Now, that’s not saying much when considering the room he was in, but he was spot-on.
"Clemson at No. 2 ahead of Miami and Oklahoma is laughable. Absolutely laughable." — @joelklatt is frustrated with the #CFBPlayoff Rankings pic.twitter.com/ZIx3Pqy2p8
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) November 15, 2017
Should we be getting worked up about these rankings? Probably not. The Sooners will almost certainly be fine if they win out, but this committee’s logic is upsetting.
When looking at the @OU_Football resume next to the @ClemsonFB resume it is not really that close...the fact that this committee has the Tigers TWO spot ahead of the #Sooners is laughable...Be better than that please pic.twitter.com/PGWXxBrE8W
— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) November 15, 2017