TERRY MOSHER
CHRIS PETERSEN
It was comedian Rodney Dangerfield who became famous (and drew laughs) with the tag line “I don’t get no respect.” That’s the way I feel today about the lack of respect the College Football Playoff committee gave the Washington Huskies when they announced that the Huskies were No. 4 in the final rankings.
I get that a lot of this is based on strength of schedule and Washington did not have the best. But c’mon. For me, it’s all about how you are playing at the end of the season not at the beginning when all the weak non-conference games are scheduled. And in that regard, Washington was playing as well as anybody in the country.
To be fair, through, here is the NCAA’s final strength of schedule rankings for the top 15 teams: 1. Ohio State; 2. Michigan; 3. Alabama; 4. Wisconsin; 5. USC; 6. LSU; 7. Clemson; 8. Auburn; 9. Colorado; 10. Florida State; 11. Penn State; 12. Oklahoma; 13. Stanford; 14. Mississippi; 15. Washington.
So if you just base the rankings on strength of schedule, Washington would be playing in the Toilet Bowl in Gorst and the top four would be Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama and Wisconsin.
Penn State, which won the supposedly toughest conference – the Big 10 – would not make it, and in the final rankings they did not, being placed fifth one spot ahead of Michigan which it lost to, 49-10.
How do you explain that, by the way?
How can Penn State be ahead of Michigan? It doesn’t make sense. The Nittany Lions lost to Michigan by 39 points and had a weaker non-conference schedule and are still are ahead of the Wolverines?
C’mon, man.
But, back to the Huskies. The committee did not do them any favor by leaving them at No. 4 for the second straight week. Here’s what is so upsetting to me about that. The committee leapfrogs Clemson over idle Ohio State from third to second based, it must be, on Clemson’s 42-35 win over Virginia Tech last night to claim the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.
So Clemson’s win is more impressive than Washington’s 41-10 dismantling of Colorado for the Pac-12 championship?
Why?
Don’t you think that the logical step after they moved Clemson up one notch was to at least move Washington up the same notch to third and push Ohio State down to fourth?
Makes sense to me.
So why didn’t they?
The only reason I can think of is that the committee is not impressed with the Pac-12 Conference and that an easy win in the title game meant little to them. So they left Washington at four.
To me, it’s the same old East Coast bias that we see when it comes to something like voting Edgar Martinez into the baseball hall of fame where he belongs. He was the greatest right-handed hitter I ever saw – many others say the same thing – and yet he is not in Cooperstown.
C’mon, man, do the right thing.
I’m sure Husky fans are euphoric today, knowing that their beloved Purple and Gold are in the football semifinals. I’m not so euphoric. I view Washington’s No. 4 ranking as a little like being acquitted on six of seven counts of attempted murder and then on the seventh count be convicted and sentenced to be hung in the public square.
Or it’s a little like being told that you have won $1 million, but in order to collect it you have to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
That’s because the No. 4 ranking means the Huskies must play top-ranked and unbeaten Alabama in the semifinals scheduled for noon on Dec. 31 n the Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
The powerful Alabama Crimson Tide won the SEC championship Saturday by destroying Florida 54-16. This is the same Alabama team that ruined USC 52-6 on Sept. 3. USC was a different team back then than it was later with talented freshman quarterback Sam Darnold at the controls when it beat Washington 26-13 last month at Husky Stadium, but, still, that does not portend well for the Huskies.
The early odds on the game have Alabama favored by 14 points over the Huskies. I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer, but after watching Alabama crush Florida, I can see what will happen in the Peach Bowl.
When teams exert good pressure on Washington sophomore quarterback Jake Browning, Browning has a tendency to underperform, and that is being nice. Colorado took him out of the equation, but Washington responded by running the ball over the Buffs. USC took Browning out of the equation and also stopped the run and, well, you saw the results.
Alabama also has the best defense in college football. The Tide are quick, fast, aggressive and strong Unless Husky coach Chris Petersen can do something to counter that – and I haven’t seen it done yet – Browning will be a non-factor in this match-up, meaning that the explosive big pass plays that have elevated fleet receivers John Ross and Dante Pettis to legendary status among Husky faithful won’t get many – maybe no– chances for big plays against the Tide.
That puts the onus on the running game with Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman being asked to provide the offensive spark. But I don’t see them being able to penetrate that awesome Alabama run defense.
Washington will have to pull out all the tricks that Petersen is famous for to have a chance, as little of a chance as it is
Then, on the other side of the ball, Alabama has no great offensive stars, but it has amazing depth that is very talented ‑ – their recruiting classes the past 10 years have been ranked among the best, if not the best ‑ and they just wear you down as the game goes on (witness Florida, which rushed for zero yards in the game and lost the second half, 21-0).
This, then, is not a fair match-up. I think the committee should have pushed Washington to third. That would have pitted the Huskies against defending national champion Clemson and I could see them beating the Tigers. But the committee gave the Huskies, as Dangerfield would say, no respect. And that is too bad.
I guess if you really want to have hope and look at the bright side, Petersen has done an amazing job of bringing the Husky program back into national prominence in just three short years and has done it with what he says is “our kind of guys”, who basically are good character guys who come to school for all the right reasons and can fit in to a team concept.
Petersen is a good feel story and what he has done at Washington is a good feel story that should be considered beyond just winning games and a national championship. It may be extra tough to win a national title this year, but Petersen has the program on the right path and winning may be the result for years to come.
As for this year, I wish the committee would have given the Huskies the same benefit it gave to Clemson. But it is what it is, so now bring on the game.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there
Have a great day.
You are loved.