Auburn football: Tigers fall out of CFB Playoff Top 25 and 5 other rankings observations

Auburn football is no longer a nationally-ranked program after a blowout loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2020 Iron Bowl this past Saturday.

The War Eagle is no longer living in denial: we fully recognize that Auburn football does not deserve to be ranked in the Top 25 for the College Football Playoff.

This season hasn’t been the most feel-good for Gus Malzahn’s squad, with three losses in eight games highlighting a disappointing run through the SEC during this pandemic-affected season. Even the wins haven’t exactly been impressive.

Holding on to barely beat the likes of Arkansas and Ole Miss while getting crushed by Alabama and Georgia is not the kind of season we all dreamed of having on the Plains this season. Losing Will Muschamp’s South Carolina Gamecocks is legitimately the stuff of nightmares.

Essentially, the Tigers are rightfully out of consideration for the College Football Playoff and are likely to stay there if they cannot upset Texas A&M this coming Saturday.

Here are 5 other observations about the latest set of rankings:

Alabama is the only team worthy of the #1 ranking

While Notre Dame is 9-0 and sits snuggly behind the Tide at #2 in the CFB Playoff rankings, Alabama is the only clear choice for the #1 spot. Handling Auburn football so easily is just one reason why they have definitely earned that designation.

That they also beat Georgia and Texas A&M by a combined 45 points. While the Fighting Irish have registered impressive wins against Louisville, UNC and Clemson, their dominance is not on the same level of Alabama’s in 2020.

Texas A&M should earn a top-four spot with a win at Jordan-Hare

Auburn football hosts what will be the most important game of the season this Saturday when they host the Aggies of Texas A&M at Jordan-Hare Stadium. A win against the #5 team in the country could single-handedly change the tone of the current season for the Tigers.

The more likely result–an Aggie victory–should boost Texas A&M into the top four of the rankings, with Clemson’s run through the ACC not exactly lighting the world on fire.

It may be too little too late for Florida

Imagine having one loss, to one of only two teams ranked ahead of them with one loss, being the reason why there won’t be a meaningful trip to the postseason this season. That is the reality for the Florida Gators.

They lost by a field goal to Texas A&M in Week 6, and their remaining schedule doesn’t feature a game that would go down as a better win than an Aggie victory in Auburn.

Sorry Florida. It’s too little, too late this season. It’s going to take a lot of losses to be considered for one of the final four postseason spots.

Wisconsin is ranked too high

At this point in the college football season, it seems strange to see a team ranked 2-1 be ranked ahead of teams that are still undefeated and nearing the end of the 2020-21 schedule. The Wisconsin Badgers have the benefit of kicking off the season with consecutive dominant Big 10 conference victories over Illinois and Michigan to spruce up their regular season resume.

Unfortunately there is a glaring loss to Northwestern on their record too. Yes, losing to a ranked opponent shouldn’t knock you out of the rankings altogether, but it doesn’t seem right to have them ranked ahead of several undefeated mid-major powerhouses.

Cincinatti, BYU, Coastal Carolina and Marshall are all getting robbed

It isn’t right that four of the best teams in college football have no chance of actually winning the national championship. The biggest flaw about collegiate pigskin has always been the inability to host a postseason that fairly gives every team a chance to hoist the Coaches’ trophy at the year’s conclusion.

This year, Cincinatti, BYU, Coastal Carolina and Marshall are all going to likely run the table and be left empty-handed at the conclusion of the 2020-21 gauntlet. The Fiesta Bowl or the Orange Bowl shouldn’t be the only possible reward for beating every single team put in front of you, but fans of the aforementioned undefeated programs will have to settle for that since the system isn’t going to be fixed during this topsy-turvy pandemic-ravaged season.