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The penultimate College Football Playoff rankings of the 2024 season were released on Tuesday evening, and they’ve proven to be the most controversial rankings of the year so far.
There’s been plenty of discussion regarding bubble teams and who should host first-round matchups, but perhaps the most interesting debate of the night was between a pair of sitting athletic directors.
Shortly after the rankings were revealed, Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard expressed frustrations that strength of schedule was, in his eyes, “clearly” not taken into account when the committee ranked SMU, Indiana and Boise State. Pollard’s Cyclones came in at No. 16 this week, well behind that trio of teams.
Disappointing that strength of schedule clearly does not matter for SMU, Indiana and Boise State. Message is clear – win as many games as possible regardless of who you play. Time to rethink non-conference scheduling. Very different standards than the basketball committee. https://t.co/TsZEAjYNYx
— Jamie Pollard (@IASTATEAD) December 4, 2024
SMU athletic director Rick Hart, of course, took offense to the idea that the Mustangs didn’t earn their 11-1 record this season. Hart pointed out that SMU’s nonconference schedule was tougher than Iowa State’s and brought up a couple of other key points on SMU’s résumé.
https://twitter.com/AD_RickHart/status/1864138113771090385
That’s when things turned a bit personal, as Pollard said SMU needs to beat Clemson for him to “respect” the Mustangs’ ranking. He also suggested SMU’s résumé may be — metaphorically speaking — “artificial.”
https://twitter.com/IASTATEAD/status/1864141264620339399
For what it’s worth, SMU and Iowa State have fairly similar strength-of-schedule ratings for 2024, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. Iowa State’s is slightly higher — it ranks 68th compared to SMU’s 75th. The Mustangs went 11-1 during the regular season while Iowa State went 10-2.
Even with just a handful of games left to be played before a bracket is finalized, there will certainly be more politicking by commissioners and athletic directors across the country over the coming days.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
