How fans of 7 college football teams have always believed teams should be ranked

Whether you think your team should be ranked better in the Playoff rankings or the computers or the mascot edibility rankings, you think your team should be ranked better. You are prepared to argue your team’s case with only the most widely agreed-upon metrics.

To some, the metrics you’ve chosen appear convenient, because they just so happen to match up with your team’s best possible case. Maybe you’re a New Mexico State fan, lobbying for a top ranking based on your team being No. 1 in sacks allowed per game against FBS teams with winning records! It’s an important stat!

But what those people don’t realize is that you’ve held for years that this specific way of judging teams has always been your favorite, not just this year, when your team happens to be good at it.

Let’s quiz a few randomly selected and semi-made-up fans so that you can see what I mean.

”It has long been my conviction that no team should ever rank behind a team it has beaten. In fact, for years I’ve held that every team should be ranked strictly by head-to-head Big 12 record against teams that are not 2014 West Virginia. I was persecuted for years for this belief, due to West Virginia not being in the Big 12 and it not being 2014, but I never wavered. Yessir.

“What’s that? You’re telling folks that 2008 Art Briles voted 11-1 Texas four spots behind an Oklahoma team it had beaten? He was framed.”

”Complex rankings? I don’t believe in ‘em.

“Here in the state of Texas, we’ve always lived by a straightforward code. That code is this: find the team that beat Minnesota -- as long as that team is not 4-5 Illinois, which also beat Minnesota -- and rank that team ahead of all teams to which it’s lost. It’s like a Get Out Of Losing To Baylor Free card, but Gopher-y. You might call me simple or old-fashioned, but The Minnesota Method was good enough for my great-grandfolks here in the state of Texas.”

“I have always believed Alabama should be No. 1.”

“We didn’t even play a game and still fell behind a Georgia team that got its ass kicked by Florida. My criteria is definitely something besides that. I’m sorry for cursing.”

”What the hell was the point of winning all those games last year if they don’t count toward this year’s rankings? Teams should be judged solely on their two-years body of work! I have always believed this.

“I was consistent about this even in 1977, when FSU went 10-2 after going 5-6 the year prior. At the time, I was accused by fellow Noles of inventing #SECSPNbias before ESPN or hashtags were around.”

“Teams that never lose and that blow out bad teams by 30 or 40 points every Saturday should probably be ranked somewhere, based on how college football rankings worked for their first 77 years of existence. I know that sounds totally crazy. Though I guess we gotta have room in the rankings for Texas A&M, which probably won’t lose 59-0 again just yet.”

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”