If you are not a fan of the College Football Playoff committee, then this explanation will only bolster your argument for that.
Videos by FanBuzz
Committee chairman Kirby Hocutt got an interesting question in media availability following the latest release of the College Football Playoff rankings. Hocutt was asked why West Virginia — with only one loss — was ranked so low, and subsequently why Oklahoma was rated so high.
The answer? Not exactly inspiring for believers of the committee.
Uh oh -- 7-3 USC moves ahead of 8-1 West Virginia ... meltdown from Morgantown in 3, 2 ...
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 16, 2016
The committee's complete lack of respect for WVU is baffling.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 16, 2016
Hocutt says West Virginia hasn't moved higher b/c it's only played one Top 25 team (Ok St) and lost.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 16, 2016
I followed up asking Hocutt why then is 2-loss OU, w/ no Top 25 win, in the Top 10? Cited "tremendous offense," 7-game win streak.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 16, 2016
RELATED: Major shakeups occur in College Football Playoff rankings after Week 11 upsets
Hocutt's full answer can be seen here, but it essentially goes like this: the committee is still waiting for West Virginia to get a quality win, which is why the Mountaineers sit at No. 14 in the rankings with only one loss.
However, a lot of that logic can apply to Oklahoma: the Sooners don't have a win over a Top 25 opponent either, and they have two losses in games where they were thoroughly handled by their opponent. Why do they get a lofty ranking at No. 9 while West Virginia has to fight for table scraps?
Hocutt's answer of Oklahoma having a "tremendous offense" isn't good enough. Sure, he may have been put on the spot with the question, but the committee has a lot of power in their hands; fans are always going to have questions, and the committee needs to be able to give satisfying answers.
This wasn't a satisfying answer.
