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Lee Corso Makes Strange Claim on National TV
Hot takes are common among sports pundits. They want viewers to watch the television shows on which they appear, therefore they sometimes utter weird things.
While they can usually excuse their comments with acceptable arguments, ESPN’s Lee Corso just gave the most absurd take on the whole college football season.
The CFP rankings are a contentious issue
Because the College Football Playoff is decided by a single committee, the rankings are usually a hotly disputed matter.
This is especially true this year, since a Group of Five clubs, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats, is presently ranked in the top four and has a chance to become the first non-Power Five school to qualify for the College Football Playoff.
Some may be cautious due to their lackluster league schedule.
But they’ve done enough to win the respect of the selection committee, so here’s a look at the top 10 moving into this week.
- Georgia (11-0)
- Ohio State University (10-1)
- Alabama (11-0), Cincinnati (11-0), and Michigan (10-1)
- Notre Dame University (10-1)
- Oklahoma State University (10-1)
- Baylor (9-2)
- The University of Mississippi (10-2)
- Oklahoma (10-1)
The rankings will shift dramatically this week as a result of Saturday’s events.
However, two clubs that Lee Corso recently highlighted should not be moved too much up or down: Cincinnati and Notre Dame.
On the November 27 episode of ESPN’s College GameDay, Desmond Howard, Rece Davis, David Pollack, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, and Chris “The Bear” Fallica debated Cincinnati’s path to the CFP.
As seen above, the school is now ranked fourth.
So, if the season had finished last week, it would have qualified for the playoffs.
The Bearcats also improved to 12-0 on Friday, the day before College GameDay aired, so it’s reasonable to expect them to be in the top four when the official CFP rankings are released next weekend if they win their final game.
Corso, on the other hand, isn’t convinced about Cincy.
Lee Corso made weird statements regarding the Cincinnati Bearcats on ESPN
Kirk Herbstreit recently stated on College GameDay that he believes Cincinnati will finish third if the following scenario occurs: UC wins the Big Ten Championship Game, Ohio State or Michigan wins the Big Ten Championship Game, Alabama loses the SEC
Championship Game to Georgia, Oklahoma, or Oklahoma State wins the Big 12 Championship Game, and Notre Dame finishes 11-1.
Corso, on the other hand, believes the non-Power Five schools have no business being in the top four.
“When the dust settles, I believe Notre Dame will be one of the top four,” he said.
“Why? They defeated two Big Ten opponents, Wisconsin and Purdue.
Since their loss to Cincinnati, they have won seven straight games and defeated nine Power Five opponents.
Only Georgia and Ohio State have that distinction.”
OK. Corso, on the other hand, harmed his own case by stating, “since their Cincinnati loss.”
Yes, Notre Dame’s only setback this season came at the hands of Cincinnati, as UC’s 24-13 road triumph against ND in October is possibly the best win of any college football team this season.
And Herbstreit brought up the game to Corso, ostensibly to assist his colleague.
“Name a better win than Cincinnati beating Notre Dame; name a better Notre Dame win than that,” he told Corso.
So, all of Notre Dame’s victories, including eight over teams with at least six defeats, are better than Cincinnati’s 11-1 victory over Notre Dame.
“It’s like the major leagues and the lower leagues,” Corso added.
His remarks virtually rendered his ESPN colleagues speechless, as all they could do was chuckle.
Many of them appear to understand that head-to-head wins should be important, and when the teams met in October, Cincinnati won 12-0.
Also, read Giancarlo Stanton, Matthew Christopher Schnell, John Daly’s Married Life:
This week’s CFP standings could see a significant shift
Whatever Corso believes, the CFP rankings will change dramatically this week, and Cincinnati should be safe.
No. 2 Ohio State fell to No. 5 Michigan, which means the Wolverines will likely leap UC and OSU will likely fall behind the Bearcats.
Alabama also needed four overtimes to defeat a six-loss Auburn squad, and No. 7 Oklahoma State defeated No. 10 Oklahoma.
Here is what I feel it should be, but the committee is notoriously difficult to read.
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Cincinnati
- Alabama
- Oklahoma State University
- Notre Dame University
It will be interesting to watch what the selection committee does, especially given its (apparent) disdain for Oklahoma State’s Big 12 conference this season.
In any case, it should disregard Corso’s advice while making its decisions.
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