Do College Football Rankings Matter?

According to the college football national rankings and the media, Saturday’s game between the Wolverines and the Nittany Lions is a big deal. At the moment, Penn State is ranked number 2 in the polls, while Michigan is ranked either 15 or 19. Many of you know that the 100+ college football teams in Division I are ranked prior to even playing their first season game. Of course, there’s great variability in terms of football history, past season success, previous week’s ranking, level of competition, etc. per school or university .Despite all the many variables, there’s no shortage of the rankings. Accuracy and reliability of the pools are suspect to say the least. Rankings are used as if they are the gospel. If a higher ranked team gets beat, it’s called an upset irrespective of where the game was actually played, weather conditions, number of player injuries or suspensions, or whether or not it’s a rivalry game. Two weeks ago, Harbaugh’s Wolverines lost to unranked Michigan State University. MSU has been a very significant rival. That close scoring game was played in very rainy weather conditions. The Maize and Blue beat themselves by fumbling twice along with throwing three interceptions. After the games that week, Michigan was ranked ahead of now ranked MSU. Per last week’s football games, MSU is now ranked higher than Michigan. At this time, PSU has a 6-0 record. None of their victories have been attained against a top {1 through 25 ranked team}. Buy the same token, at this point. Michigan has a 5-1 record against all unranked {1 through 25} teams. These two Big Ten schools have played one common Big Ten team that being Indiana. Penn State blew them out while Michigan beat them in overtime last week. Penn State is heavily favored to beat the Wolverines on their home field. Using various statistics, currently, they are a 9.5 favorite to beat Harbaugh’s Wolverines. According to statistics, the Wolverines have an outstanding defense, which will be tested Saturday evening. It’s their offense that makes them statistically underdogs. Michigan, earlier in the season, lost its starting quarterback. The current quarterback is John O’ Korn. As a result of John’s three interceptions against MSU, the passing attack was practically nonexistent against Indiana. That nonexistent passing attack was the result of Harbaugh’s decision to limit O’Korn’s decision-making options. If that’s the case Saturday, the Wolverines are in big trouble. According to Thom Darden, U of M, All-American, all Pro, Hall of Fame Cleveland Browns defensive back, Harbaugh has to allow O’ Korn the freedom, instinct’s and flexibility to play quarterback without the play calling restrictions. Only then will the Wolverines have a fighting chance to whip the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania. In sports, as far as competition and playing performance goes, the time, the day, the competition or the event is always unique and different Last year’s whipping of Penn State in Ann Arbor was just history. Every game brings its own sets of variables. There is not one college team, at this point, that looks unbeatable, except maybe Alabama. However, we won’t crown the 2017 college football champion until January of next year. It’s a long football season. Go Blue!