Cowboys Move Up to Ninth in CFP Rankings, but Gundy Not Watching

STILLWATER – The College Football Playoff Selection Committee released their third rankings of the season on Nov. 16 and Oklahoma State moved up again. The increment was  the same as the Cowboys came in at No. 9 with the committee up from No. 10 a week ago. Oklahoma State moved up from No. 11 (first week) to No. 10 in the second edition of the rankings.  It was Big 12 Conference and Bedlam rival Oklahoma losing to Baylor that made for the Pokes upward mobility. Unbeaten Georgia (10-0) stayed in the top spot where they have been in all three rankings. Alabama is second and Oregon is third. If the playoffs were determined by this round of the rankings then Ohio State at fourth would make the field.

In the top seven all the teams remained the same with Cincinnati, Michigan, and Michigan state rounding out that grouping.

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Oklahoma State has been a controlling team the past three weeks.

I asked College Football Playoff Selection Committee chairperson and Iowa athletic director Gary Barta if the way Oklahoma State has been controlling games has carried weight with the committee.

“Controlling wins, if you think about watching games, that is more important than a team just running up the score, in my opinion, and we talk about it as a committee that when a team has total control of a game, defensively or it might be offensively and every team is different in their style it sort of depends on the team,” was his answer.

From the Big 12, Baylor with the win over Oklahoma the Bears moved up to No. 11, while Oklahoma was bumped back to No. 13. Along with Oklahoma State those are the only ranked teams from the Big 12.

Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman asked Barta to explain how Oklahoma State is ranked ninth and Oklahoma is 13th when the two schools have the same record and basically the same schedule.

“(Oklahoma) had their opportunity against a very good Baylor team and obviously Baylor came out on top,” Barta said. As we went through the ranking this week, we don’t necessarily compare Oklahoma State and Oklahoma to each other, but in the grouping Baylor, Mississippi, and Wake Forest all had impressive wins. Oklahoma ended up at 13th because of the wins ahead of them. Oklahoma State’s defense is something the committee thinks very highly of, some of the best defense this year. They beat Baylor and as of late, offensively, Oklahoma State has been playing better recently.”

Below is the complete rundown of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee rankings for the third week. Now there are just three cycles left to get to the final rankings.

One person in Stillwater that did not look around for a television, radio, or was camped on a computer to check the latest rankings was Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy. Just off the practice field, Gundy isn’t that concerned right now.

“No, I haven’t done that,” Gundy said when asked if he checks out the weekly offering from the CFP. “I know this sounds funny, but I know they have the show on Tuesdays, I don’t even know what time the show is. But I’ve not ever looked at that just because basically, it doesn’t matter. If I look at it, it’s not going matter. Now, I’m going to know because all my buddies I grew up with are going to text me. It’s not like I’m trying to not know, but I don’t really have to go look because everybody’s going to tell me what’s going on.”

On Monday at his weekly news conference Gundy pretty much nailed where his team was going to be in the rankings.

“How ever many teams in front of us lost, we usually move up one spot,” Gundy said. “That’s pretty common.”

There is still plenty of football to be played as the Big 10 starts playing each other with Ohio State and Michigan State playing this week. Cincinnati plays a tough SMU team this week. Oregon still has Utah and Oregon State plus a Pac-12 title game.