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The third installment of the College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night, and as you would expect, there is much controversy to discuss. Many fans think that schools like Indiana and Texas are ranked far too high, while others like Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee aren't high enough. Regardless of what your opinion is on this Wednesday, it's clear that these rankings are going to continue to evolve and change over the coming weeks as the regular season comes to a close.
What may also be clear, though, is that some of these SEC teams in the bracket may have a glaring issue going forward. At least that's what Fox Sports personality Colin Cowherd is claiming after seeing the latest rankings. © John David Mercer-Imagn Images Looking at the latest rankings, you can see that teams like Georgia, Alabama, and Ole Miss are all closer to the bottom than the top, which means that they would go on the road in the first round and play in places like Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, Columbus, Ohio, or South Bend, Indiana.
According to Cowherd, this spells major trouble, as these southern teams may not be able to adapt to the cold weather for a late December game. "All of these places are potentially -4 degrees and windy when the playoff starts on December 20," Cowherd said on The Herd on Wednesday morning. "It would be the coldest game, easily, for any of those SEC athletes.
" While weather is often treated as a factor in determining matchup outcomes, it usually isn't the driving factory. However, we haven't yet seen college football games take place in these northern towns where snow is often expected this late in the year. That could throw a new wrinkle into things with the expanded playoff.
Cowherd goes on to back up his argument by showing that teams like the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Philadelphia Eagles — all cold-weather teams — have found a lot of success in the NFL playoffs because of their ability to play in the conditions. "I do not think what I'm about to say is a coincidence." @ColinCowherd says what the latest CFP rankings mean pic.
twitter.com/ekkFCJMpS2 Meanwhile, someone like Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa — who played in Hawaii in high school, and then Alabama in college — is 0-6 when playing in games where the temperature is below 48 degrees. "You can say 'Oh, this isn't that big of a deal,'" Cohwerd continued.
"I think it's a five-point swing. It doesn't mean Georgia can't go up north and win, I'm not saying that. But it matters, and it matters a lot.
" If the rankings were to hold from Tuesday night throughout the season — which they almost undoubtedly will not — Alabama would go on the road to Notre Dame, Georgia would go on the road to Penn State, and Ole Miss would go on the road to Indiana. So while everyone is complaining about who is ranked where, and which teams deserve to get into the playoff, we may not be talking about the right thing. In the end, it could be about who plays where, rather than who plays who that matters the most.
Related: Joel Klatt Reverses Course on Controversial Statement About Dan Lanning, No. 1 Oregon Ducks.
