Corey Clark

Democrat senior writer

So ... it turns out those computers weren't so bad after all, huh? At least they seemed to take winning into account.

Look. At the end of the regular season, if Florida State is still undefeated it will be one of the four teams playing in the College Football Playoff. There's no doubt about that in my mind. And there shouldn't be any doubt in yours.

But when we get rankings like we did on Tuesday night, when a one-loss team vaults the undefeated, reigning national champions, well, let's just say I understand the concern.

What I don't understand, what most people don't understand, is why in the world did this happen?

College Football Playoff selection committee chairman Jeff Long said the margin between No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 FSU was "razor thin." And the Ducks were ranked ahead of the Seminoles because they have three Top 25 wins and FSU has two.

Which is all well and good except for one minor detail: Oregon has a loss. At home. To an Arizona team that has been defeated by both UCLA and USC.

Long said the committee took into account the injuries the Ducks had suffered before their game with the Wildcats. All righty then.

If that's the case did Long and his 11 partners take into account FSU's comeback win at Louisville with exactly one healthy linebacker? Or the starting center being out with a broken arm? Or the starting defensive tackle being lost for the year?

What about the Clemson game? When FSU beat a ranked Tigers squad with the country's best player in sweatpants and with Mario Edwards, Jr. missing the second half with a concussion?

Shouldn't Florida State get credit for having injuries and cussing suspensions and STILL winning? Isn't that (gasp!) even more impressive than a home loss to Arizona?

"I always thought the name of the game was to keep winning," FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher said on Wednesday.

That's what has me most concerned about these rankings. That the actual results on the field are being devalued.

It's how Georgia, with two bad losses, is ranked ahead of one-loss Nebraska. Or how one-loss TCU is ranked ahead of one-loss Baylor, despite the fact that Baylor won the head to head meeting between the two.

As it turns out, Oregon might as well have sat Marcus Mariota in that game against Arizona, because the result was irrelevant. The Ducks are a good team. Don't get me wrong. And they very well could be better than Florida State. But do we know that for sure? Of course not.

So should they be ranked ahead of an undefeated team from a power conference? Absolutely not. They. Lost. A. Game. That should mean something. That HAS to mean something as we move forward in this new era of college football.

Again. If Florida State wins the rest of its games it will be in the playoff. It will have a shot to win a national title. And whether Oregon is ranked No. 2 or not, if it wins the rest of its games it's going to be in the playoff as well. The argument, at least for now, is essentially over seeding.

But that doesn't mean the precedent set by Tuesday night's poll isn't troubling.

And what's ironic, to me, is that once the playoffs start there will be no eye tests. Close losses will still be losses. Injuries or not, the only thing that will matter is if you actually win the game.

So maybe, just maybe, that should be the criteria during the season, too?