Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

One could perhaps group teams using the rankings (to create the rankings in circular fashion):

Top ten wins 
Second ten wins
Third ten wins
Wins over P5 teams with winning records
Wins over teams with .500 records P5

Or something akin to this.  This you have MoV considerations.  I do think it is information when a team like OSU blows everyone out and Minnesota manages to edge some pretty marginal teams.

https://247sports.com/college/iowa/Article/Iowa-Hawkeyes-Football-Circa-Sports-Favorites-Minnesota-Kirk-Ferentz-PJ-Fleck--138367065/

Iowa is a 2 point favorite at this point, basically even.

That would be a fearless move.

A lot of Hoosier love.

What's their best win? Nebraska? Ball State?

You missed my real top 25 where I ranked teams based mostly on resume.  The top 10 of that one was:

1. LSU
2. Ohio St
3. Minnesota
4. Baylor
5. UGA
6. Oregon
7. Clemson
8. Penn St
9. Utah
10. Bama

The one that you criticized was the one where I was saying if I just went on what I think without being worried actual results then this is how I would rank them.  I’m definitely more of a resume ranker than a “here’s what I think” ranker.

I’d encourage you to do a full top 25.  People do the top 10 and then quit because it gets hard.  They usually do what you do and just say something like:

11-25 “Who cares” or “Whatever” or “Doesn’t matter.”  It’s kind of a cop out.  Yeah, it’s hard.  That’s kind of the point.

I can agree with that.  Right now....I'm speaking strictly from a CFP standpoint.  Once you get outside the top-10....it doesn't much matter any longer.  Point being that based upon resumes, undefeated power five teams can't be excused away because of perception...and that seems to be the theme. 

I believe that when the CFP committee placed Minnesota at #17 and Penn State at #4....they did a huge disservice to a lot of teams.  Because even though the Gophers beat the team that they considered to be the #4 team in the country....lots of people are choosing to instead of give them credit for a HUGE victory.....they are downplaying the win by saying things like "they got lucky", or "Penn State isn't as good as we thought".  It's completely bogus.  And now....the committee is going to have to move teams that won their games on Saturday down because naturally.....they've got to correct their mistake in assuming that Penn State was going to win.

All in all....teams like Alabama, LSU, and Clemson get tons of respect because of who they are.  I saw Rex Ryan on 'Get Up' this morning.  They were talking about LSU/Alabama.  He said he doesn't care about Alabama losing.  Alabama and LSU both need to be in the playoff along with Clemson.  He doesn't care who the fourth team is.  He said...."have that guy in the boat go down to Clemson and lose by 40".  Go ahead and Put Ohio State in as the fourth and let them get beat by 37 like last year."  Problem is Ohio State wasn't in it last year.  They lost 31-0 several years back.

It's too bad....but that's how it is.  The SEC and Clemson.  Even Ohio State was disregarded by NFL analyst Rex Ryan based upon what was probably little to no analysis.

well, Rex is clueless so.........

We don't need to pretend Minnesota is some sort of juggernaut, either.  They started the year with 4 one-score victories vs FCS South Dakota St, Fresno St (in 2 OT), GA Southern, and Purdue.
That's why they were 17th.  There was a reason.  And no, one win vs a highly-ranked team doesn't undo all of that, nor should it.  Passing your first real obstacle is a big plus, but it was just one obstacle.



The good thing about all of this is that Minnesota will get to earn their way in.  Games remaining vs Iowa, Wisconsin, and potentially Ohio St will provide the evidence of how good the Gophers actually are.

I'm not trying to say that Minnesota is the best team in the nation, or is even a top five team.  They had some early season scares and let those teams (which are not all that bad) hang around by gifting them points late in those games.  But if you've paid attention...they've improved every week since.  And some of these other teams have had bad games as well and it seems to not matter as much. 

- Clemson needed to stop a two-point conversion against UNC to keep from losing that game. 

- Georgia got beat at home against South Carolina. 

- Oregon lost to the only really good team on their schedule in a two-loss Auburn team.....and escaped a Washington State game with a two-point victory.

- Utah.  Loss to a very mediocre USC team and, well, look at their schedule.  The PAC-12 is trashy.

It goes on the further down the list you go.  These are teams that are getting much more respect than the Gophers....and they've been losing or escaping with victories against teams similar to the ones in the Big Ten that the Gophers are absolutely demolishing week in and week out after their shaky start.  And furthermore....do those teams have a Penn State caliber win on their resume.  That would be a big fat NO.

So hammering them for their tight wins, their weak schedule, and then downplaying their win against the #4 teams in the nation is ridiculous.  It seems like confirmation bias.  Losing to Iowa or Wisconsin wouldn't prove anything.  But it seems like a lot of the people that continue make these excuses are just waiting for the Gophers to slip up so that they can say "SEE!  Not that good."