The netherworld of the College Football Playoff Rankings has unearthed the good, the bad, and the ugly of coachspeak. As we head into week twelve here is a sampling of quotes from the undefeated and the one-loss teams vying for a seat at college football’s golden dinette. They range from the sanguine to the purely political; and they represent the disparate styles that make elite programs a direct reflection of their coaches, often the highest paid public employees in their respective states.
1. Mississippi State. When you are the top dog it is best to try to let the others sleep. Dan Mullen told AL.com:
“The opportunity to play big games late in the season is what it’s all about and what you work for. When you’re looking at mid-to-late November and playing important games, it’s going to be fun.”
“We’re excited. It’s a big game. Hopefully that becomes the norm for our program here as we continue to move forward.”
2. Oregon. During this week’s PAC 12 football teleconference Mark Helfrich commented on style points:
“You can say you’re not going to count certain things or you are going to count certain things, but at some point somebody’s making an individual, subjective decision, and something’s going to come into play. But the biggest thing is winning versus losing, and I don’t know. I don’t know the percentage to which that will actually affect anything.”
3. Florida State. Jimbo Fisher kicked off the crying when he told reporters:
“I thought name of the game was to keep winning,” Fisher said. “Whether you pick it by computer or that way, hey, we just have to control what we can control. If you don’t do that, you’re chasing your tail.”
4. TCU. Gary Patterson offered the most pointed remarks of the week as he justified his team’s current spot in the final CFP slot, and his team’s loss to Baylor. After beating Kansas State he commented on if he’s uncomfortable making an argument that TCU should be ahead of Baylor:
“No, because it was at their place, we were up 21 points and it was a three-point ball game. I don’t have a problem with it. I think Baylor’s a really good football team, but I don’t have a problem. But I also know Minnesota is now 7-2, they just beat Iowa, and I’ve gotta go there next year. So to me, it’s you play who you play and how you do it. I don’t see how any of the games they have left would mean anymore than the games we have.”
Who knew Minnesota would have such an impact on the College Football Playoff?
5. Alabama. Nick Saban was Nick Saban. He explained his “thought process” to AL.com:
“We have to play really, really good teams in our league and we have a couple of really, really good teams that we have to play to finish the season, starting with the team that we play this week,” Saban said. “The emphasis is, if you have success against the teams that you have to play, all those things are going to take care of themselves. The emphasis has to be on how we play, how we execute, preparing the right way for this particular game, this particular team, and give ourselves the best chance to be successful in this game. So none of that really matters.”
6. Arizona State. No surprise here. Number six coach Todd Graham thinks there should be eight teams in the playoff. Graham told the Arizona Republic:
“One of the things I think is left out with this playoff system, which is better than what they had last year and I’m excited about it and don’t want to be negative about it … I hope they would recognize the conference champions,” Graham said Tuesday. “That way the fans can get what they want. We’ll play Texas A&M and Michigan State, we can play whatever non-conference we want.
“I really think the conference championships should mean something. It does in every other league and in every other sport.”
7. Baylor. Art Briles showed some class, and did not bite on the TCU bait. He told the WacoTrib.com:
“We’re fighting to win a Big 12 game and that’s a war in itself,” Briles said. “That’s all we’re concerned with. We’re going to go out and try to win after 60 minutes. It’s a win and people can decide what kind of win it is.”
8. Ohio State. Urban Meyer could not help himself. He pleaded his case as the hair gel dripped down the back of his neck at the thought of being left without an invitation. Bleacher Nation quotes Meyer:
“I don’t want to act like it’s rehearsed, but it’s rehearsed because I tend to say stupid things sometimes,” Meyer said, drawing on his previous campaign experiences. “That early in the season, we were not a great team. We had a quarterback that was a quarterback for about two weeks and did not play very well. We had an offensive line that played horrible that game and a group of receivers that were not ready to play. This is the most improved team that I’ve been a part of.”
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and truth is beauty – right? The beauty of college football is that every weekend provides a playoff game. The truth is that the offspring of the NCAA and football is something like Rosemary’s Baby. No worries. Let’s all tape our eyelids back and watch the sports adaptation of Lord of the Flies.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @Scott_Habiger.
Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For the latest in sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Main Photo:
