Klatt Says Committee's Second Rankings Prove Regular Season Losing Weight
Joel Klatt argues the College Football Playoff committee is already undercutting the value of the regular season, citing its second top 25 release as evidence. The rankings, published Tuesday night, placed Georgia at No. 1, followed by Utah, Alabama and an undefeated UCLA team. Indiana, the reigning national champion, fell five spots to No. 9 despite being idle on a bye week.
The rankings landed a day after the CFP confirmed it will expand to a 24-team format starting in 2027. On his show, Klatt said the committee's decisions point to what he called an "SEC feedback loop" - a pattern in which strength-of-schedule arguments favored by SEC voices shape outcomes for teams across the sport, while other conferences get less benefit of the doubt. betting on surfing
Klatt noted that Alabama, which has two losses, still ranks ahead of UCLA, which remains unbeaten - a gap he says undermines the logic of rewarding a clean record. He also pointed to Indiana's drop, arguing that a team 24-1 in its last 25 games and the defending champion would not have been docked five spots during an off week under previous norms. Klatt extended the point to Texas Tech and Wake Forest, two other one-loss teams he says are similarly disadvantaged in the committee's current evaluation.
Looking ahead, Klatt suggested Indiana likely needs to reach the Big Ten championship game to secure a playoff berth, especially if it loses to USC. He also floated a scenario in which the Big 12 could place three teams in the field - Utah, BYU and a Texas Tech team that reaches the conference title game - while predicting the SEC could ultimately land five or six teams in the 2027 playoff under the expanded format.
