The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

In light of the new college football playoff rankings, ESPN staff writer Heather Dinich wrote an interesting article today, entitled, "College Football Playoff contenders judged differently according to committee's 'eye test'" (http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/14101809/college-football-playoff-selection-committee-making-clear-distinctions-teams-using-own-eye-test). In this article, Ms. Dinich contends that while the playoff committee still takes strength of schedule and quality wins into consideration while ranking teams, it appears as if the "eye test" may be the most important component of all, and I tend to agree with her. The problem with this is, though, as Brad Pitt said in the film Burn After Reading , "Appearances can be deceptive." While I've been on board with a playoff in college football for a number of years, I've tended to favor computers deciding the most deserving teams rather than people. The reason for ...