Poll vaulting

The first College Football Playoff poll is out, and it's the Blob's considered opinion that they got it all wrong.

No, not because unbeaten and second-ranked Baylor came in at No. 6 and got left out. The Bears paid the price for scheduling Lamar, Moe and Curly and playing in a conference (the Big 12) where defense adheres to the Open Door policy (i.e., Open the Door, step aside).

 And, no, not because one-loss Alabama somehow got into the Final Four. It's just habit to put Alabama in there somewhere. One suspects Alabama could lose five games and still make it because, well, how can you have a Final Four without Alabama in it? It'd be like Christmas without those dogs that sing "Jingle Bells."

No, the CFP folks got it wrong simply by putting out a poll this early, because all it does is make a bunch of people mad for no reason. Everyone forgot last year, when that first CFP poll in early November was as useless as a paper hat. Three of the four playoff teams in it weren't around for the actual playoff, so why even put out a poll at this point?

Which leads us directly to the Blob's Big Idea for today.

Here it is: You put out one poll, and one poll only. You do it at the end of the season. Then, when Baylor gets left out despite going unbeaten and finishing No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll, it will be too late for head coach Art Briles to say "OK, OK, we won't play Lamar anymore."  And we'll all be much more appreciative when people start screaming, "Oh, sure, of course Notre Dame made it" and  "(Bleeping) Alabama", and every other time-honored favorite.

From South Carolina:  "I knew you guys would find some way to screw Clemson."

From East Lansing: "I knew you guys would find some way to screw Michigan State."

And, of course, from Ann Arbor: "But ... but we hired Jim Harbaugh and everything!"

All for naught. And that's the best part. Because if there's anything more entertaining than people whining and cussing and calling Nick Saban and Urban Meyer names, it's fruitless whining and cussing and calling Nick Saban and Urban Meyer names.

Heck. I'd even make popcorn for that.