Week 12 Anger Index: Why a No. 15 ranking isn't good enough for Miami

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Anger is a natural and often entirely reasonable emotion, but it can also be a little like misplacing your car keys. There's frustration, outrage, exasperation and a string of epithets that would make Pat Narduzzi blush, and then just when the emotions have reached their apex, you realize the keys have been in your coat pocket the whole time.

So it was with last week's Anger Index.

Week 12 Anger Index: Why a No. 15 ranking isn't good enough for Miami

After jumping up three spots, Miami still has plenty to be upset about, but what other teams should be mad?

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BYU was right to be upset that, in spite of a spotless record, it was slotted behind three one-loss teams.

The ACC was perfectly justified in its outrage, without a single team in the top 13, despite Louisville and Virginia profiling far better than two-loss teams ranked higher.

Memphis certainly had an ax to grind, relegated to the committee equivalent of an "others receiving votes" nod, when a three-loss team from across the state cracked the top 25.

So, of course, we yelled and screamed and cursed the committee, and by the end of Week 11, we imagine those same committee members were sitting in an oversized chair, stroking a cat and smugly cackling like Bond villains.

But this is a lesson worth learning -- not for the outraged and aggrieved, but for the committee.

Because the committee is made up of some particularly wise college football minds, those folks can watch a team's performance and create a trend line. They can see Virginia squeaking by in close games or compare the recruiting pedigree of BYU's roster with teams from the SEC and make an entirely reasonable prediction that, on a long enough timeline, those teams' flaws will become evident and the results will prove the committee right.

But it's a little like watching the Kentucky Derby, seeing the leader fading down the stretch and a favorite charging from the back. Can we predict the outcome with some level of certainty? Sure. But you don't call the race then and there.

The committee's job is to survey the evidence at hand and capture that specific moment in time, not guess about the future -- educated as those guesses might be.

So, yes, BYU and Louisville and Virginia and Memphis had reasons to be outraged, even if the committee's predictions ultimately came true, just as this week's entrants on the Anger Index are entirely justified in their frustrations, regardless of what happens from here.

1. Miami Hurricanes (7-2, No. 15)​

In Bill Connelly's SP+ ranking this week, Georgia is one spot ahead of Alabama. But the two teams have the same record, and the Tide hold a head-to-head advantage, so the committee -- rightfully -- has Alabama ranked higher.

SP+ actually has Oklahoma (ninth) ahead of Texas (14th) by a sizable margin, and the Sooners' overall profile -- with wins vs. Michigan and Tennessee -- is better, too. But again, the two schools have the same record, and Texas holds a head-to-head win, so the committee ranked the Horns higher.

Or consider Louisville and Virginia. The Cardinals (26th) are a full 15 spots ahead of Virginia in SP+ and 14 spots higher in strength of record. And no matter that Virginia's head-to-head win over the Cardinals came in overtime and required two defensive touchdowns, the committee appreciates what happened on the field, and it has the Cavaliers ranked higher.

Similarly, the committee has USC ahead of Michigan, BYU ahead of Utah and Georgia ahead of Ole Miss, partially because the metrics bear that out, but also because, in each case, the higher-ranked team has the head-to-head win.

Please explain why Miami is different.

The Hurricanes' metrics are solid. They're 13th in SP+, 13th in strength of record, have four wins vs. FPI top-35 teams (i.e. the top 25% of FBS) -- more than anyone but Texas A&M and Alabama -- and, of course, have the same record as Notre Dame and hold the head-to-head victory over the Irish.

The committee, however, has Notre Dame ranked ninth and Miami 15th.

It's nonsensical on its face, and worse when you consider the committee also has Texas (with a worse loss than either of Miami's), Utah (just one FPI top-35 win) and Vanderbilt (four spots behind Miami in FPI) all ranked higher, too.

Again, it's certainly possible the Canes lose this week to NC State -- a team that has already taken down Virginia and Georgia Tech -- but that's not the point. The committee isn't supposed to guess what will happen next. It's supposed to rank teams based on what they've done so far, and there is absolutely no metric that warrants Miami's placement behind so many two-loss teams with clearly inferior résumés.

No. 2 Texas Tech

No. 3. Texas A&M

No. 4 BYU

No. 5 USC

Also angry this week: James Madison Dukes (8-1, unranked), Tulane Green Wave (7-2, unranked), Arizona State Sun Devils (6-3, unranked), Illinois Fighting Illini (6-3, unranked), North Texas Mean Green (8-1, unranked), Pitt fans (who are worried Notre Dame is about to hang 100 on them).