The champion that missed the playoffs; plus the NFL MVP Chase update.

 

Image: Torsten Bolten

In this issue:

• College football's lineal champion

• NFL MVP Chase

Last week, I wrote that Alabama didn't deserve to be in the College Football Playoff because of its terrible loss to Florida State. That wasn't a subjective opinion; it was how my Playoff Chase formula operates. (Whether the formula works may itself be a subjective opinion, but it removes bias.) Losing by two possessions to a seven-loss team in the first game of the season kicked them too far down in the standings, and they didn't recover.

That's not to say Alabama isn't one of the "best" twelve teams; they showed they were by beating Oklahoma in the first round of the playoffs. But based on the rules in place, two non-major conference champions played their way into the playoffs, and Alabama didn't. Notre Dame deserved the spot instead. 

On an unrelated matter, I was wondering who the current lineal champion is. The "lineal champion" is the team that beat the team that beat the team that beat the team... all the way back to the team that won the first game ever played, which was Rutgers over Princeton in 1869. The last time I published about it was October 8, when Miami (FL) was the champion. I know that Louisville beat Miami later on, but I lost the thread. 

It turns out that Louisville lost to California, which lost to Stanford, which lost to . . .

Notre Dame. That was the last game of the regular season.

Because Notre Dame wasn't invited to the playoffs and declined all other bowl games, they will be the title holder entering the first week of next season and will begin their "title defense" then.

The lineal championship ought to be part of college football. Notable "championship" games this year included South Florida's win over Florida, which was the beginning of the end for Gators head coach Billy Napier. The annual Cal-Stanford matchup is called the Big Game, with the Stanford Axe its trophy. It was also the lineal championship game this year. And of course, Notre Dame beating Stanford, only to be snubbed by the Selection Committee, means the lineal champion will not be the National Champion. 

Perhaps next season I will track Notre Dame's title defense and the path of the championship more closely.

NFL MVP Chase

This season, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, who missed eight games due to injury, is 6-1 as a starter and 15th in the MVP Chase. His backup, Mac Jones, went 5-3 and is 31st in the MVP Chase. That's higher than qb Sam Darnold, whose Seahawks have the NFC's #1 seed.

Two seasons ago, using different measurements than I use today, Purdy and teammate Christian McCaffrey tied for the MVP Chase crown. This season, the "49ers Quarterback" would be in the MVP Chase lead, as both Purdy and Jones played well in nearly all their victories.

And it suggests that the running back McCaffrey, sitting at third in the MVP Chase, is the true difference-maker on that squad, even though the quarterback is the most important position. Likewise, receiverJaxon-Smith Njigba is the most valuable ball-handling player on the Seahawks ' offense, as he comes up with big games in nearly all their victories, while Darnold rarely does.

This is not to say that MVP Chase leader James Cook is more important than his teammate Josh Allen. Allen is fifth and still has a chance to win the MVP Chase himself. It does say that Cook had more big games in the Bills' victories than Allen has.

As it stands, anyone in the top six in the MVP Chase has a chance to win it, and Dak Prescott has a chance to tie Cook as the winner if nobody ranked ahead of him has any big games in victories.

Patriots qb Drake Maye, the second-year sensation, is at 11th and won't win the MVP Chase. As mentioned previously here, sacks and fumbles hurt him in otherwise statistically brilliant games.

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Contact James Leroy Wilson for writing, editing, research, and other work at jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com. Visit JL Cells for my non-sports writing.