Athletic directors from Iowa State and SMU are having a disagreement over the recent College Football Playoff rankings, which led to a “stay off my lawn” moment on social media.
Here’s the situation: SMU, with an 11-1 record and a nine-game winning streak, is ranked No. 8 in Tuesday’s rankings as they prepare for the Atlantic Coast Conference title game. Iowa State, on the other hand, is ranked 16th and is competing for the Big 12 title, which looks likely to only get one spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff that will be announced on Sunday.
Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard isn’t happy about this and voiced his opinions on X, formerly known as Twitter. He pointed out that SMU hasn’t played some of the ACC’s top teams like Clemson, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, or Miami, and they lost at home to BYU, a team from the Big 12.
“Looks like your lawn may be artificial,” Pollard posted in a message aimed at SMU’s AD, Rick Hart.
Hart quickly fired back, saying, “respect you, but bad take.” He compared the nonconference schedules of the two teams, pointing out that SMU’s schedule was better, and added that the Mustangs had only trailed for about six minutes in their last nine games.
“I could go on … Stay off my lawn!” Hart wrote.
Iowa State’s playoff hopes seem to be on the line, while SMU’s situation is a bit less certain.
If SMU loses to No. 17 Clemson, the College Football Playoff selection committee will need to decide how much to lower their ranking, considering they made it to the title game while other teams didn’t. This could put SMU against Alabama, which is ranked 11th and is the last team in the projected bracket.
Some of these issues will be decided on the field this Saturday. Pollard, the Iowa State AD, even started his criticism of Hart with a small peace offering: “Rick, beat Clemson Saturday and I will respect your ranking,” he said.
