If you were expecting Chris Russo to go down without a fight about the newest College Football Playoff rankings, you don’t know the ‘Mad Dog.’
And you just might want to get James Franklin, Penn State, and the CFP committee out of his face.
On Wednesday’s First Take, Russo, sticking to his infamous brand of raising his voice a few decibels when certain things in the sports world don’t pass the smell test, voiced his frustration to Stephen A. Smith and Paul Finebaum about the 8-1 Nittany Lions being ranked No. 4.
That puts them squarely ahead of undefeated Indiana and BYU.
Based on the current CFP rankings, Penn State would host a first-round playoff game as a projected No. 6. They’d welcome No. 11 Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin to Beaver Stadium and State College, which can be a host site despite speculation otherwise.
But Russo isn’t worried about the logistics; he’s concerned about Penn State’s credibility.
“Penn State? Which is an embarrassment in a big game! They’re the fourth-best team in the country?” asked Russo. “Let’s have Penn State play Georgia and ask Vegas what the line would be. Georgia would be a 10-point favorite in that game, for crying out loud. That’s what drives me crazy.”
Smith conceded Russo had a point but argued he might be overstating Penn State’s 20-13 loss to Ohio State. But Russo’s argument seems more in line with a James Franklin-led team falling short in a big moment rather than its lone blemish being a 7-point loss to the second-best team in the country (Ohio State).
And there’s the fact that BYU and Indiana have yet to lose.
If Russo feels this way about a 1-loss Penn State team, we shouldn’t dare ask how he feels about a 3-loss SEC team.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.