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Quarterback Dak Prescott and Mississippi State fans celebrate their 38-23 win over Auburn on Oct. 11, 2014, in Starkville, Miss. (AP photo)
It makes no sense. Never has and never will, no matter how much Jeff Long tries to explain it.
Not the actual inaugural ranking by the College Football Playoff committee, but more on that in a minute.
The thing that's more illogical than Bo Wallace throwing deep at LSU with seconds remaining is the fact that the committee felt the need to release a ranking Oct. 28.
Some teams have played seven games while others have played eight. Some teams have yet to play the better teams on their schedules while others were tested early and often.
As hard as it is to distinguish between teams after they've all played 12 or 13 times, it's even more of a shot in the dark to do it three days before Halloween.
Everyone's body of work is missing an arm and a leg.
Archie Manning was lucky to have a note from his doctor to get out of this tedious and unnecessary assignment. All this make-work does is divert the committee members from the truly important task at hand.
It's nice that Louisville squeaked into the first ranking at No. 25, but the only attention Condi Rice and friends need to pay to Bobby Petrino and Mike Dyer will come Thursday night when their Cardinals get to be the good guys against Florida State.
Does the NCAA Division I Basketball Committee come out with a top 25 midway through the conference season in February and every week after that until Selection Sunday?
Of course not. There's no need.
But there was ESPN's Rece Davis anyway Tuesday night, delivering the most unimportant verdict on the network since that day's edition of Around the Horn. We all watched as if it were the O.J. verdict.
As for the ranking itself, it was our first glimpse into the minds of the 12 committee members, and it was refreshing to see them put a BB in a number of misconceptions. At least for one week.
SEC fans worried that the committee would try to spread the love across the country had to be thrilled to see three teams from the league in the top four in No. 1 Mississippi State, No. 3 Auburn and No. 4 Ole Miss. It was four in the top six with No. 6 Alabama and five in the top 11 with No. 11 Georgia.
Can't wait for Bo Pelini to accuse Tom Osborne of SEC bias.
Football fans concerned that the committee would lean toward brand names as the pollsters tend to do had to appreciate that one-loss Ole Miss was placed ahead of one-loss Alabama. No doubt Ole Miss 23, Alabama 17 was the biggest factor in that order, as it should've been, all else being close to equal.
Notre Dame haters who feared the Fighting Irish would pop up in the top four because they almost beat Florida State had to turn cartwheels when they landed at No. 10. It appears the committee values quality wins more than quality losses.
Good to know since you play to win the game.
For all the angst leading up to Tuesday's unveiling and all the anger it unleashed among the Crimson Nation in particular, a little perspective, please. The only constant about this weekly process will be chaos.
Starting this Saturday night in Oxford when Auburn visits Ole Miss with a second defeat looming for the loser, there are four games left among the four SEC West teams in the top six.
The only guarantee is that ESPN will draw a huge ratings number every Tuesday night as those of us who are suckers for college football track the inevitable shuffling to come.
Mississippi State, FSU, Auburn and Ole Miss may feel good about starting in the top four, but they have as much chance of finishing there - as a group - as Danny Kanell has of succeeding Mike Slive.