Opinion: Joel Klatt Needs To Rethink Some Opinions

     As many football fans know, we have a lot of analysts that are just idiots on national TV when talking about sports, and we often times end up feeling like we could do a better job for free (sometimes, I know I'm doing a better job for free...). It's one of the most frustrating things in the world of sports journalism that with all of the competition in this field that we don't have the very best working on all of the networks.

     You may recognize Joel Klatt. He's become a respected FOX Sports analyst and Play by Play commentator for FOX's College Football Game of the Week alongside Gus Johnson, and can call a tremendous game from the press box. He was a walk on quarterback at Colorado between 2002 and 2005, and won the starting job as a sophomore. So he knows the game of football and he can say some really good stuff.

     One of the analysts I have the utmost respect for is FOX Sports Network Host Colin Cowherd. He is the host of The Herd, a three hour program that plays weekdays on FS1, and follows it up with Speak For Yourself with Jason Whitlock, another hour long show that airs weekdays on FS1. He's highly opinionated but he uses logic and common sense to form his opinions. He's written books that make sense and his analysis I usually take in high regard.

     He had Klatt on The Herd on Wednesday to talk about the College Football Rankings. I've got the recording for you here, just go ahead and take a look at it.

     Here's the problem with what Klatt said.

     First off, his top four is, in order, Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame and Ohio State. This was my top four so, even with the results this past week, we're not going to go into the whole thing with Ohio State getting blown out on the road by Iowa. Just take note of his top four, especially that number one Alabama ranking.

     Next, he tries to knock Alabama's schedule as "weak". He says that they purposely schedule non-power five opponents to make their schedule easier. He uses them as an example to why Wisconsin shouldn't be getting knocked as the only undefeated team in the Big Ten. Then, to make matters worse, he tries to say that BYU is a legitimate opponent. What?! BYU?

     His argument is that when Wisconsin scheduled BYU, they were scheduling a 10 win team that would look good on the resume. Just because BYU is having a down year (they're 2-8, by the way, with wins over Portland State and San Jose State) doesn't mean that Wisconsin should be penalized.

     So wait, Mr. Klatt. What your saying is that if Wisconsin is being penalized for having a weak schedule because they scheduled an away game at BYU to be the marquee out of conference game on their schedule, Alabama should be penalized as well for taking on Florida State in a neutral site? Excuse me, has BYU ever been talked about as a National Title Contender since the days of Ty Detmer or Steve Young? No.

     Florida State was Alabama's marquee matchup, in a season-opening neutral site location at the Falcons brand new stadium in Atlanta. Florida State was suppose to make a run at the playoff this season. They were suppose to contend with Clemson. However, things change and the thing that changed this season for the Seminals was quarterback Deondre Francois was knocked out for the season with five minutes to play in the game against Alabama.

     BYU didn't loose a starting quarterback before they played Wisconsin. They played that game pretty healthy. They're just a very poor team this year, that make a lot of mistakes and have a lot of unfilled holes. If you still want to fight Wisconsin's scheduling, they brought on Utah State and Florida Atlantic to be their other out of conference opponents. They're out of conference opponents have compiled a 13-16 record. Alabama took on Florida State, Fresno State and Colorado State, who have compiled a 15-12 record.

     The weirdest fact about this analysis that Klatt offered is that he's criticizing his very own top ranked team! He doesn't even have Wisconsin in his top four! So, the Playoff Committee obviously looked at the schedule as part of the reason why Georgia is ranked over Alabama, and took his own words in better then he did. 

     Klatt's own logic defies itself. And Cowherd agreed with him on this point! This is one of the most frustrating things about sports journalism. People say things and formulate opinions because of their dislike for an organization that holds excellence as a standard. Alabama holds excellence as a standard and they are constantly not acknowledged by the media and instead are blatantly disrespected. The New England Patriots hold excellence as a standard. They're constantly disrespected. Sports networks don't like teams that do this because it doesn't sell. No, to see a team that plays consistently and strives for greatness is a treat.

     I'm not calling for a twitter outbreak toward Klatt or Cowherd. I'm just taking time to call out Klatt, and Cowherd, on his own foolishness so hopefully he can read this and provide us with better analysis. The idea is to think about what you say before you say it, and don't start an argument unless it's solid and it backs up. An argument is all about the presentation. That's how you win debates.