There's nothing worse than agreeing with Danny Kanell even though it happens quite a bit, and more times than not, his crusade against the ridiculous "norms" of college football is admirable. Brian Kelly, on the other hand, has no such redeeming qualities.
Kelly didn't seem to understand why Shannon Dawson was so rankled about preseason rankings and the overall rankings system in general, and he had to speak about it. The former Notre Dame and LSU coach said that the rankings don't matter because the CFP committee decides everything.
Miami Offensive Coordinator, Shannon Dawson, made some waves last week sounding off about preseason rankings.@CoachBrianKelly, @dannykanell & @RoyPhilpott react to those comments and debate if preseason rankings are necessary. pic.twitter.com/gj2zq2sZYl
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) October 5, 2026
"Prepare yourself, your team, your players. . .[the rankings] are all just noise, and it doesn't need to be addressed," Kelly said. "I just think it's part of the business. . . It's good for advertising, it's good for the entertainment business, it's good for the sport," he said.
At least I think that's what Kelly said, it's harder to understand him without the Cajun accent.
Preseason rankings are silly, and Brian Kelly shouldn't defend them
After some guy named Roy Philpott piggybacked on Kelly's feelings, Kanell actually brought some logic to this conversation by saying, yes, the rankings do matter because the committee is made of human beings that can be influenced by outside noise. There's no such thing as being impartial, and the members of the committee know that. That's why they will send a member out of the room when discussing a team that might be a conflict of interest to them.
College football is based on tradition and, in the current landscape of sports, that's a blessing and a curse. It's great that the sport embraces a rich history, but it also means that those blueblood teams and those that are affiliated with them always seem to get the benefit of the doubt.
Preseason rankings aren't about quality; they are about names, and it doesn't seem fair that teams are being held to a standard that no longer exists in a world where rosters change year-to-year, and the NIL era has changed the competitive balance for programs that previously weren't a factor but have deep pockets and can spend freely. Two years ago, there was a concerted effort from ESPN to disparage Indiana's worthiness of making the playoffs. A year later, the Hoosiers were the first team in the modern era to go 16-0.
Dawson wasn't necessarily speaking up for Miami. He doesn't have to. Miami has the respect of college football and the committee. The Hurricanes have five national championships and defined an era. They are fine.
But Duke is 5-0 with a road win against Illinois, and somehow the Blue Devils are behind Wisconsin in receiving votes. Wake Forest has a road win over Louisville and played Miami as tough as anyone this season, and they aren't ranked, while two teams that have losses of at least 28 points on their resume — Florida and Mississippi State — are firmly in the top 20. That's where Dawson's issues come from. The teams aren't being judged on what they are as much as what they were or the conference they are affiliated with.
Dawson was speaking about a system that still has far too much influence on the people who do matter. Rankings are entertainment for fans, but they are a major influence on how the teams are regarded and respected. Would the elimination of preseason rankings solve that problem? Not necessarily, but it would be a move in the right direction
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