Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson doesn't bother looking at college football rankings or where the Hurricanes' opponents stand in the polls. His sole focus is scoring as many points as he can with Darian Mensah, Malachi Toney and one of the nation's most explosive offenses while building No. 4 Miami's resume before the College Football Playoff Selection Committee makes its final picks. Dawson took aim at the SEC, which boasts 10 teams in the latest AP Top 25, and at various poll structures this week as major issues in college football.
"There should be no such thing as preseason rankings," Dawson said Monday. "That's the most ridiculous thing on the planet. That's the stupidest thing.
People weight those things way heavier than they should. You shouldn't have a ranking until October. "(Texas) A&M was ranked in the top 5 ... how does that look right now?
If anything is predictable of the future, it's the past. We sit here and look at schedules and everything's SEC, SEC ... well yeah, they have all their teams in the top 25, good for you, at the end of the year half of them won't be in the top 30." Dawson's been around for the entirety of Mario Cristobal's tenure at Miami, and during that stretch, the Hurricanes are 5-0 against SEC competition. Shannon Dawson thinks preseason rankings are stupid, and says it gives people talking points that are idiots. pic.twitter.com/6rUU1nqKj8 In last season's College Football Playoff, Miami beat Texas A&M and Ole Miss prior to reaching the National Championship.
Mensah, Dawson's new signal caller, leads the FBS in completion rate (88.7%), touchdown passes (14) and quarterback rating (228.0) this season. "We'll count those chips up at the end of the year," Dawson said. "That's why there shouldn't be rankings because you give people talking points that are idiots who don't know what they're doing.
It's like playing poker -- count the chips up at the end. You don't know at the beginning. The fact we have preseason rankings is unbelievable to me and the fact people pay attention to them is more unreal." Many have harped on Miami's strength of schedule this season relative to other national title contenders and have pointed out the lack of nationally ranked opponents the Hurricanes have to play.
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