You win over a ranked team and you get credit for a big win over a ranked team. You win against a conference foe who isn’t ranked and you got a win against a quality program. This vaults you up the rankings. You lose in either scenario and you hardly get dinged since either way you get a quality loss. Voters keep voting those teams high so every week you get a quality win or loss and maintain your ranking anyway.

If you’re in the ACC or XII, any loss to any caliber of team launches you way down the rankings. A win against a good or even ranked team and you don’t get much credit. A close win over an unranked team is almost treated like a loss.

It’s more of a beauty contest than ever. On field results don’t really count as much as perception of on field results. Unless you’re in one of those conferences.