The Tulane Green Wave kept destiny in their control with the latest College Football Playoff rankings, but it felt a little ridiculous that unranked ACC teams jumped them and teams who lost stayed in front of them while they remained at No. 24 in the rankings despite their most complete win of the season against the Temple Owls.

Many expected not only the Green Wave to move up in the Week 13 standings, but they also fairly anticipated another Group of Five program entering the rankings. Mainly, the 10-1 North Texas Mean Green and James Madison Dukes.

It’s a question of where the committee views each of them. Is one of them in the top 30, if not both? Because without that context, it’s hard to envision what would happen should Tulane not win out. Or what if they barely beat the 49ers? Does the Mean Green losing their head coach to the Oklahoma State Cowboys ding the American overall?

It seems guaranteed that if the Green Wave win out, that they should be guaranteed that spot in the College Football Playoff. They can’t control the caliber of their Week 14 opponent. So many SEC programs schedule out-of-conference cream puffs this time of year and are rewarded by rankings jumps. G5 teams are not awarded that same boost. College Football Playoff Selection Committee Chair Hunter Yurachek couldn’t even give a direct answer when asked about whether there’s a scenario where Tulane wins out and is still jumped in the rankings for the G5 spot.

“We don't try to predict what's going to happen in future games. Tulane is in a really good position at No. 24. They are the highest-ranked group of 6 teams. I know they have a game to close out the season and most likely the American Athletic Conference Championship Game, and I think as long as Tulane takes care of their business, they would be in good shape.”

Sure, the committee doesn’t try to predict the future of game outcomes. That’s assuredly why they ranked an unranked SMU Mustangs squad who beat an unranked team at No. 21 above the Green Wave, and why they kept a Georgia Tech Yellowjackets squad who literally lost to another unranked ACC team at No. 23, and said unranked opponent, the Pittsburgh Panthers, came in at No. 22.

It's understandable why Group of Five fans are PO’ed at the sham of a process that these rankings really are, when they all but guaranteed one of four possible ACC champs a spot over a potentially deserving G5 squad.

Tulane is frankly a bit lucky that they had this schedule in advance. They did win the games in front of them they needed to. But it shows a serious issue with a process in which should be primarily decided on the field.