Iowa State, SMU ADs have war of words after latest CFP rankings: ‘Stay off my lawn!’

Usually, schools and fans wait until the College Football Playoff is officially set before hurling criticism and scrutiny toward the selection committee, but that did not happen Tuesday night.

Iowa State Cyclones athletics director Jamie Pollard and SMU Mustangs athletics director Rick Hart got into a tiff on social media following the penultimate rankings release. 

The Mustangs will vie for an ACC Championship with an 11-1 record and a nine-game winning streak, while the Cyclones (10-2) will compete for a Big 12 title with a win likely being their only shot at making the College Football Playoff.

That did not appear to sit well with Pollard.

“Disappointing that strength of schedule clearly does not matter for SMU, Indiana and Boise State. Message is clear – win as many games as possible regardless of who you play,” Pollard wrote on X. “Time to rethink non-conference scheduling. Very different standards than the basketball committee.”

Iowa State was not among the 12 teams in the playoff in Tuesday’s rankings. SMU was ranked third.

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Hart fired back at Pollard.

“Jamie, respect you but bad take. ISU had No. D, Iowa, Ark. St. non-con. SMU had Nev., HCU, TCU, BYU. (And scrambled due to Vandy dropping us.) SMU 1 of 2 to win all conf. games, 1 of 3 with 9 P4 wins, trailed a TOTAL of 6+ mins. last 9 games. I could go on… Stay off my lawn!” he wrote on X.

Pollard fired back.

“Rick, beat Clemson Saturday and I will respect your ranking,” Pollard wrote. “Until then you did not play Clemson, Miami, Georgia Tech or Syracuse AND lost to BYU at home. Looks like your lawn may be artificial.”

Hart added the school “will continue to control what we can control.”

A lot is riding on the conference championship games to determine the final seeding. 

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