CLEVELAND, Ohio — College football has a peculiar phenomenon that exists in no other sport: the “quality loss.”

It’s a concept that suggests losing closely to a great team is somehow equivalent, if not more impressive, than actually beating a good one.

This week’s AP Poll brings this contradiction into sharp focus, with Tennessee (No. 14) and Notre Dame (No. 12) benefiting enormously from this questionable logic.

Josh Pate posed a critical question on a recent episode of his college football show that cuts to the heart of this issue.

“My question is what are your best wins?” Pate asked. “At what point do we stop crediting you solely for losing close to really good teams and start asking, okay, but also have you beaten anybody worthwhile?”

This gets to a fundamental flaw in how we eval

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