This is the time of year when teams fighting for spots in the College Football Playoff might be tempted to run up big margins in hopes of impressing the selection committee.Whether that strategy actually makes a difference is up for debate.Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, who chairs the College Football Playoff committee, says the committee doesnt take margin of victory into account.We talk about how that team has performed each and every week, Hocutt said. We talk about `Was that a convincing win? ... I believe, in certain games a convincing win can be a 14-0 score, and in other games it can be a 35-7 score. I think in the game of college football, a convincing win can vary. But in no way do we incent margin of victory.Yet that didnt stop Louisville coach Bobby Petrino from bringing up margin of victory recently when he complained about his teams position in the rankings. Maybe I made a mistake, looking back at it, he said. (Against) Florida State, we shouldve kept all the starters in and scored 80 points and done that.Louisville beat Florida State 63-20 on Sept. 17, though the Cardinals playoff hopes suffered a major blow Thursday night when they fell 36-10 at Houston.Of course, scoring 80 against Florida State technically shouldnt have mattered to the committee if it isnt taking margin of victory into account. But how do the committee members not pay attention to the actual scores of games?I think they do to some degree, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. Thats probably the best way to say it. I think they take all of it into consideration. But its a very bright group that, in some cases, it probably doesnt matter too much to them, and in some cases it does.Jeff Sagarin, who has his own rating system to rank teams, says common sense shows that the playoff committee does factor in the scores of each game. Sagarin cited the 2014 season, when eventual national champion Ohio State leapfrogged TCU to earn the fourth playoff spot after trouncing Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten championship game.Their problem is if they ever verbalize, `Oh, we look at scores, then people will castigate them for encouraging teams to run up the score, so they have to pretend they dont, Sagarin said.Sagarin says his own ratings are based on who did you play, where did you play and what was the score. His rankings at the start of this week were virtually identical to the CFP rankings, with one notable exception.The CFP rankings had Clemson fourth and Louisville fifth, while Sagarins ratings reversed the order of those two Atlantic Coast Conference teams. Those rankings were done before Louisvilles loss to Houston. Both the CFP and Sagarin had Alabama first, Ohio State second, Michigan third and Washington sixth.You get better accuracy predicting future games when you use the score, Sagarin said. Thats all I can say about it. If people want to ignore the scores, thats their business, but the committee, I dont think they do (ignore the scores).Alabama coach Nick Saban, whose team has appeared in each of the first two playoffs, says he doesnt believe margin of victory should be factored into the CFP rankings.I dont think that beating another team by an embarrassing score really should be something that (should be rewarded) from a sportsmanship standpoint or a common respect standpoint for the other team and their players and their families, Saban said. Thats not really something that should be a part of the game.But Hocutt acknowledged the committee discusses what constitutes a convincing win. How often has the eye test come up as a way to judge a team during the playoff era? Sagarin notes the frequent references to style points.Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher recalls the example of his 2014 team that went undefeated in the regular season but only earned a No. 3 seed in the playoff behind Alabama and Oregon, who had each lost a game. Florida State played several close games that year, and committee members often referred to the Seminoles lack of game control without specifically mentioning scores.We were undefeated, hadnt lost in two years, but game control, Fisher said this week. I havent heard `game control anymore. Did that one go out of the equation?Ohio State coach Urban Meyer says he doesnt mind a scenario in which the committee considers how well a team played without specifically analyzing the victory margin. Meyer was concerned that if the victory margin becomes an ultimate measuring stick, teams might start acting ...I guess the term is very unsportsmanlike.Im hoping the committee -- I have great confidence there -- just looks at the body of work, the strength of schedule and how they played, Meyer said.The dilemma in that approach is determining how a team played without considering victory margin. That backs up Sagarins notion that scores are taken into consideration, whether or not the committee says so.Its not something evil, Sagarin said. Scores reflect what happened in the game. Thats all.---AP Sports Writers Cliff Brunt, Joe Reedy and John Zenor contributed to this report.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Steve Megargee at www.twitter.com/stevemegargee Nick Bosa Super Bowl Jersey . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. 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RENTON, Wash. -- Pete Carroll took responsibility Monday for the poor performance by the undermanned Seattle Seahawks against Tampa Bay.There is optimism, though, that a number of starters that missed the loss to the Buccaneers will be back for next Sundays game against Carolina.I dont think that this is a trend or this is a turn in the wrong direction or any of that kind of stuff. I think we had a bad outing and were going to get right this week and get back at it, Carroll said.After stringing together their two best offensive performances of the season against the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, the Seahawks tripped all over themselves Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Russell Wilson was sacked six times and hit 11 times in total. Thomas Rawls managed just 38 yards on 12 carries and Seattle turned the ball over three times in a 14-5 defeat. Wilson was intercepted twice, once each by Alterraun Verner and Bradley McDougald. It was just the sixth time in his career hes thrown multiple interceptions in a regular-season game.However, the biggest area of concern centered on the struggles of the offensive line.Nobody played very well. We had problems, Carroll said.It should come as no surprise at this point. The unit has taken its share of blame throughout the season for Seattles sputtering offensive attack.Seattle didnt convert a single third down until the final possession of the game. Wilson was pressured relentlessly as thhree rookies up front -- left tackle George Fant, right guard Germain Ifedi and center Joey Hunt, making his first start for an injured Justin Britt -- struggled to handle the Buccaneers pass rushers.ddddddddddddIt was the third time this season the Seahawks offense failed to score a touchdown.I thought it was really clear that we were just clearly off, Carroll said. Weve played 11 games and I think this is the first time weve really felt like that.Seattle is set to get a slew of reinforcements back as soon as this week.Defensive end Michael Bennett is expected to return to the lineup after missing the last five games following knee surgery. Linebacker Mike Morgan is set to be activated off injured reserve after eight weeks away due to a sports hernia surgery. Britt will be ready to go this week as well.In addition, free safety Earl Thomas and cornerback DeShawn Shead each have a chance to make it back from hamstring strains that kept them out against the Buccaneers.DeShawn I think is a little bit ahead, Carroll said. Earl ran really hard today and had a good workout. Well have to see as we get through the week.Running back Troymaine Pope (high-ankle sprain), defensive end Damontre Moore (foot contusion) and linebacker Brock Coyle (foot sprain) also have a chance to return this week against the Carolina Panthers. ' ' '