SMQ: The anatomy of a college football trap game

1. A trap game involves a ranked team against an unranked opponent

When two unranked teams meet on any given Saturday, the stakes usually just aren’t high enough to classify that contest as a potential trap. It isn’t something that sneaks up on the radar, because it doesn’t merit the crossover interest that grabs the attention of casual fans.

And when two ranked teams meet each other, the quality of the opponent is too high to rank as a trap game. Rather than being considered trapped, the loser is perceived to have lost to a worthy foe.  Showcases are showcases, too big to sneak up on anybody.

There are certainly qualifiers, as nothing involving a trap game is a hard and fast rule. Some, for instance, might consider Wake Forest’s game against Appalachian State a potential trap for the undefeated Demon Deacons. Not everyone can be ranked, after all, and sometimes a trap will involve a team that lingers outside the polls.

The critical factor for traps, then, is that they involve two teams that are perceived to be of different quality. When there is a number next to one team’s name and not the other in a particular showdown, that is usually a good indicator of such a gulf.

That can also manifest itself in the form of a Power Five team playing a Group of Five or FCS school, where the opponent’s quality is less obvious due to their obscurity. It is a game where most could easily point and say which team should win the matchup.