The first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings is out, and as always there is a lot of controversy. However, Georgia football comes in as the No. 3 team in the country, which is around where everyone thought they would be.
Oregon tops the rankings at No. 1 which again is no surprise to anyone, but the part where there is some debate is why Ohio State got the nod at No. 2 ahead of Georgia.
CFP Chairman Warde Manuel took some questions during the release show on Tuesday, and one of the first questions asked was why Ohio State was ranked above Georgia. Here is what Manuel had to say.
"Well, both are solid teams, as you know," CFP Chairman Warde Manuel said during Tuesday night's release show. "Ohio State's one loss on the road was against the No. 1 team, and they lost by one. They had an impressive win this past weekend at Penn State, and they have been very consistent."
"So for us, it was the consistency. Georgia, very good team, great win against Texas, a win over Clemson. Consistency in terms of their offense. They've had some inconsistencies there, but they have great defense, and they're allowing only 17 points per game. It was a close analysis, but in the end we just felt that Ohio State was a more consistent performer at this point in time, and their loss to the No. 1 -- their only loss is to No. 1 Oregon, and that's how the committee came out with the decision."
Ohio State has a better loss
According to Manuel, Ohio State is ranked above Georgia because their one loss is better than Georgia's loss. According to the CFP's rankings, this is technically true because Ohio State's loss was to No. 1 Oregon and Georgia's loss was to No. 11 Alabama. But if the committee was being honest with themselves, this is essentially the same loss, but it does favor Ohio State slightly.
Both teams best wins are very similar as well. Georgia knocked off Texas on the road while Ohio State beat Penn State on the road. But this time, the slight edge goes to Georgia.
So these two "metrics" essentially even each other out. Manual did also discuss how Ohio State has looked more consistent than Georgia has this year which is true, but factoring in these team's strength of schedule may explain why that is. Georgia has the No. 1 strength of schedule in the country while Ohio State is No. 19. So of course Ohio State will look more consistent because their schedule has been easier.
At the end of the day however, this dispute doesn't really matter. The top four seeds in the College Football Playoff bracket are reserved for the four highest ranked conference champions, meaning both Oregon and Ohio State can't be in the top four together. So as it stands today, Kirby Smart's squad is the No. 2 seed in the CFP bracket, which arguably is what matters more.