With all due respect to Rece Davis, Booger McFarland, Joey Galloway, and Greg McElroy, their analysis of the College Football Playoff rankings now serves as noise that skews a publicly available signal.
Warde Manuel, Michigan athletic director and chair of the CFP selection committee, jumps on a conference call every week after the rankings are released to talk with reporters about the rankings the committee he leads publishes.
The relative strength—or lack thereof—of Texas’ schedule is a contentious topic in college football media. “Who have they defeated?” is a frequently asked question.
What was the committee’s reaction? They have nine of the ten teams scheduled. Manuel’s first question on Tuesday night concerned the difference between No. 3 Texas and No. 10 Georgia, who defeated the Longhorns 30–15 in Austin. Those who asked the questions were focused on the outcome on the field.
To be honest, even though there are now 12 teams in the field this year, having a low number of losses is no longer the hallmark of a playoff lock. The final four-team playoff edition did not include a Power Conference squad that finished the 2023 season with a perfect record. The committee made it apparent that they are considering more than just win-loss records by boxing out Florida State last year, which exposed them to these kinds of inquiries.
Even though that’s a stark contrast to how most people view college football, Manuel at least made an effort to explain his committee’s November 19 ranking of 9-1 Texas No. 3 and 8-2 Georgia No. 10. Q. Could you briefly explain the differences between Georgia and Texas? They obviously faced off against each other; Georgia is seven slots ahead of Texas, despite Georgia’s top-25 victories. There, I hoped to gain some understanding.
We simply stared at them, pondered, and, I should add, went out with them at three. It has nothing to do with Georgia. Georgia is a fantastic team, but they had a difficult game against Ole Miss at Ole Miss. However, they had a fantastic victory over Tennessee last week. In the coming weeks, we’ll keep an eye on both teams to see how things progress. At least at this point, Manuel’s committee’s findings are that Texas deserves a lofty ranking because of how it has…
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