ATHENS — Georgia’s first win over a team ranked in the CFP Top 25 was enough to get the program into the conversation for the No. 1 spot this week.
The CFP committee ultimately left Ohio State atop its second poll of the season with the Bulldogs remaining at No. 2, but not without some debate.
“I can assure we talked about it early, we talked about it in the middle and we talked about it late,” Boo Corrigan, the CFP committee chairman, said on the Tuesday night media call.
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“The (Ohio State) win over Rutgers, a Top 20 defense, (they) put up 28 points, another 7 on a Pick 6,” he said, expounding on the Buckeyes’ impressive resume.
“TreVeyon Henderson being back for his second game, the win over Penn State, the roa wins over (No. 10) Notre Dame, the road win over (No. 20) Wisconsin … seven wins over teams with winning records really drove the day.”
Georgia’s 30-21 home win over current No. 14 Missouri was UGA’s fourth over an FBS team with a winning record.
The Bulldogs will face yet another CFP Top team when newly minted No. 9 Ole Miss comes to Sanford Stadium for a 7 p.m. showdown on Saturday.
Georgia’s rank at No. 2 ahead of undefeated programs at Michigan, Florida State and Washington should not be taken lightly, as the latter two have more challenging strength of schedule rankings.
Corrigan indicated to DawgNation last week that UGA’s wins over Florida and Kentucky were impressive enough that the CFP considered level of play as much as statistics and other metrics.
“You look at the rivalry game with Florida,” Corrigan said, “and the way they played against Kentucky to win that 51-13.”
CFP Week Two Top 10
1. Ohio State
2. Georgia
3. Michigan
4. Florida State
5. Washington
6. Oregon
7. Texas
8. Alabama
9. Ole Miss
10. Penn State
There were rumblings over the fact that the Crimson Tide did not move up in the CFP rankings after beating LSU last Saturday night in a much-anticipated game.
DawgNation asked the CFP committee chairman about the relevance of transitional properties, with Texas beating Alabama earlier this season, and if the Longhorns’ making a QB change since that win is taken into account.
“Every game matters, winning matters, etc.,” Corrigan said. “The beauty of this committee to me is not driven by watching games, it’s not driven specifically by the resume or the metrics, and we work really hard to take everything in.
“Malik Murphy had a good game this week for Texas, and Jalen Milroe has continued to come on and all credit to Coach Saban and what they’ve done down there at Alabama.”
Corrigan emphasized the Longhorns’ 34-24 win in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 9 does indeed carry as much weight as the rankings suggest when asked why the Tide didn’t move up from No. 8, and he noted the success Dan Lanning has had with the Ducks.
“Head to head is really important,” Corrigan said during the ESPN broadcast, later adding during the media call that the Texas win over Alabama was “a significant game overall this season.
,“That, as well as Oregon continuing to play really well with their win over Utah and the balance of the Top 5 offense and Top 15 defense.”