ATHENS — Ohio State was ranked ahead of Georgia in the first CFP Rankings, but the Bulldogs would be seeded higher than the Buckeyes in the 12-team playoffs if the season ended today.
That might sound confusing to those who haven’t followed the quirks of this new playoff system, which stipulate the four highest-ranked conference champions get the top four seeds and a first-round bye.
At the moment, those top four seeds -- seeds can be different than the rankings -- would be:
1. Oregon (Big Ten)
2. Georgia (SEC)
3. Miami (ACC)
4. BYU (Big 12)
So with Oregon at No. 1, it is the top-ranked team from the Big Ten, which relegates No. 2-ranked Big Ten member Ohio State to the top spot (No. 5) among the non-conference champion teams.
In other words, it’s a moot point that Ohio State is ranked ahead of Georgia in this current scenario where Oregon is No. 1 because only one team from each conference can be seeded among the top four.
Of course, none of it truly matters until the final CFP rankings come out on Dec. 8, the day after the conference championship games have been played.
Further, the CFP committee has said it “starts each week with a blank sheet of paper,” so the teams will be discussed, scrutinized and evaluated by the committee based on their total resumes after each week of games.
It’s possible a Georgia road win over current CFP No. 16 Ole Miss on Saturday might be enough to move the Bulldogs past Ohio State in the next CFP rankings, as Ohio State plays host to lowly Purdue on Saturday.
But for now, the Buckeyes have been deemed the higher ranked team by the 13-member CFP committee, which was pressed for its rationale in making that determination on Tuesday night.
Here are the two takeaways from comments made by CFP executive director Rich Clark and CFP chairman Warde Manuel, on why the Buckeyes are currently ranked ahead of the Bulldogs:
1. Ohio State has the better loss
ESPN’s Rece Davis asked Manuel on the CFP Show what separated Georgia from Ohio State at No. 3.
“They both had great wins in terms of on the road, Ohio State against Penn State this week, Georgia at Texas,” said Manuel, who currently serves as the athletic director at the University of Michigan.
“But what we felt was in terms of the losses they had Ohio State lost to No. 1 Oregon by one, and Georgia lost at Alabama, which is ranked No. 11, so that was really the difference. We’re splitting hairs in terms of looking at two great teams.”
Clark, a 38-year Air Force veteran, used Ohio State’s loss to Oregon as an example of how not all losses are created equally, noting how the committee found it more impressive than UGA’s loss to Alabama.
“Let’s just take the Ohio State loss to Oregon — it was one point on the road, that was an impressive game, and their performance was very strong against the No. 1 team in our ranking, as compared to a loss by Georgia to Alabama,” Clark said. It (Georgia loss) was on the road, but it didn’t have the same, I’d say, impressiveness, that the Ohio State loss did because Alabama is ranked 11 in our poll.”
2. Ohio State has been more consistent
Davis said on the CFP Show Georgia “had some moments … where they’ve had some fits and starts and had some problems,” and asked Manuel what emphasis was placed on that.
“You’re right,” Manuel said, “those games we took into consideration as part of the discussion ….”
Manuel elaborated more on the CFP conference call.
“For us, it was the consistency,” Manuel said. “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.”
There’s likely some recency bias in the rankings, as well, with Georgia struggling against unranked Florida before pulling away for the 34-20 win, while Ohio State featured a late goal-line stand to beat previously undefeated Penn State on the road by a 20-13 count.
It’s a week-to-week discussion with some insight into the statistics, data points and characteristics of the teams leading to the subjective set of rankings.
Ultimately, the 12-team bracket will come out on Dec. 8, with the championship set to be determined on the field.