Tag: cfp rankings

Ohio State stayed atop the College Football Playoff Rankings with the latest release, but there’s still plenty to discuss.

Each week, after the rankings are revealed, the College Football Playoff Committee holds a teleconference for select media members to answer questions about the discussions and process used to rank the teams into their respective slots.

We’re a part of those and we’d like to pass on what the Playoff Selection Committee Chair Rob Mullens had to say about Ohio State. So, here goes after the penultimate rankings …

On the overall comments from the selection committee on the Buckeyes:

Our next-to-final rankings are done. As you have seen, the committee ranked Ohio State as the No. 1 team in the nation, LSU as No. 2, Clemson as No. 3, and Georgia as No. 4. The top four teams did not change. There are many other changes that did take place, and I would be happy to discuss the committee’s thinking with you for all the teams that we ranked. Obviously this weekend’s conference championship games will be crucial to determining the final rankings. I, along with my fellow committee members, look forward to returning do Dallas in just a few days to watch those games and complete our work.

On how the committee measures performance on the field versus margin of victory.

Question from the media: You’ve talked before about how the committee
doesn’t incentivize margin of victory. The number one thing on the list is always performance on the field. How do you reconcile those two things? The best way to show a really strong performance on the field is to win by a lot of points. How does the committee figure that out?

ROB MULLENS: Watching how a team plays. Whether somebody has a big lead and keeps pouring it on late in the game is irrelevant. It’s really how you perform up until that point.

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On measuring teams that play in conference championship games:

Question from the media: Having gone through this the last few years, on that last set of rankings, when you have to handle teams that lost, played an extra game and lost in their conference title games, are you mindful of how far they fall relative to teams that aren’t playing that week, or is it handled pretty much the same as any other week?

ROB MULLENS: Good question.

We are very mindful because they’re all division champs. It is an honor to play in the conference championship game. So we are mindful of what they’ve accomplished during the regular season.

On the committee’s different perception of LSU and Ohio State than the traditional polls:

Question from the media: What does the committee see is the difference between Ohio State and LSU that the writers and the coaches and the polls don’t?

ROB MULLENS: Two really, really good teams, first of all. That’s what the committee sees. Ohio State now with their impressive win over Michigan on the road has four wins over top-25 teams. LSU has three very impressive wins over top-25 teams. As we’ve talked in past weeks, both really have dynamic offenses, both have good defenses. Ohio State’s is just a little ahead at this point.

On comparing resume vs. the eye test:

Question from the media:You mentioned last week the committee thought Ohio State has more of an eye test compared to LSU, which had been No. 1 the week before. This week it sounds like the résumé in terms of top-25 wins accounts for a lot. As you get closer to the end, does résumé begin to count for a little bit more in terms of where you rank these teams?

ROB MULLENS: No, it all counts. I don’t think we said last week that one thing was more than another. I think, again, we said both those teams were very good teams. Obviously we recognize the wins against ranked opponents, the overall schedule strength, as well as how they’re performing on the field, offense, defense and special teams. Two great teams.

Next … Rankings timing and Ohio State vs. LSU

The latest College Football Playoff Rankings are out and there’s a new No. 1, your Ohio State Buckeyes. It’s the second time OSU has topped the poll after it was the top ranked team during the first release of 2019.

Each week, after the rankings are revealed, the CFP Committee holds a teleconference for select media members to answer questions about the discussions and process used to rank the teams into their respective slots.

We’re a part of those and we’d like to pass on what the Playoff Selection Committee Chair Rob Mullens had to say about Ohio State. So, here goes after the fourth release …

On the overall comments from the selection committee on the Buckeyes:

Ohio State has been a complete team all year, and their win against Penn State impressed the committee. They are ranked No. 1.

On what tells the committee Ohio State is a more complete team than anyone else:

Question from the media: You mentioned a couple times now about the
idea of the complete team that the committee sees Ohio State being. In what way is the committee sort of quantifying that? What is telling this committee
that Ohio State is a more complete team than anyone else?

ROB MULLENS: Competing consistently and really highly ranked on offense and defense, performing at a high level in both.

Follow Up Question: Do you guys correct that for strength of schedule, too? Is it relative to who they played? How are you guys measuring that?

ROB MULLENS: Sure, we see it all. We see the full resume, and there are relative statistics, as well.

Another Follow Up Question: Just to follow up on that, what was the difference, though, this week about Ohio State that put them over LSU because you have said that they’ve been a complete team all season.

ROB MULLENS: They have, but they added their third win against a ranked opponent over Penn State, who we have ranked No. 10.

On comparing teams despite the difference in strength of schedules:

Question from the media: You’ve got a few comparisons throughout the poll of teams that clearly don’t have as many good wins, top-25 wins as somebody that’s fairly comparable, but they’ve been much more dominant
than the teams that do have those quality wins. How do you gauge and judge that dichotomy, where you’ve got a team that’s played maybe a better schedule but has not been as dominant to the team that maybe didn’t?

ROB MULLENS: Well, it’s never just one factor. That’s the beauty of having 13 football experts in the room who watch the games, who study it. That’s exactly the kind of conversation that you would have. Who are the wins against, who are the losses against, and then what do you see when you watch the games.

On the committee’s evaluation of offense vs. defense:

Question from the media:You were just speaking about complete teams and using offensive and defensive statistics as a way to measure that. I was just wondering, does the committee look at offensive statistics and defensive statistics any differently? Do they favor one or the other? Do they view if a team has a weaker defense more favorably than a weaker offense, if you follow what I’m saying?

ROB MULLENS: No, we look at them all equally. And again, that’s just one piece of what we look at. We do watch the games. We see the full resume. We understand who they’ve played, the results. That’s just one piece of it. But no, we don’t favor one or the other.

On how the committee views rivalry games:

Question from the media: How does the committee view rivalry games? Do
you look at them through the same contest that you would just a regular game or do you take that into account when you’re grading a team based on performance in one of those?

ROB MULLENS: No, we look at it as a regular game. Obviously we understand where it’s played, whether it’s home or on the road.

Next … Rivalry games and Ohio State vs. LSU