On the overall comments from the selection committee on the Buckeyes:
Good afternoon. At 10:50 last night,the committee gathered. We met until 1:00 in themmorning, and we met again this morning beginning at 8:00 a.m. Our rankings are complete, and you’ve seen them. The committee ranked LSU No. 1, Ohio StateNo. 2, Clemson No. 3 and Oklahoma No. 4. Here’s why:
The committee holds LSU and Ohio State in the highest regard. We flipped them between 1 and 2 three times this season. That’s what happens when you work off of a clean sheet of paper with two teams that are so closely matched. LSU’s dominating performance against an excellent Georgia team was a final piece of information that influenced the committee’s vote. LSU’s wins were against Georgia, Florida, Auburn and Alabama, ranked 5, 9, 12 and 13.
The committee favorably compared that to Ohio State’s wins against Wisconsin twice, Penn State, Michigan and Cincinnati, ranked 8, 10, 14 and 21.
On determining what team would ultimate get the No. 1 seed:
Question from the media: I think I heard you tell Reese that you assigned
committee members to state a case for each of those undefeated teams at No. 1. Who stated the case for Ohio State and LSU, and what were the cases beyond top-25 wins?
ROB MULLENS: Yeah, I don’t want to disclose who we asked to do that because sometimes they were appointed. But we did want to make sure that somebody presented the resume for each of those. We went through it like we do every week. You’re looking at the full resume, wins against ranked opponents, how they’re performing, and with those, because they are such good teams, we were getting into each phases of the game. The difference in the end was for the 1 and 2, the games against ranked opponents, and not only against the ranked opponents but where they were ranked. LSU’s dominant performance against what was the No. 4 team, ended up being the No. 5 team, and their defense has really improved the last couple of weeks, and obviously the excellent play of Joe Burrow.
On measuring the discussion of the top four and if it was easier this year:
Question from the media: Sort of along those lines, how would you characterize the discussion for the top four? I know obviously 1 and 2 were difficult, but as far as the top four, was it easier this year than it’s been in the years that you’ve been on the committee?
ROB MULLENS: You know, I would never classify it as easier. Last year there were three teams, and we had a long debate with varied resumes for No. 4. We didn’t have that element this year. I think you’ve seen our rankings and heard us discuss throughout the whole process. We’ve got three undefeated conference champions at 1, 2 and 3 who have performed at a consistently high level. So that piece has been there.
So each year is unique, and yes, at the end we didn’t have that intense debate with three teams for one spot.
On the decision to elevate LSU over Ohio State:
Question from the media: I’m not sure how much you were asked already about Ohio State versus LSU, but I guess did something about Ohio State’s resume in your mind change just based on the first half of the Big Ten Championship game, or how much of a factor was that in how things shook out?
ROB MULLENS: Well, we’ve been asked about it a lot. I think these are two teams that have been really close the entire time, and as we’ve explained, every weekend one of them has done something to move above the other. I think last night in watching the championship game, LSU’s performance against a No. 4 ranked Georgia propelled the committee to put them just ahead of Ohio State in 1 versus 2. Did last night’s games play a role? Sure they did. Every game plays a role, and I think it was more about LSU’s strong
dominant performance over a No. 4 ranked team that elevated them to No. 1.
On Wisconsin’s performance against Ohio State:
Question from the media: I think you touched on it a bit already, but in the case of Wisconsin, how much did the committee factor in the way they lost to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship, the way they kept it close, when you got to the Rose Bowl argument, as opposed to the fact that they had lost three games in total this season?
ROB MULLENS: Well, I think what really carried the day is they’ve got three wins against top-25 teams. The No. 14 Michigan, No. 16 Iowa, and No. 18 Minnesota. You know, and then there’s lots of common opponents because in the same league. I think that’s where it really carried today. Obviously the way they played last night, particularly in the first half, was something that was noticed by the committee. But in the end, their three wins against CFP top-25 wins really impressed the committee.
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