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.