How the committee justified ranking Ohio State over Georgia football

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The Georgia Bulldogs are the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff and have a bye in the first-round of the playoff. Georgia (12-1) was ranked behind Ohio State (12-1) despite the Bulldogs winning the SEC championship in dominant fashion over Alabama and Ohio State falling in the Big Ten championship to Indiana.

Georgia’s playoff path will feature a quarterfinal matchup with the winner of the No. 11 Tulane Green Wave at No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels game. The Bulldogs could play No. 2 Ohio State in the semifinals. The Buckeyes will play the winner of the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes at No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies game in the quarterfinals.

Many experts favor Georgia’s playoff path over Ohio State’s, so it may actually be beneficial that Georgia is ranked behind Ohio State. It is still interesting to hear how the committee justifies ranking Ohio State over Georgia.

“Yeah, you had a No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup in the Big Ten (championship), Indiana and Ohio State, a hotly contested game,” playoff selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek said on why they ranked Ohio State over Georgia.

“Indiana won by three, but Ohio State missed a late field goal that could have potentially tied that game and sent it into overtime,” Yurachek continued. “They had another failed fourth down conversion there in the second half. I thought that game was really, really close.

“Then when you look at comparatively Georgia to Ohio State, their schedule strengths are relatively similar as are their record strengths, but statistically, especially on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, Ohio State looks a little bit better on the statistical side. So that’s why the committee chose to give the nod to Ohio State over Georgia in that No. 2 to No. 3 setting.”

Ohio State did not allow a single opponent to score 17 points all season and has a historically good defense. The Buckeyes have two ranked wins over No. 13 Texas and No. 18 Michigan. Ohio State has been more consistent than Georgia this season, but the Buckeyes only had to play three ranked opponents all season. In another metric, the Buckeyes played three teams (Texas, Michigan and Penn State) over the 50% blue chip ratio.

Georgia comparatively struggled on defense in the first part of the season and has had some games where their offense did not produce as much as it would like. The Bulldogs have ranked wins over No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 9 Alabama, No. 13 Texas and No. 22 Georgia Tech. Georgia went 4-1 against ranked opponents and avenged their lone defeat in the SEC championship. The Dawgs played six teams (Texas, Auburn, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama – twice) over the 50% blue chip ratio and went 5-1.

Georgia’s resume is better than Ohio State and winning an SEC conference championship was not a tiebreaker for UGA. Instead, being “a little bit better on the statistical side” gave Ohio State the nod for the No. 2 seed. In the end, it does not matter because the Bulldogs and Buckeyes could still meet on the field in the Fiesta Bowl, a playoff semifinal, to end the debate. That’s the beauty of the playoff.

This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: Why the committee ranked Georgia football behind Ohio State

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