CFP chair explains why committee ranked Ohio State above Michigan
None of this will really matter in a few weeks, however, Michigan (No. 3) remained behind Ohio State (No. 2) in the College Football Playoff rankings this week after the Buckeyes struggled to put away Northwestern over the weekend. The Wolverines, of course, utilized a strong second half to blow out Rutgers after facing some adversity in the first half.
The two are clearly on a collision course to face one another in the last week of November so the discussion about where each team sits is clearly discourse leading up to The Game.
Speaking to the media after the rankings were released, CFP chair Boo Corrigan was asked about the reasoning for putting the Wolverines at No. 3 this week in comparison to leapfrogging the Buckeyes.
"We put them up and we talked about each team individually," Corrigan said. "We talk about them in groupings to make sure that we've got it in the right area or in the right spot as we go through this. The win over Rutgers this weekend and the second half in particular and the way they've played, they've done a really good job of pulling away from teams. As you look at Ohio State, obviously they both have the win over Penn State but Ohio State has that win over Notre Dame.
"Both have top-10 scoring offenses, top-10 scoring defenses, and we're going to continue to evaluate it as we move forward. If anything, that non-conference schedule from Michigan has been a factor."
As for where the Wolverines sit in the rankings, is it the byproduct of a 'weaker' schedule compared to the rest of the teams in the top group, or what teams around the Wolverines have done this season?
Corrigan explains that it's a little of both but the Wolverines certainly deserve the praise for the way its playing this season.
"I think it's a combination of both is what it is," Corrigan said. "It's not one particular thing. You can't just look at a team without any comparable information with the people that are around them. Again, really, really good football team, really talented football team, has done a good job on both sides of the ball. But as we looked at it and as we evaluated it, we had Michigan 3, Ohio State 2 and Georgia 1.