Booger McFarland compliments College Football Playoff committee for putting Ole Miss over Georgia, Tennessee

How the College Football Playoff committee stacked four two-loss SEC teams was going to make headlines Tuesday night. Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Tennessee all have 9-2 records with multiple head-to-head victories. Nobody knew how it would turn out and was curious ahead of the unveiling.

Alabama was at the top of the bunch, coming in at No. 7. Miami separates the other three from the Crimson Tide, with Ole Miss at No. 9 and the other two following. ESPN’s Booger McFarland complimented the committee on their decision to rank the Rebels above Georgia and Tennessee in real-time.

“This is a perfect spot,” McFarland said of Ole Miss at No. 9. “When I saw Tennessee 11, Georgia 10 — this is a perfect spot for Ole Miss. Seeing what they did to Georgia on the field, it wasn’t even a close game. So, you had to have Ole Miss ranked ahead of Georgia. A great job by the committee.”

In that specific trio, head-to-head matchups were valued. Ole Miss took down Georgia in Oxford before the Bulldogs turned around and beat Tennessee at home on Saturday night.

There might be some pushback from the Vols due to their win over Alabama — a team ranked four spot higher than them. Committee chair Warde Manuel later explained why Tennessee is behind other two-loss SEC foes.

“Well, one, they just had a loss to Georgia, and they had the loss at Arkansas,” Manuel said. “It’s really splitting hairs. They have great offense, great defense. They play hard. The committee just had a hard time. You’re talking about four really good teams, when you look at Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee.”

Of the four, Georgia is the only one done with SEC play. The other three will have in-state rivalries to close out the regular season. Alabama heads to Norman on Saturday while Ole Miss has a big road trip to face off against Florida. Tennessee has its final nonconference game of the year vs. UTEP.

Upsets could occur and completely shake the rankings up. But for now, McFarland is happy with how the committee handled the situation.