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Greg McElroy breaks down why Ohio State is above Georgia in College Football Playoff rankings

Screen Shot 2024-05-28 at 9.09.17 AMby:Kaiden Smith•11/06/24•

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Adam Cairns (Columbus Dispatch)/Melina Myers-Imagn Images

The first College Football Playoff Rankings of the season were released on Tuesday and featured a change at the top compared to the most recent AP and Coaches Polls. That change involved ranking Ohio State at No. 2 and Georgia at No. 3 when the other polls have routinely flipped the one-loss teams this season.

There’s no doubt that the Buckeyes and Bulldogs are currently two of the best teams in the nation. But college football insider Greg McElroy broke down why Ohio State currently has the slight edge over Georgia in the eyes of the College Football Playoff committee.

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“Ohio State, should they be two?” McElroy asked. “Their best win’s against Penn State, I think that’s a pretty good win, the committee does too. … Ohio State, I think, because based on listening to Warde Manuel, the chairman of the College Football Playoff Committee, he basically said that because of who Ohio State lost to and how they lost, that’s why they have the edge in front of Georgia.”

Both teams have just one loss this season that each came from teams ranked in the Top 12 of the initial College Football Playoff Rankings. Georgia famously fell to No. 11 Alabama in a thrilling 41-34 loss on the road while Ohio State lost 32-31 at Oregon, currently the top-ranked team nationally.

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“That’s fine, I don’t have an opinion on it. To me whether you lost by one, 10, 15, 20, I kind of think that I’m fine with the team that lost by less. You get blown out, is that an indicator of a deeper flop? Perhaps. I don’t have a problem with their reasoning whatsoever because to me, Ohio State and Georgia are interchangeable,” McElroy explained.

Georgia and Ohio State also both have signature wins to help their resume as well, and while fans of their program may have strong opinions about their rankings compared to one another, McElroy does not. Especially considering that the top-seeded teams heading into the playoffs will be based on who takes home their conference championships.

“Whether you’re two, whether you’re three, it doesn’t really matter. They both have really good wins, Georgia’s against Texas, Ohio State’s against Penn State. Either way, I feel fine with those two teams,” McElroy said. “So any time spent on that kind of sequence, two, three, to me feels like it’s wasted time and it will also resolve itself. Basically the SEC and Big Ten, the champions will be one and two, and we’ll go from there.”

Georgia takes on No. 15 Ole Miss this Saturday, followed by a matchup with No. 7 Tennessee, while Ohio State faces off against No. 8 Indiana in two weeks. These will all be big-time games that will definitely have a strong impact on how both programs are ranked moving forward.