Kirk Herbstreit: Georgia and Michigan are 'a little bit more complete' than Ohio State
It’s largely irrelevant for the moment — Michigan and Ohio State are yet to play, and Georgia has some key tests ahead — but for Kirk Herbstreit’s money, both the Wolverines and Bulldogs are a slight cut above the Buckeyes. And that’s in spite of Ohio State being ranked No. 1, again, in the College Football Playoff rankings.
It’s not that the Buckeyes — Herbstreit’s alma mater — aren’t worthy of a No. 1 ranking given their resume. But Herbstreit, in applying the eye test, has almost zero questions about the Wolverines or Bulldogs, whereas Ohio State has left him wanting more.
“Now, the resume says they are, so it’s fine. They’re up at No. 1,” Herbstreit said. “To me, I would have Georgia and Michigan ahead of them based on what they’re doing on the field. I know you guys like metrics and analytics and all that, but I watch the games and I watch these teams play. I look at Georgia and Michigan as teams that are a little bit more complete than Ohio State.”
Ohio State’s most recent contest was a 35-16 road win against Rutgers that was likely closer than the Buckeyes found comfortable. But wins over Penn State and Notre Dame have helped Ohio State hold down the No. 1 ranking, along with an unblemished record.
But the Buckeyes have been, at times, clunky in their way of beating opponents. That’s part of the reason for Herbstreit holding back on Ohio State.
“If they beat Michigan in Ann Arbor, then I think everybody would say they’re the best team. If Ryan Day were sitting here right now, he would tell you that they’re not executing in a way offensively that makes him feel good and makes him feel like they’re a consistent team and living up to what his standards are. So as of right now, I don’t think they’re a complete team to be ranked at the No. 1 spot,” Herbstreit said.
The other analysts on the ESPN panel on the rankings reveal show on Tuesday concurred to an extent that Georgia was probably deserving of the No. 1 spot, or at least has been more complete than Ohio State. Booger McFarland thinks the win over Missouri over the weekend was enough to put the Bulldogs to the top spot.
And Joey Galloway, who wasn’t quite ready to anoint Georgia as No. 1 now, made a point about how the Buckeyes win over Notre Dame isn’t as impressive as it was at the time, but is still enough to keep Ohio State atop the rankings.
“What happens when you have a top-10 win against a Notre Dame team which then goes on to lose to Louisville, which then goes on to lose to Clemson and they move down? Where does the committee place that on your resume? I think the committee is saying in this situation that they still get a lot of credit for knocking off a really good Notre Dame team even though, sitting here today, that Notre Dame team is No. 20. I think the resume’s still good enough to be No. 1,” Galloway said.