Warde Manuel explains College Football Playoff committee ranking Texas ahead of Georgia, despite head-to-head result

In the latest College Football Playoff rankings, Texas slotted in at No. 3, a full seven spots ahead of No. 10 Georgia. And this was despite the Longhorns losing at home to the Bulldogs, 30-15.

And given that head-to-head outcome, selection committee chair Warde Manuel was asked to justify the seven-spot gulf between the two SEC foes. While there are a number of reasons, Manuel leaned on the overall body of work.

“Well, obviously Georgia has a very good win at Texas, but as the committee analyzed the body of work of Texas versus where Georgia is at the present time with two losses, even to top-25 teams, we came out that Texas was still a very strong team deserving of a 3 seed,” Manuel said. “They have a top-5 defense. Quinn Ewers is leading one of the top passing offenses in the country.”

The biggest argument in Texas’ favor over Georgia is the Longhorns have one fewer loss, and that loss — admittedly against Georgia — came against one of the best teams in the country.

But in terms of top-flight wins, the Longhorns are lacking. Right now, the best wins for Texas are against Vanderbilt and at a Michigan team that has since proved to be middling at best.

Georgia, however, has a litany of top-shelf wins beyond defeating the Longhorns. The Bulldogs have also beat Tennessee and dominated Clemson in a neutral site.

But those wins were not enough to outweigh Georgia’s pair of losses, on particularly ugly at the hands of Ole Miss. And that, Manuel explained, help keep Georgia so far away from outstripping a team it had beaten on the field in the rankings.

“We just looked at them and thought — and came out, I should say, with them at 3,” Manuel said. “It’s nothing against Georgia. Georgia is a great team, but they did struggle against Ole Miss at Ole Miss but had a great win this past week against Tennessee. We will continue to monitor both teams and see how it goes in the next few weeks.”