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Warde Manuel explains decision to rank Ohio State ahead of Georgia in first College Football Playoff Top 25

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•11/05/24•

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Ohio State HC Ryan Day and Georgia HC Kirby Smart at the 2022 Peach Bowl
© Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Heading into Tuesday’s rankings reveal, the sense was Oregon would be the No. 1 team in the first College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings. That led to the question of whether Ohio State or Georgia would come in at No. 2, and committee chairman Warde Manuel explained why OSU came out in front.

Both the Buckeyes and Bulldogs enter Week 11 with a loss on their resume. Ohio State fell to Oregon in a thriller at Autzen Stadium last month and Georgia lost to Alabama in the final minutes at Bryant-Denny Stadium in September. Those games made things interesting for the selection committee when putting the rankings together.

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Manuel pointed out the caliber of the road losses, but noted the victories both teams had away from home. Ohio State beat Penn State in a Top-5 showdown this past week and Georgia took down Texas in Week 8. But because the Buckeyes fell to the current top-ranked team, Manuel said that put the Buckeyes over the top.

“They both had great wins in terms of on the road – Ohio State against Penn State this week, Georgia at Texas,” Manuel said on the ESPN rankings reveal show. “But what we felt is, in terms of the loss that they had, Ohio State lost to No. 1 Oregon by one and Georgia lost at Alabama, who is ranked No. 11. That was really the difference. We’re splitting hairs in terms of looking at two great teams.”

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When it comes to the two teams’ resumes, Georgia has the higher strength of schedule ranking. The Bulldogs have faced the hardest schedule in the country so far, according to ESPN’s FPI, while Ohio State sits at No. 19.

Manuel said those were both considerations, as is CFP procedure. But when it came time to put the rankings together, the Buckeyes came in ahead of the Bulldogs.

“We look at all the games,” Manuel said. “We talked. It was a lot of thorough discussion about both teams and their performances on the field. You’re right, those things, we took into consideration as part of the discussion. And ultimately, the vote, when it came out, Ohio State was ranked No. 2 and Georgia was 3.”