The signal to follow among the College Football Playoff noise

No disrespect to Rece Davis, Booger McFarland, Joey Galloway, and Greg McElroy, but their analysis of the College Football Playoff’s rankings currently functions as noise that distorts from a signal that’s readily available.

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Every week following the rankings release, CFP selection committee chair and Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel jumps on a conference call to speak with reporters about the rankings the committee he leads puts out into the world.

Texas’ strength of schedule, or relative lack thereof, is a hot topic among college football media. “Who have they beaten” is the common question.

The committee’s response? Nine of the 10 teams on their schedule.

The first question Manuel fielded Tuesday night was about the disparity between No. 10 Georgia, who beat the Longhorns in Austin 30-15, and No. 3 Texas. The result on the field was the focus for those asking the questions.

In fairness, having a low amount of defeats isn’t the defining trait of a playoff lock anymore even as the field expanded to 12 teams this year. A Power Conference team with zero losses in 2023 was left out of the final four-team version of the playoff. The committee opened itself up to these types of questions by boxing out Florida State last year and making it clear that pure win-loss record isn’t the only thing they’re looking at.

And while that’s a jarring change to how most absorb college football, Manuel at least attempted to offer clarity behind his committee’s decision to rank 9-1 Texas No. 3 while placing 8-2 Georgia at No. 10 on November 19.

Q. Can you just give a little insight into the gap between Texas and Georgia? Obviously they had a head-to-head meeting, Texas doesn’t have any top-25 wins, Georgia does, yet the gulf between them is seven spots. I was hoping for a little insight there.

WARDE MANUEL: 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. They have a top-5 defense. Quinn Ewers is leading one of the top passing offenses in the country.

We just looked at them and thought — and came out, I should say, with them at 3. 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.

At least at this point, Manuel’s committee’s findings are that Texas deserves a lofty ranking because of how it has…

• Recorded eight of its nine victories by double digits, with the one exception coming on the road against what was at that time a ranked opponent
• Put itself at the top of the Southeastern Conference standings
• Played elite defense against all 10 foes
• Paired that defense with an offense that has posted 37 ppg, a mark that’s No. 13 in all of FBS and No. 8 among Power Four teams

The rest of the resume is sparkling aside from the loss to Georgia, especially considering how the Longhorns have handled opponents perceived as not all that challenging. Texas has treated inferior opponents like inferior opponents.

Texas’ resume will remain a target of criticism. A win over Kentucky won’t quiet many detractors. However, a victory at Texas A&M that clinches a place in the SEC Championship would answer many of the questions about Texas. A tough win in a tough environment against a tough team? That’s a plus unless all of a sudden the Aggies go from being a quality opponent to a team viewed in the same light as the 2024 Vanderbilt Commodores.

Of course, it is curious that many of the same pundits that questioned Texas’ preparedness for the SEC now question who the Longhorns have beaten from the league.

Luckily for the Longhorns, that type of noise isn’t on Manuel’s radar.

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That’s the key. Any noise about the Longhorns’ lack of a quality resume distorts the one signal the CFP provides on a weekly basis. For the time being, the signal coming from Manuel is that Texas is the No. 3 team, a great team at that, and one the committee sees as a legit contender for the national championship based off their victories at the current juncture.