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CFP chair Gary Barta explains what separates Ohio State and Alabama in latest rankings
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The College Football Playoff rankings are out and there was some change in the top 4.
Georgia remained at No. 1, but Ohio State jumped Alabama and moved to No.2 after thrashing then-No. 7 Michigan State 56-7 in its last game. Cincinnati moved into the top 4 as well.
Following the reveal of the new rankings, the CFP selection committee’s chair, Gary Barta, spoke to ESPN and offered up his reasoning for the Buckeyes moving ahead of the Crimson Tide in the poll.
“Two great teams, both Ohio State and Alabama,” said Barta. “Both of them have Heisman Trophy candidates at quarterback. This past week though, the dominating win over Michigan State certainly got the committee’s attention. The offense of Ohio State, just total domination. And the defense is playing much better.
“They’ve been playing better week after week. They beat Penn State, they beat Purdue. Alabama’s still a great football team, have a wonderful win against Ole Miss, but the last few weeks they’re just not showing as much domination on defense. So, 2 great teams but when the vote came down, Ohio State came down ahead of Alabama.”
We’ll see if Ohio State can hold on to the No. 2 ranking, though, as it now has a top-5 matchup on its hands. The Buckeyes (10-1) travel to Ann Arbor to face No. 5 Michigan (10-1) Saturday at noon ET on FOX.
Grant Bricker covers the B1G for Saturday Tradition. His previous stops include the Williamson Homepage and Nashville Post.