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CFP chair Gary Barta explains rationale behind positioning of UM, MSU in latest rankings
By Paul Harvey
Published:
The College Football Playoff Committee is no stranger to stirring up a debate, and Tuesday’s latest rankings will create plenty of questions.
In the latest CFP Top 25, the Committee went with Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, and Ohio State in the top 4 spots. Those decisions made enough sense, including the Ducks getting No. 3 in part to their head-to-head win over the Buckeyes.
The bigger questions started at No. 6 and No. 7. After the upset loss to Purdue, Michigan State tumbled from No. 3 to No. 7 and one spot behind No. 6 Michigan. The confusing part? Michigan State holds the head-to-head win over Michigan from just a week and a half ago.
Asked about the reasoning for the flip, CFP Committee chair Gary Barta said the group had a lot of discussions even last week that Michigan might have been the more complete team:
“A week ago, it was discussed that Michigan might be the more complete team,” Barta explained. “Offensively, defensively, every statistic Michigan is ahead of Michigan State, but the Committee certainly gave Michigan (State) the nod, they beat Michigan head-to-head.”
That analysis changed a bit with Michigan State’s loss to Purdue:
“What’s different a week later? Michigan won, Michigan State lost,” said Barta. “The discussion in the room went back and forth…but at the end of the day, we felt as a Committee that Michigan was a better team to be ranked ahead of Michigan State this week. Stay tuned.”
Barta did not have an official count on the votes cast between No. 6 and 7, but he did explain that the discussion on those two spots lasted a considerable amount of time:
“No tally that’s shown across the room, I can just tell you that this discussion lasted…probably a half hour or longer,” said Barta.
At this point, those two spots will still work themselves out. The Spartans and Wolverines must each still face Penn State and Ohio State over the next 3 weeks.
Still, the Committee continues to shift its criteria from spot to spot and team to team throughout the season. Anyone trying to decipher the code will only come away frustrated and perplexed, to say the least.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.