ATHENS — Georgia coach Kirby Smart made it very clear he has little interest in the current College Football Playoff rankings, the first of which were released on Tuesday night.
1. Alabama (8-0)
2. Clemson (8-0)
3. LSU (7-1)
4. Notre Dame (8-0)
5. Michigan (7-1)
6. Georgia (7-1)
The fact the Bulldogs were ranked behind a Michigan team that doesn’t have any wins over current Top 25 teams in the CFB Playoff rankings (full rankings below), did raise some eyebrows.
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Georgia’s only loss came on the road at No. 3 LSU. The Bulldogs are coming off a 36-17 “neutral site” win in Jacksonville, Fla., against current No. 11 Florida — the team that beat LSU.
The Wolverines’ loss came at No. 4 Notre Dame in the season opener, but Michigan doesn’t have any wins over teams ranked in the CFB Playoff ranking Top 25.
Rob Mullens, the College Football Playoff committee chairman, was asked about the Wolverines being the second-highest ranked one-loss team behind LSU:
“Michigan has a very strong resume. Their only loss is to No. 4 ranked team on the road in the first game of the year. Five wins against teams with a winning record, strong road wins, Michigan State, at Northwestern. Great on defense. Michigan is a very good team.”
Georgia has three wins against teams with a winning record, two wins against .500 teams, and another win over a 4-5 Vanderbilt team that played Notre Dame closer (22-17) than did Michigan (24-17).
The Bulldogs play Kentucky at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday in Lexington (TV: CBS, Radio: WSB 750 AM, 95.5 FM) with the SEC East Division title and a trip to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta on the line.
The Wildcats had a surprisingly high No. 9 rank in the CFB Playoff rankings released on Tuesday night, though they at least have two wins over Top 25 teams (No. 11 Florida, No. 18 Mississippi State) with their only loss on the road to No. 20 Texas A&M in overtime.
Mullens was also asked on the teleconference about the quality of Kentucky’s wins and their recent offensive struggles:
“Again, quality wins at Florida and then a win over Mississippi State, both ranked teams, and Kentucky has an outstanding defense. They’ve found a way to win, and their only loss is to a CFP ranked team in overtime. Kentucky has a quality resume.”
Smart said Tuesday night he wasn’t curious at all about the rankings, because things will work themselves out.
“Bottom line is pretty much every team that’s in there, if they win, they are in, because a lot of them are going to play each other,” Smart said. “It doesn’t matter, it really has no effect at all,” Smart said. “What matters is how you play, if you want to impress those guys, go play well.”
Michigan plays host to No. 14 Penn State on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.
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CFB Playoff rankings
(Oct. 30)
1. Alabama (8-0)
2. Clemson (8-0)
3. LSU (7-1)
4. Notre Dame (8-0)
5. Michigan (7-1)
6. Georgia (7-1)
7. Oklahoma (7-1)
8. Washington State (7-1)
9. Kentucky (7-1)
10. Ohio State (7-1)
11. Florida (6-2)
12 UCF (7-0)
13. West Virginia (6-1)
14. Penn State (6-2)
15.Utah (6-2)
16 Iowa (6-2)
17 Texas (6-2)
18 Miss State (5-3)
19. Syracuse (6-2)
20. Texas A&M (5-3)
21. North Carolina State (5-2)
22. Boston College (6-2)
23. Fresno State (7-1)
24. Iowa State (4-3)
25. Virginia (6-2)