BREAKING NEWS: ODB Obtains Advance Copy of CFB Playoff Ranking

Dec 4, 2022 - 2:34 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Headline: ODB Obtains Advance Copy of CFB Playoff Ranking

WACO, Texas: Our Daily Bears has received an advance copy of the final CFB Playoff Rankings and the pre-recorded interview transcript between Chris Fowler and CFB Playoff Selection Committee Chair Boo Corrigan.

The interview was submitted to Our Daily Bears by a former staff writer and current employee of an undisclosed sports media network.

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CHRIS FOWLER: Welcome everyone to the release of the final college football playoff rankings. The top four teams will compete for a chance to win the prestigious Dr. Pepper National Championship trophy. The rest will have to settle for the Cheez-It Bowl. With me this morning is the chair of the selection committee, Boo Corrigan. Boo, thank you for joining us.

BOO CORRIGAN: Thank you having me Chris. The committee has spent a lot of time putting together these rankings, and we’re glad to finally share the results of our extensive deliberations.

FOWLER: Let’s start with the top four teams. Georgia and Michigan obviously deserve the first two spots with their undefeated records and conference championships. But the committee moved Ohio State up from six to three despite not playing in the Big 10 Championship and kept USC at number four despite their loss in the PAC-12 Championship game. What was the committee’s logic?

CORRIGAN: Ohio State was sitting at number six because they only had one ranked win against a conference opponent. However, with Northwestern moving into the top 25, we felt that Ohio State had the resume to deserve the third spot. Frankly, the committee wasn’t aware the PAC-12 Championship game was on, so we didn’t see USC lose.

FOWLER: How did Northwestern move all the way into the top 25 with only one win?

CORRIGAN: Northwestern’s win really impressed the committee because they had to travel all the way to Dublin to earn it. Overcoming their body clock to beat Nebraska cannot be overlooked. We also believe that Northwestern’s 5th string quarterback Jack Lausch would score the highest among all Power 5 QBs on the Wunderlick test. We don’t know if Lausch has actually taken the Wunderlick, so our rankings are based on what we thought he’d score.

FOWLER: Fascinating. Let’s talk about numbers five and six. Missouri somehow leapfrogged TCU, pushing the Big 12 runner-up to number six. What was the committee thinking when they made that move?

CORRIGAN: Missouri has the best loss in the country, a four-point loss to number one Georgia. We strongly believe that the Tigers could beat any team in the country, except for the six teams they already lost to. TCU went almost the entire season without a quality loss, which is a huge oversight in our opinion.

FOWLER: Was the gap close between USC, Missouri, and TCU? Did the committee spend a lot of time going back-and-forth on these three teams?

CORRIGAN: No, not really. The gap between USC and TCU is larger than the gap between Georgia and TCU.

FOWLER: Moving down the rankings to seven through ten. What did Alabama do to justify being ahead of Tennessee? And how did you settle on Kansas State over Clemson?

CORRIGAN: We went back and forth on seven and eight for a while, but ultimately, the committee believed that Alabama’s loss to Tennessee was more impressive than Tennessee’s victory over Alabama. For Kansas State and Clemson, Kansas State had one more win over a top 37 opponent than Clemson, and that really spoke to us.

FOWLER: Boo, we appreciate your time this morning and your transparency into the playoff selection process. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’re looking forward to next year when you get to select twelve teams for the playoff.

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WEEK 15 (FINAL) COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RANKINGS

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Ohio State
4. USC
5. Missouri
6. TCU
7. Alabama
8. Tennessee
9. Kansas State
10. Clemson
11. Penn State
12. Utah
13. Washington
14. Tulane
15. Houston
16. Indiana
17. South Carolina
18. Iowa
19. South Dakota St
20. Alabama backups
21. JMU
22. Oregon
23. Kilgore College
24. Eastern Michigan University
25. Northwestern

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