Published Nov 24, 2020
Barta talks Clemson sliding ahead of OSU in first CFP rankings
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Griffin Strom  •  DottingTheEyes
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Ohio State landed among the top four teams in the first week of College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday, although not at the same spot it is slotted in the AP Top 25 Poll.

Despite a loss to Notre Dame, Clemson was awarded the No. 3 slot, with Alabama entering at No. 1, the Fighting Irish coming in at No. 2 and Ohio State falling to No. 4.

CFP chair and Iowa athletic director Gary Barta cited the poor records of the Buckeyes' first three opponents when discussing the move to put Clemson ahead of Ohio State.

"The other three wins other than Indiana, and Indiana certainly ranked high –– 12th in the country –– the other three teams they played had a combined record of 2-12," Barta said. "So that certainly factored in."

Texas A&M and Florida were the first two teams out of the top four at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, which is in lockstep with the current AP rankings.

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Last season, Ohio State debuted at No. 1 with an 8-0 record in the initial CFP rankings before flip-flopping with LSU for the No. 2 spot on two different occasions.

The Buckeyes were ultimately selected as the No. 2 seed in the 2019 playoff, matching up with No. 3 Clemson which went on to best Ohio State by a score of 29-23 in the Fiesta Bowl last December.

Barta also said that Ohio State's defense, which gave up 491 passing yards to Indiana last week, has caught the attention of the selection committee, and not for positive reasons.

“If you look at the scores and you watch the games, we’re gonna keep an eye on Ohio State’s defense," Barta said. "There’s a lot of talent there, as there always is, but just so far in the four games we’ve watched, that’s certainly an area we’re keeping an eye on.”

If Tuesday’s selection had been the final, Ohio State would match up with Alabama, a team that the Buckeyes defeated 42-35 in the team’s last meeting back in 2015. The Buckeyes went on to win the national championship after beating the Crimson Tide.

Four other Big Ten teams found a spot in the CFP rankings Tuesday, with Northwestern being the conference’s second most highly-ranked program at No. 8. The Wildcats are No. 11 in the AP Poll, and were not ranked at any point in last season’s CFP rankings.

Northwestern did, however, win the Big Ten West in 2018 for a date with the Buckeyes in the conference title game, and following a win over Wisconsin last weekend, the same scenario may very well unfold this season.

After the Wildcats, Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers came in at No. 12, and Paul Chryst’s Wisconsin Badgers debuted at No. 16 and Iowa snuck in at No. 24 in the CFP rankings to round out the Big Ten’s five entries in the top 25.

CFP rankings
RankingSchoolRecord

No. 1

Alabama

7-0

No. 2

Notre Dame

8-0

No. 3

Clemson

7-1

No. 4

Ohio State

4-0

No. 5

Texas A&M

5-1

No. 6

Florida

6-1