CFP chair explains top 4 selections: 'Notre Dame had earned its way'
The final College Football Playoff rankings were revealed on Sunday, and the announcement unsurprisingly came with controversy.
One of the disputed aspects was ranking Notre Dame at No. 4 over Texas A&M. CFP chair Gary Barta said the decision to leave out the latter was a difficult one.
"The committee felt like Notre Dame had earned its way in its way based on the complete analysis of its resume, and that came down to having an additional win over a ranked team (North Carolina)," Barta said, according to The Athletic's Stewart Mandel.
The Fighting Irish are coming off a 34-10 loss to Clemson in the ACC championship game, though Brian Kelly's squad beat the Tigers - who were playing without star quarterback Trevor Lawrence - earlier in the season. Notre Dame's 24-point loss to Clemson is the largest defeat any team to make the College Football Playoff has suffered.
Texas A&M's only loss came when visiting top-ranked Alabama. The Aggies won seven straight SEC contests following the defeat.
Two Ohio programs, Ohio State and Cincinnati, were also involved in the controversy. The Buckeyes were ranked No. 3 despite only playing six games, while the Bearcats - who weren't even slotted inside the top six - captured the AAC title on Saturday and finished the campaign at 9-0.
"The committee decided Ohio State belonged in the field because they're undefeated, they defeated two ranked teams (this season) including last night, and they won their Big Ten championship," Barta said, according to Indy Star's Zach Osterman.
"The committee has great respect for Cincinnati," he continued, according to 247 Sports' Garrett Stepien. "They're undefeated. They won their conference championship last night in a last-second field goal.
"A terrific team, but it's comparing them to the six teams you see on your board. And it was just believed by the committee that those resumes are stronger, overall, than Cincinnati's resume."
Ohio State won only two games when facing teams that finished above .500, according to ESPN's Cole Cubelic. Those two schools combined for just one victory against opponents that completed the campaign over .500.