Following his team's come-from-behind 35-16 win at Rutgers on Saturday, Ohio State coach Ryan Day said he's not concerned about being ranked No. 1 right now or on Tuesday when the College Football Playoff selection committee releases its second of six rankings.
The top spot today, he said, "means absolutely nothing."
"Our goal is to be the No. 1 team at the end of the year," Day said. "All it means [now] is it's a good start, and we know we're going to take everybody's best shot."
Unranked Rutgers certainly did, jumping out to a 9-7 halftime lead, raising questions about whether the Buckeyes will hang on to the committee's top spot for the second straight week. With No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 Florida State all winning, it's possible the top four stays status quo, but the committee does a deeper dive than simply ranking the teams based on whether they win.
How they win matters. Just ask No. 5 Washington, whose Oct. 14 victory against Oregon is the best in the country but wasn't enough for the Huskies to crack the initial top four because of pedestrian performances in subsequent wins against Arizona State and Stanford.
This week, Ohio State beat a much-improved Rutgers team on the road -- a week after winning at Wisconsin -- but the game was closer than the final score indicated.
"You're in the meat of it, so every time you go on the road -- back-to-back physical weeks -- you have to bring it," Day said. "It isn't just, you just roll your helmets out there and think you're going to win a game. It doesn't work that way. I think our guys understand that. You got to finish. You just never know how these games are going to go. You've got to be able to respond to whatever comes your way. That's what championship teams do; they continue to, week after week, have the stamina to find a way to win."
The thing is, Georgia did it too -- at home against the committee's No. 12 team, Missouri.
Flip a coin as to whether the committee will flip Ohio State and Georgia; that's how close the debate will likely be.
Here's an instant prediction following Saturday's games for who will move up or move down among the top 12 and what needs to happen the rest of this season for each of those teams to reach the playoff.
1. Georgia Bulldogs (9-0)
Previous CFP rank: 2
Why they could move up: The Bulldogs improved their résumé with the win against No. 12 Mizzou on Saturday. Meanwhile, last week's CFP No. 1 Ohio State, which beat an unranked Rutgers team (6-3), had one of its best victories -- against Notre Dame -- somewhat devalued when the Fighting Irish suffered their third loss at Clemson. Georgia found a way to win again without injured tight end Brock Bowers, and its defense won the turnover battle. The committee might just deem Georgia a better team, period.
Why they could stay No. 2: Like Ohio State, Georgia had to overcome a first-half deficit and rely on its defense. It didn't help Georgia that Florida lost at home to Arkansas, the Gators' fourth defeat of the season. One of the reasons Georgia was No. 2 is that the committee valued its wins against Kentucky and Florida, which were better than anything Michigan had on its résumé but still not as good as what Ohio State had posted. It's also unclear how much the committee will truly value Saturday's win against the Tigers until it reveals where Mizzou is ranked following the loss.
Path to playoff: If Georgia doesn't move up this week, it will have ample opportunity in each of the next two weeks with back-to-back games against ranked opponents in No. 10 Ole Miss at home and at No. 17 Tennessee. As long as Georgia wins the SEC East, it will have a shot at the top four; but if the Bulldogs don't win the SEC, their playoff fate will be up for debate.
