New College Football Playoff committee chair Hunter Yurachek went straight into the firing line after Tuesday’s new CFP rankings were released. He fielded a variety of questions, with Notre Dame and Miami’s comparisons being a hot topic, considering the Hurricanes’ head-to-head win over the Irish.
He was also asked why Tulane gets the Group of Five nod over James Madison, the committee’s thoughts on Michigan’s case, the jumbled ACC and where USC is.
Here’s a partial transcript of what Yurachek told reporters Tuesday night:
Could you explain reasoning of Oregon being ahead of Oklahoma?
Yurachek: We had significant discussion of the teams 7 through 10, quite candidly, all grouped there together, comparing Oregon, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Alabama and the resumes of those teams.
Oregon, while their strength of schedule metric may not be as strong as an Oklahoma, we felt like they’re a very strong team on both sides of the ball offensively and defensively. They rank in the top 10 in most of the statistical categories that we use in comparison to other teams.
They had a really big win at Iowa two weeks ago. Iowa was ranked in our top 25 previously. They won at Penn State. I know Penn State is not the same Penn State we expected them to be this year. Still it’s a very challenging place to play, as evidenced by Indiana having to have a last-second touchdown to win there a couple weeks ago.
There was significant discussion about that, but Oregon at 9-1 just stayed one spot ahead of Oklahoma at 8.
What is committee’s view on Michigan and Wolverines’ resume this year?
Yurachek: We feel Michigan at 8-2 is a quality team. They’ve got two losses to two teams in our top 25. The loss earlier this year at No. 8 Oklahoma and a loss versus No. 15 Southern Cal. Quite honestly, that Southern Cal game and the Oklahoma game, we felt they were dominated in both of those games.
They’ve got some good wins on their resumes as well, the victory against Nebraska and then against Washington and of course the walk-off this past week against Northwestern. So Michigan is a very strong team in our pool at 8-2 and currently ranked 18th, and the committee has a great deal of respect for them.
Why is Virginia still at No. 19? Did Louisville’s loss and that being one of Virginia’s better wins hurt UVA?
Yurachek: I think you just said it right there. Virginia had an impressive win against a Duke team that’s at the top half of the ACC. Duke is now 5-5, and then Louisville with another loss fell out of our rankings. That was a significant win at the time for Virginia.
So you look at Virginia’s resume, they are 9-2. Their schedule strength lagged behind some of the teams that are in front of them. Then the losses to NC State, and even Wake Forest at 7-3, I think impact where Virginia’s currently ranked.
Compare and contrast Alabama’s resume vs Notre Dame?
Yurachek: I will tell you that we probably spent more time in our committee room comparing two or three teams at that band with Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Alabama. You’re asking specifically about Notre Dame and Alabama, easier to compare because you had the head-to-head matchups last week with Alabama and Oklahoma.
Alabama had that string where they had four really strong wins at Georgia, against Vanderbilt, Missouri and Tennessee. Then you look at Notre Dame, they’ve got a win against Southern Cal and a dominating win last week against a Pitt team that was ranked in our top 25.
Really where you break these teams down in the comparison, Notre Dame and Alabama, Notre Dame has losses to two teams that are within the top 13, a three-point loss against Miami to start the season and then a one-point loss versus Texas A&M.
Alabama actually has a two-point loss at home last week against Oklahoma, but they had that loss at the beginning of the season, 31-17 at Florida State, a team that’s now 5-5. Florida State was up in that game 24-7. They held Alabama to less than 100 yards rushing in that game. That really was a sign of some of the struggles Alabama was going to have rushing the ball. You go back and look at Alabama’s game against South Carolina where they scored two touchdowns late to win that game, and then the next game against LSU where they won both of those but didn’t rush the ball for 100 yards. Then again against Oklahoma was not able to move the ball on the ground.
So you look at the games that Alabama has struggled in, starting the season against Florida State, where they struggled with the ball. That’s two really good 8-2 teams, but I think you look at the losses of Notre Dame versus the losses of Alabama, and that was really one of the defining metrics that we used.
How do you distinguish Notre Dame and Miami when Miami beat Notre Dame?
Yurackek: I think there’s some other factors where you have Utah, BYU, and Alabama in between Notre Dame and Miami. As we set up the pools to do our selection process, Miami and Notre Dame have not been grouped in the same pools to have that direct head-to-head comparison, where you would really use that metric to separate one team from the next.
So I think it’s the separation that you have between those teams, similar to a separation you have right now between a Vanderbilt and Texas, where you have a head-to-head metric as well.
What made Tulane the most deserving Group of Five team to earn a rank?
Yurachek: First and foremost, the American is a really good conference this year, a really top heavy conference. Then you look at Tulane’s schedule, the fact that they have — they went outside of their conference and played three Power Four schools in Northwestern, Duke and Ole Miss, winning two of those three games, then a very impressive win at Memphis and a win against East Carolina, which is really coming on late.
That’s really what the committee saw with regards to Tulane as a team that checks in at 24 this week.
What does Miami have to do to get to that point where it could potentially be in a comparable tier with Notre Dame?
Yurachek: First and foremost, Miami needs to continue to win the football games they have in front of them, and then things will happen. There’s still a lot of football to be played with two more weeks in the regular season and then the championship week.
You look at the teams that are between Notre Dame and Miami right now, you’ve got Alabama that’s got a game against Auburn coming up and then potentially an SEC Championship game. BYU has a couple of games remaining and then potentially a Big 12 Championship game. Then you’ve got Utah with a couple games.
So I would say Miami needs to continue to win, and then hope for some things ahead of them fall their way.
How did Texas A&M and Indiana’s recent comeback wins affect their ranking?
Yurachek: I will tell you the committee, in evaluating the first half of A&M’s game versus South Carolina, it did look very much like a No. 3 team, falling behind 30-3 and having four turnovers in that game. Then in the second half they looked everything like a No. 3 team in the country, dominating the second half with outscoring South Carolina 28-0, out gaining them 371 yards to 76 yards, holding South Carolina to 11 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter.
I mean, what the committee saw in both Indiana and Texas A&M, good teams find ways to win games when they don’t play their best, and that’s what Indiana and Texas A&M both did, Indiana on the road at Penn State and Texas A&M at home this past weekend against South Carolina.
How would a loss in a conference championship games affect the rankings?
Yurachek: We will just use the conference championship games as another data point to use in ranking our teams. It’s hard to say if it will move a team up or down until we really have that data point and are able to compare that against other teams that play that weekend in conference championship games.
So it just becomes an extra point for those teams participating in the conference championship games.
Why Tulane over James Madison as Group of Five highest-ranked?
Yurachek: It’s really their strength of schedule. (JMU) played one Power Four team, and they lost that game at Louisville 28-14. Then you look at the strength of Tulane’s schedule, playing three Power Four teams that they lost to, our sixth-ranked team in Ole Miss, but they beat Duke and beat Northwestern. They’ve got wins also in the league, in the American, a very strong league against Memphis and East Carolina.
The loss versus UTSA is a metric that is on Tulane’s schedule. We have a lot of respect for James Madison and the team that they are, especially they’re really good on the defensive side of the ball. But the strength of schedule is probably the biggest differentiator between Tulane and James Madison at this time.
Why does committee have Utah above Miami?
Yurachek: In regards to Utah being ahead of Miami, I mean, Utah, they’ve lost two games this season, one to No. 5 Texas Tech, the other to No. 11 BYU. Comparatively, Miami’s lost two games, one at home to an unranked Louisville and one on the road against an unranked SMU. So when you talk about two teams that are 8-2 and you don’t really have a common opponent or a head-to-head matchup, you really look at the losses Utah has versus the losses that Miami has.
Utah right now, they are second in the country in their margin of victory in each of their games. They have played really good football moving forward. Obviously there’s a 12 versus 13, that one spot apart, but I think the differentiator is the losses that Utah has versus the losses that Miami has.
What is holding Georgia Tech back right now from moving up?
Yurachek: When you look at Georgia Tech compared to the teams that are ahead of them, you’re looking at Georgia Tech’s strength of schedule, which right now their schedule strength is 88 in the country. They struggled this weekend, kicked a field goal late to win at a 1-10 Boston College.
Their quality wins, as we see them today, is against a Duke team that’s 5-5, a Clemson team that’s 5-5, and a Wake Forest team that’s 7-3. But there was some controversy on the Wake Forest game. It’s a win on Georgia Tech’s side. So I think Georgia Tech, they need to continue to keep winning games and hope some things happen ahead of them that clear a path for them to move up.
How does committee view USC’s CFP case?
Yurachek: The committee had — Southern Cal has continued to climb. They had a big win against Iowa, who is in our top 25 last week. They had a dominating win against Michigan, who is ranked 18th. To go on the road and beat Nebraska, quality wins for them. Their losses were walk-off field goal at Illinois, who’s 21st in the rankings this week, and against Notre Dame.
The committee’s got a lot of respect for Southern Cal. They’re 8-2. They may be playing their best football right now at this point in the season. So they’re in a good spot at 15, and the committee really likes that team.