Last week, we started this ongoing analysis in commentary to the College Football Playoff committee’s first rankings for the current season, so we’re going to keep going through the end of the season to expose any corruption we see and any lack of transparency that exists, as well. It’s our job as historians and journalists to do so. We own it.

Without further noise, here we go, with seeding, in order (with record, type of bid, and SOS comparisons):

  1. Georgia (9-0): SEC autobid. The Bulldogs’ SOS is third best among these 8 teams.
  2. Michigan State (8-1): Wild-card bid. The Spartans’ SOS is second best among these 8 teams.
  3. Oregon (8-1): Pac-12 autobid. The Ducks’ SOS is sixth best among these 8 teams.
  4. Ohio State (8-1): B1G autobid. The Buckeyes’ SOS is fourth best among these 8 teams.
  5. Wake Forest (8-1): ACC autobid. The Demon Deacons’ SOS is fifth best among these 8 teams.
  6. Oklahoma (9-0): Big XII autobid. The Sooners’ SOS is seventh best among these 8 teams.
  7. Cincinnati (9-0): Other autobid. The Bearcats’ SOS in eighth best among these 8 teams.
  8. Notre Dame (8-1): Wild-card bid. The Fighting Irish SOS is the best among these 8 teams.

This is based on data and skipping the subjective “eye” test the CFP claims to use in order to justify its preferences. In that sense, we put Georgia first for many reasons. Perhaps it’s better to start at the bottom, too, or with the teams we left out, in order: Michigan, Alabama, Oklahoma State, North Carolina State, and Pittsburgh. Any other school not mentioned here just wasn’t able to crack this list for whatever reason (s).

Wake Forest got the ACC autobid based on its record and schedule superiority over the other teams in the conference. Oklahoma State trails Oklahoma right now for the Big XII autobid, and its SOS was not good enough to match up with Michigan State or Notre Dame for the wild-card spots. Alabama trails Georgia for the SEC autobid, of course, and its SOS trailed both MSU and Notre Dame as well. Finally, Michigan’s SOS is slightly better than Sparty’s, but the head-to-head loss there matters.

The seeding above is based on the following realities: Notre Dame lost to Cincinnati, so it cannot be seeded above the Bearcats. Likewise, Ohio State lost to Oregon, so it cannot be above the Ducks. Even though MSU’s SOS was higher than Georgia’s SOS, it was not high enough to overcome the loss on the Spartans’ ledger, whereas Wake’s SOS was higher than Oklahoma’s SOS enough to overcome the one loss on the Demon Deacons’ record.

That’s the way we see it. On to next week!