Jordan Rodgers blasts ‘absurd’ CFP rankings decision to place Notre Dame above Texas, Oklahoma

The first College Football Playoff selection committee rankings came out on Tuesday night. Naturally, they did so to plenty of controversy. That includes where Notre Dame is ranked at 10th in the country.

Much of the controversy around Notre Dame’s ranking has to do with how high they are compared to a Miami team they lost to in Week 1. On3’s Ari Wasserman recently broke down his own thoughts on that ranking. However, for ESPN analyst Jordan Rodgers, the issue wasn’t that the Irish are ranked over Miami. It’s that they’re ranked over Texas and Oklahoma.

“No,” Jordan Rodgers said on Get Up. “That was absurd. Again, the eye test, right? The committee goes, ‘Oh, but those two running backs. They’re so good. The defense is playing better.’ Yeah, but what have they done on the field? Notre Dame has one Top 25 win. Texas has two. Oklahoma has two. Their losses, I think, are even better for Texas and Oklahoma.”

Notre Dame dropped its first two games of the season, to Miami and Texas A&M. The Irish would lose those games by a combined four points before going on a six-game winning streak. Texas, meanwhile, has losses to Ohio State and Florida, while Oklahoma has lost to Texas and Ole Miss. Both of Texas’ losses were in one-score games, while the Sooners lost by multiple scores to Texas and one score to Ole Miss.

At this point, Notre Dame’s only ranked win is against USC. As Rodgers pointed out, both Texas and Oklahoma have multiple ranked wins in comparison.

“So, I think this one, again, was just — that made no sense. Rank them, fine,” Rodgers said. “Texas, Oklahoma, Notre Dame. It’ll all sort itself out, but that showed you that they’re looking at the wrong things. They’re not valuing wins on the field as much as they were in this area of the eye test. ‘Oh, they look so much better right now.’ Okay, they still lost two games that they shouldn’t have.”

Ultimately, these are the first of the selection committee rankings. There is still plenty of time for these things to sort themselves out. Teams can also make jumps as they continue to add to their resume, which Oklahoma can do in two weeks against Alabama and Texas can against Georgia in their next game.

Paul Finebaum defends Notre Dame over Texas, Oklahoma in CFP rankings

One person who seemed to go against the SEC was Paul Finebaum. In fact, he would defend Notre Dame’s ranking ahead of Texas and Oklahoma.

“I am (good with where they are) and going back to that (Texas) A&M game that we referenced early in the season, that’s a significant game for them. I know they lost, but it was down to the final play in the game at South Bend, but that should bolster them a little bit. And I know I’m going against the brand here, arguing Notre Dame perhaps against Texas and Oklahoma, but Texas and Oklahoma both have monster games on the same day,” Finebaum said.

“Texas is at Georgia, Oklahoma is at Alabama, and then they will play each other on the final Saturday. So they both need to grab a win somewhere on the road that would really help their chances immensely.”