The second CFP rankings released Tuesday left the Ole Miss Rebels fans divided. While several of them were fine with Texas Tech at No. 6 as Ole Miss fell to No. 7, the others were not.
However, College Football Selection Committee chair Mark Rhoades gave the committee's point of view for giving the Red Raiders a spot above the Rebels, in what was "the longest discussion in the room."
"Certainly , well-regarded, moved up two spots," Rhoades said to the media on Tuesday.
"Probably the longest discussion that we had in the room was Texas Tech and Ole Miss."
CFP Chair Mack Rhoades said the longest discussion was Texas Tech v. Ole Miss for the #6 spot, and that the 2 top wins gave TTU a slight edge.
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The reason why Texas Tech was ranked above Ole Miss
Rhoades clarified how Texas Tech gave the most perfect eye test performance during their 29-7 win against a team like BYU.
"Texas Tech's win just recently this past weekend against BYU, really convincing, both sides of the ball. Texas Tech defensively, really, really good. Offensively, moves the ball up and down the field. Kicked some field goals, so probably left some points off the board. But really looked at Texas Tech's two top-13 wins, BYU, Utah."
The Red Raiders took on three ranked opponents this season: Utah, Arizona State, and BYU.
In the same vein, the Rebels also faced three ranked opponents in LSU, Georgia, and Oklahoma.
Both of them were 2-1 against conference opponents, and both their losses, Texas Tech's to Arizona State, and Ole Miss's to Georgia, were small margin losses.
While Utah is still ranked in the Top 25, LSU fell out, further hurting the Rebels case.
Even if the committee doesn't put much weight onto LSU's rankings, Ole Miss's 34-26 win over Oklahoma could simply not overshadow, or even match, TTU's 29-7 win over Utah. Hence the ranking.
"Ole Miss had the one win, a really good win at Oklahoma, also a win against LSU. But Texas Tech, highly regarded by the committee," Rhoades concluded.
We'll see how the remaining weeks shake up the final CFP rankings, and whether Texas Tech still remains ranked above Ole Miss.