Boo Corrigan justifies Georgia's No. 2 ranking despite strength of schedule

Despite having beat zero currently ranked teams, the College Football Playoff selection committee still gave two-time reigning champs Georgia the benefit of the doubt in the initial 2023 rankings, placing them second.

On Halloween’s first reveal of the current rankings, the Bulldogs fell in at No. 2, behind only Ohio State at No. 1, as the Buckeyes earned the top spot thanks to a pair of impressive ranked wins — one on the road vs. Notre Dame, and another at home vs. Penn State. Meanwhile, Georgia is yet to play a team in the first CFP top-25.

However, there are other schools like Ohio State, who have ranked wins to their name without having lost yet — namely, Washington and Florida State — who still find themselves behind Georgia. So, with some inconsistency there having OSU ahead of Georgia but not FSU or Washington, college football fans wanted to know why the committee placed the Dawgs where they did.

After the reveal, CFP committee chair Boo Corrigan explained why some of Georgia’s performances lately, while not ranked wins, still warranted keeping the back-to-back champs at No. 2.

“Well, I think you look at the rivalry game with Florida and the way they played the game against Kentucky, and to win that 51-13, added to the fact that Brock Bowers did not play against Florida, their overall team makeup, team speed, defense allowing about 14 points a game, in total body of work, you’ve got to be able to make these decisions as you’re looking at it.”

So, Corrigan banged the drum for Georgia’s defense, which may not have the superstars of the ’21 and ’22 teams but has still suffocated its SEC opponents. Plus, the Bulldogs dispatched of decent Florida and Kentucky teams in blowout fashion — particularly, the Wildcats were ranked in the top-25 before Georgia blew them out of the building.

Corrigan also noted that having coaches on the committee to analyze Georgia’s play helps.

“And again, the beauty of it is to have Coach Taylor, Coach Ault, Jim Grobe and have Coach Grobe in there as former coaches and their ability to talk about what they see as well really enhances kind of the overall experience of everyone in the room to make sure that we’re getting this right.”

So, the Bulldogs are undefeated for nearly two whole calendar years and are 8-0 two-thirds of the way through this year — and they pass the eye test, especially to the former coaches that are part of the committee. So for now, the Dawgs occupy that No. 2 overall spot.