Gary Barta weighs Cincinnati vs Big 12 title contenders

On3 imageby:James Fletcher III11/23/21

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The College Football Playoff Selection Committee provided its updated rankings heading into Week 13. After a big shake up at the top, the top six teams are Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, Cincinnati, Michigan and Notre Dame. While the head-to-head drama was finally put to rest by a pair of losses, new controversies are on the rise.

CFP Selection Committee chairman Gary Barta once again joined ESPN’s Rece Davis for a conversation about the Week 13 rankings, taking more time to address the Cincinnati and the Big 12 title contenders. With Cincinnati’s historic climb into the top four, people across the country wonder what weird scenario could knock them out. Despite their perfect record, talk of their value against the Big 12 has circulated.

Cincinnati vs Big 12 title contenders

No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 8 Baylor and No. 10 Oklahoma will finish the season with some mashup of matchups across Bedlam and the Big 12 championship. No matter which school lifts the trophy at the end of the day, many wonder whether that will be enough to dethrone No. 4 Cincinnati.

Rece Davis asked Gary Barta directly about the Big 12’s chances, specifically how they compare to Cincinnati. However while dodging the direct question, an interesting back-and-forth emerged.

“I think most people have heard that we don’t really talk about separation – we certainly talk about teams in clusters. Cincinnati, one of the things we’ve talked about all year is that win at Notre Dame, which continues to look better with every passing week. And this past week – the win they had over SMU – SMU came in 8-2 and Ridder just continues to show why he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country. Their defense is playing strong so Cincinnati at four – the committee felt strongly about. Not really comparing them to the Big 12 directly, we don’t look at conferences as much as we’re looking at team by team.”

Davis pushed further, asking whether Cincinnati belonged in a cluster with Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama or Michigan, Notre Dame and Oklahoma State. Barta offered another fence-straddling response.

“That’s a fair question, a good way to ask it. And the honest answer is when we looked at Cincinnati both up with No. 1 through No. 3 and we also looked at Cincinnati comparing to No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7. So they were compared to both groups and they ended up at No. 4.

Davis, still unsatisfied with the answer, pressed further by asking Barta whether Cincinnati landed at No. 4 easily or whether they just edged out Michigan, Notre Dame and Oklahoma State.

“We’ve had a lot of respect for Cincinnati all year. We certainly have talked about their strength of schedule, but this win against SMU – when we were looking at the way they played offensively and defensively – they came in at No. 4. A lot of discussion – there’s 13 members on the committee – there’s certainly disagreement at times but when the vote came down they were No. 4 and then Michigan at No. 5.”