Greg McElroy questions Ole Miss being ranked above Texas A&M in College Football Playoff

The final College Football Playoff rankings have been revealed. There was, naturally, plenty to debate there. That includes the decision to rank Ole Miss No. 6 while Texas A&M finished at No. 7 in the country.

As the teams for the Playoff were being revealed live, analyst Greg McElroy reacted live to that decision by the Playoff selection committee. He noted that Texas A&M had a strong argument to be ranked ahead of Ole Miss and that’s something that he could imagine being frustrated about if he was an Aggie today.

“I’ve got to be honest with you,” Greg McElroy said on the College Football Playoff Selection Show. “If I’m A&M, I have a bit of a gripe, frankly. Because A&M, if you look at their Strength of Schedule played, they’re sitting there at 16th. They’re sitting one spot behind Ole Miss, whose Strength of Schedule resides at 41. You can say the best win for Ole Miss is Oklahoma. Well, they went to Notre Dame and knocked off the Irish who might be a Top 10 team in the College Football Playoff as well.”

Texas A&M and Ole Miss both finished the season with one loss, in both cases that came against a ranked opponent in SEC play. However, Ole Miss’ loss made the Playoff while Texas A&M’s did not. As McElroy noted, their best wins are similar, though Notre Dame ended up missing the field. However, Texas A&M did have a notably stronger Strength of Schedule. On top of that, Ole Miss lost head coach Lane Kiffin, which is a reason to potentially move a team down, even though the selection committee chose not to do that in the end.

“So, the first disagreement I have so far,” McElroy said. “Still, A&M, excellent football team will be a difficult matchup for everybody.”

On the one hand, this may seem like a semantic debate. After all, they’re both in the College Football Playoff field. However, it does significantly change the matchups. Ole Miss is now set to take on Tulane, out of the American Conference. Meanwhile, Texas A&M is going to be playing host to Miami. It’s worth noting that Miami is ranked higher than Tulane in the rankings, but Tulane is a conference champion.

Assuming both Texas A&M and Ole Miss win, the Aggies would then play Ohio State. Meanwhile, the Rebels would have a rematch with Georgia waiting in the next round.