Mack Rhoades explains decision to keep Indiana over Texas A&M in second College Football Playoff rankings

Both Indiana and Texas A&M went on the road this past Saturday, emerging with wins. The margin of victory was just a little bit bigger in favor of the Aggies, taking care of business vs. Missouri. Indiana required some late-game heroics from Fernando Mendoza to avoid an upset from Penn State.

Because of those specific results, some wondered if there would be movement in Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings. But the committee kept the top three the same, with Indiana at No. 2 and Texas A&M No. 3. CFP committee chair Mack Rhoades explained the decision to ESPN’s Rece Davis.

“One of our longer discussions in our meetings,” Rhoades said. “Indiana, gave them the edge, again, defensively… Certainly, offensively as well.”

From a pure scoring standpoint, nobody in the country is better offensively than Indiana. Giving up just over 12 points per game on defense puts them second nationally. Texas A&M does not rank inside the top 10 in either statistic, mainly due to allowing 40 points in a pair of games vs. Arkansas and Notre Dame.

Back to this specific week, Rhoades went on to mention that Texas A&M is playing a little different Missouri team than earlier in the season. Specifically at the quarterback position, where true freshman Matt Zollers got the start. Zollers entered the year as the third-string guy behind Beau Pribula and Sam Horn. Injuries forced Eli Drinkwitz to put Zollers out there.

“Committee talked a little bit about Missouri,” Rhoades said. “Not the Missouri team they’ve been, playing their third quarterback. A true freshman.”

Folks in College Station might argue the same can be said about Penn State. They are down a starting quarterback, Drew Allar, due to a long-term injury. There is still plenty of talent on the roster left behind by James Franklin but the Nittany Lions now hold a 0-6 record in Big Ten play.

The College Football Playoff committee ultimately disagrees, keeping the top status quo. Ohio State remains No. 1, followed by Indiana and Texas A&M.

Looking ahead, and assuming both teams remain unbeaten, Thanksgiving weekend may be Texas A&M’s chance to make a jump. Mike Elko leads his team into Austin for a rivalry game with the Texas Longhorns. They are currently ranked inside the top 10 and could be even higher depending on results. Going into Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium may give the Aggies a chance to jump more than just Indiana.