Committee doesn’t reward OU for win over Cowboys

The College Football Playoff committee didn’t reward Oklahoma for a road victory at then-11th-ranked Oklahoma State. But neither did the committee penalize the Sooners for winning 62-52. Or did it?

OU’s beleaguered defense has been a hotbutton issue in college football in recent weeks, a topic that reached an apex with the video game score in Stillwater. The committee kept OU fifth in the rankings this week, with the same top four — Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame and Clemson.

OSU fell from 11th to 15th. TCU rose from eighth to sixth. Iowa State is the Big 12’s other ranked team, at 21st.

Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, chairman of the selection committee, did not talk down against OU’s defense.

“We look at Oklahoma as a team,” Hocutt said. “We study their complete body of work. Their resume’ on both sides of the ball, the kicking game. We look at their opponents. How they have won. Any losses that may be on the record. One in Oklahoma’s case.

“Oklahoma, obviously, has the best pair of wins on the road this year, with the win at Ohio State and the win last weekend at Oklahoma State. Offense is very talented. Score a lot of points. Their defense got the stops they needed to get last week. We look at Oklahoma as an entire team. They’re very talented. They’re very good. We talk about the team. We don’t necessarily get into breaking down the defense. Obviously we’re aware of their defensive deficiencies. Oklahoma’s offense is at the highest end and their defense is not quite at that level.”

However, Hocutt last week said that teams ranked three through seven were tightly bunched. Tuesday night, he said he would classify that similarly for teams “4-5-6, maybe 7 this week. It was a close margin of separation.”

In that case, the committee moved No. 3 Notre Dame further ahead of No. 5 OU, even though the Fighting Irish beat Wake Forest 48-37 last week while the Sooners were winning in Stillwater.

Hocutt wouldn’t bite when asked if OU is better off winning 20-10 rather than 62-52.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say the selection committee is seeking balance with any team,” Hocutt said. “We’re evaluating teams and their performances each week. There’s only four teams higher than they are right now. Obviously the selection committee feels they’re a quality team. We evaluate the team. When you’re scoring at the rate Oklahoma is and winning games, you’re going to continue to have a chance to make a positive impact with the committee.”

Earlier, on the ESPN show announcing the selections, Hocutt said, “Oklahoma’s the No. 5 team in the country. The selection committee continues to be very impressed ... It’ll be a good test for them this week against TCU. Still a lot of football left to be played. The selection committee looks forward to watching how they perform on both sides of the ball.”

Hocutt was asked specifically about how OU’s defense is being evaluated. “Not as strong as their offense has been evaluated,” Hocutt said. “We’ll see what happens this week against a very fast TCU team, a TCU team that is playing great defense. TCU has a defense that hasn’t allowed a touchdown in 13 of the last 16 quarters. So look forward to watching Oklahoma build their resume’ in the weeks ahead.”