ESPN’s Laura Rutledge talks College Football with Steve Russell

ESPN and SEC Network sports reporter Laura Rutledge joined Steve Russell on Wednesday to discuss College Football and the playoffs.

Thoughts on Possible NCAA Change

When asked about the letter that the president of the NCAA released about the longstanding NCAA model, Rutledge had this to say: “Yeah, I was very surprised as well and I think there’s a bit of a world in college football right now where people are kind of like waffling around and nobody knows exactly what the future looks like, nobody knows exactly what the entirety of college football is going to be going forward.”

College Football Playoff

The conversation moved toward how not only Florida State missed the playoffs, but Georgia did as well. Russell explained how he was shocked that more people weren’t confused as to how Georgia dropped five spots after only a three-point loss to Alabama. “I think you’re right, and I didn’t get it either. I got ripped pretty hard because I said on Sunday, which I knew I would, whatever, who cares? But, I said on Sunday, and I still believe this, the top four teams are Michigan, Texas, Georgia, and Alabama,” said Rutledge. “I get it, that’s not what they were gonna do, they couldn’t do it that way, you’ve only got four spots, and you just had to find a spot for some of these teams.”

https://twitter.com/CFBPlayoff/status/1731411544058089664

“I don’t think there’s anybody who looks at the collection of college football’s top teams and says that Georgia’s not one of the four best. I get it, they didn’t win when they needed to and Kirby Smart even said that to me Saturday night. There was no way you could look at that Georgia team and say that losing by three points in an SEC championship team where you don’t have two of your top pass catchers healthy, which would be healthy by the time the next game’s played. There’s no way you could look at that team and say that’s not one of the four best teams, I’m sorry.”

All-America – @CBSSports / @247Sports

First Team:@brockbowers17 / @StarksMalaki
Second Team:@SedrickVanPran / @TykSmith #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/uSuDbhiA6o

— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) December 6, 2023