Cam Newton's top two college football teams don't include Ohio State

On a guest appearance on ESPN's First Take, Cam Newton discussed his top two college football teams and Ohio State wasn't either of the teams. Maybe some of the matter lies in conference loyalty for Newton, who played briefly at Florida and then starred at Auburn ahead of an NFL career. But he elected for a pair of SEC teams over the Big Ten's top contender atop the college football ranks.

In his comments on First Take, Newton was asked about the best team in college football. His response certainly doesn't accord with the results of the latest rankings.

Cam Newton's take

I would argue that it's between Alabama and Georgia. I want to say Ohio State, but they haven't been as battle-tested as Alabama has throughout their gauntlet of a schedule. When you see Georgia win a game like they won last week versus a good Ole Miss team, those type of games build character and those type of games really get you to the point where you have to say you have to consider Georgia as a real threat. Now Alabama, they're in this situation where you jump to conclusions too fast. Obviously Losing the first game the way they lost it, everybody was up in arms about Coach DeBoer, and he's since bounced back. Cam Newton

Resume points behind Newton's thoughts

Newton's criticism of Ohio State is backed by the Buckeye schedule. Ohio State opened with then-No. 1 Texas, but the struggling Longhorns are just one of three currently ranked teams on the OSU slate, and at No. 22, they're the highest of the bunch. Yes, Ohio State is 7-0, but ESPN's FPI ranks their current strength of schedule at No. 33 and the remaining strength of schedule at No. 39.

Georgia's lone loss is to current No. 4 Alabama, and the Bulldogs have taken down current No. 8 Ole Miss and No. 17 Tennessee. They have two remaining ranked teams left on the schedule, No. 22 Texas and No. 7 Georgia Tech. ESPN ranks Georgia's current strength of scheule at No. 8 and remaining strength of schedule at No. 27.

Alabama, of course, dropped the season opener 31-17 to a Florida State team that has since tanked. But the Tide have since bested four teams all ranked in the top 17 in their last four games. Alabama still has No. 20 LSU and No. 13 Oklahoma remaining on the schedule ahead. FPI ranks the Tide's strength of schedule at No. 2 (trailing only Florida) and the remaining strength of schedule at No. 22.

Ohio State figures to be largely untested into the Big Ten championship game and they are carrying a 96.6% chance to making the Playoff per FPI. While Alabama (90.4%) and Georgia (82.2%) are both likely playoff-bound, Ohio State is carrying not only FPI's No. 1 ranking but the best chance at winning the CFP title. But maybe a Heisman QB knows a few things that the numbers don't.