Gary Barta, the chair of the College Football Playoff committee, hasn’t been the most popular guy recently.

But, this week, the CFP rankings seemed to be praised by most people, with Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama and Cincinnati making up the top 4.

After the rankings were revealed, Barta told the ESPN crew why Ohio State jumped Alabama for the No. 2 spot:

“Two great teams,” Barta started. “Both Ohio State and Alabama, both of them have Heisman Trophy candidates at quarterback and this past week, though, the dominating win over Michigan State certainly got the committee’s attention. The offense of Ohio State — just total domination. And the defense playing much better. They’ve been playing better week after week. … Alabama is still a great football team, has a wonderful win against Ole Miss. The last few weeks, just not showing as much domination on defense. Two great teams, but when the vote came down, Ohio State came ahead of Alabama.”

Can Alabama take back the No. 2 spot? It seems the Tide are going to have to play some elite defense moving forward to impress Barta and the other CFP committee members.

The next rankings come out next Tuesday following the results of Rivalry Week around the country.