Gary Barta ripped on social media for baffling quote during CFP rankings show

Gary Barta is the chair of the College Football Playoff selection committee. With that comes the unenviable job of explaining the committee’s rankings live on ESPN each week.

Well, when Michigan was once again ranked No. 6 and Michigan State No. 7, it drew some negativity on social media.

That’s because, only 2 weeks ago, Michigan State beat Michigan in a head-to-head contest. So, how did Barta explain that ranking?

Gary Barta: "Set aside watching the games, though that’s certainly a part of it. But statistically in just about every category, offensively and defensively, Michigan comes out on top over Michigan State."

OK then.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 17, 2021

Yeah. Any time you start a quote with “set aside watching the games,” it probably isn’t going to end well.

As you can imagine, fans took to Twitter to rip Barta for that comment, ignoring what happened on the field between the Wolverines and Spartans:

@SolidVerbal I'd like to suggest this be the new CFP Slogan:
"The College Football Playoff: Setting Aside Watching The Games" https://t.co/KFxhLynX9K

— Christopher Brown (@TrustTheVoid) November 17, 2021

Barta "the criteria every year is whatever we need it to be so that we can get the matchups that we want." https://t.co/nQtsp0SuzQ pic.twitter.com/zbeecYwy9v

— ?Остап / Paul Cherrington ???? (@PaulCherrington) November 17, 2021

Because the teams I cover are not in the CFP mix, I am paying very little attention to the weekly rankings. It’s better this way https://t.co/OhQcK0stxe

— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) November 17, 2021

Dawg you have set aside watching the games COMPLETELY https://t.co/ysiIiRtuCd

— Carson Williams (@CCWill94) November 17, 2021

Set aside what the funds I'm lacking in my checking account, I have more money than Elan Musk https://t.co/H5n01O3wra

— Brian Webber (@bwwebber) November 17, 2021

This is the guy they trot out to say words about the process. Imagine the rest of the room if he’s the best talker. https://t.co/y9a63dDtEz

— J. Tidwell (@jtidwell808) November 17, 2021

gary barta: "idc michigan better" https://t.co/zjylfC1qMV

— Anthony Broome (@anthonytbroome) November 17, 2021

So we can just use numbers to look at the games and not care how they played out?

TAMU fans: https://t.co/igIIysW8Qv pic.twitter.com/05HUqeD91m

— Tellito?? Day 1 DF #204 (@TellStevens) November 17, 2021

https://twitter.com/TheBillKenney/status/1460768522934571014

Wait a minute. Every time I bring up stats and numbers to make a case for Cincinnati or UCF or BYU or any other group of 6 school, I get told stats aren't important. It's the eye test.

Another week of just making it up as we go. https://t.co/ktFGtnttaW

— Chris Schubert (@ChrisSchubert_) November 17, 2021

Yeah, that one is going to be getting a lot of mileage this week, particularly at Michigan State.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 14 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.