Process Launched; Huskers No. 15 in Top 25

Randy York’s N-Sider

Tuesday, October 27, 2014, became a historic date in the history of college football. Eight weeks into the first-ever season in which four NCAA Division I teams will be selected to participate in the inaugural College Football Playoff (CFP), the committee released its first poll. Mississippi State was ranked No. 1, Florida State No. 2, Auburn No. 3 and Ole Miss No. 4. Nebraska was ranked No. 15. The committee worked until 10 p.m. on Monday night and deliberated most of Tuesday before revealing its Top 25 rankings. In the process, the committee became more visible than it ever has been, simply because the focus among fans stirs debate and creates controversy. Let the record show that one of the 12 members of this committee is Tom Osborne, Nebraska’s Hall-of-Fame coach, three-term Congressman and former athletic director. Osborne is recused whenever Nebraska is involved in the voting process. The same rule applies to others whose names and/or positions are directly connected with certain institutions.

The committee was created to select the four schools that will qualify for the right to compete for the first-ever College Football Playoff and now that the first ratings have been announced, weekly polls on Tuesday nights for the rest of the season will become college football’s version of the NCAA’s annual announcement of the top four seeds and the full field of qualifiers for basketball’s March Madness.  The inaugural Tuesday night rankings were: 1) Mississippi State; 2) Florida State; 3) Auburn; 4) Mississippi; 5) Oregon; 6) Alabama; 7) TCU; 8) Michigan State; 9) Kansas State; 10) Notre Dame; 11) Georgia; 12) Arizona; 13) Baylor; 14) Arizona State; 15) Nebraska; 16) Ohio State; 17) Utah; 18) Oklahoma; 19) LSU; 20) West Virginia; 21) Clemson; 22) UCLA; 23) East Carolina; 24) Duke; 25) Louisville.

College Football Playoff Execuive Director Bill Hancock and Chair Jeff Long lead the 12-person committee.

Committee Has Been Meeting for an Entire Year

Since members of the committee are recused from voting when their schools or conferences are discussed, the committee focuses on what it believes should be the primary factors in how teams are differentiated in their weekly poll. Strength of schedule and level of competition are high priorities. The committee has been meeting since November of 2013, and was reduced from 13 to 12 members on October 20 when Bill Hancock, executive director of the College Football Playoff, announced that Archie Manning is taking a leave of absence from the selection committee for the rest of the season. Manning will undergo surgery next month to help relieve discomfort that affects his ability to walk and travel. He will return as a committee member in 2015.

Jeff Long, vice chancellor and director of athletics at Arkansas, chairs the 2014 Football Playoff Selection Committee.  Joining him are Barry Alvarez, director of athletics at Wisconsin; Lieutenant General Mike Gold, former superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy; Pat Haden, director of athletics at USC; Tom Jernstedt, former executive vice president of the NCAA; Oliver Luck, director of athletics at West Virginia; Tom Osborne, former Nebraska head coach and director of athletics; Dan Radakovich, director of athletics at Clemson; Condoleezza Rice, Stanford professor and former U.S. Secretary of State; Mike Tranghese, former commissioner of the Big East Conference; Steve Wieberg, former USA Today college football reporter; and Tyrone Willingham, former head football coach at Stanford, Notre Dame and Washington.

College Football Hall-of-Fame coach and former Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne is on the committee.

Five More Tuesdays Will Determine Final Four Teams

After releasing its first Top 25 rankings Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee will issue five more Tuesday night rankings before final Selection Day on Sunday, December 7. The first set of semifinals will match the No. 1 seed vs. No. 4 and the No. 2 seed vs. No. 3 seed. The sites for the semifinals will rotate annually among the Peach Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl. The first semifinals will be January 1, 2015, at the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. The first national championship game will be January 12, 2015, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

According to the College Football Playoff website, Selection Committee members meet weekly, in person, on Mondays and Tuesdays to produce rankings. Selection Committee members are equipped with a wealth of information, including review of video, statistics and their own expertise to guide their deliberations. They emphasize obvious factors like win-loss records, strength of schedule, conference championships won, head-to-head results and results against common opponents.

Avid fan and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is the only female voting committee member.

Playoff Committee Voting a Five-Step Process

The playoff group has retained SportSource Analytics to provide the data platform for the committee’s use. The platform enables committee members to compare and contrast every team on every level possible. The official website also noted that the committee does not use a single data point, such as the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) that is used for NCAA championships. The Committee’s five-step voting protocol is:

1) Each committee member creates a list of the 25 teams he or she believes to be the best in the country, in no particular order. Teams listed by three or more members remain under consideration.

2) Each member lists the best six teams, in no particular order. The six teams receiving the most votes comprise the pool for the seeding ballot.

3) In the first seeding ballot, each member ranks those six teams, one through six, with one being the best. The three teams receiving the fewest points will become the top three seeds. The three teams that were not seeded are held over for the next seeding ballot.

4) Each member lists the six best remaining teams, in no particular order. The three teams receiving the most votes are added to the three teams held over to comprise the next seeding ballot.

5) Steps No. 3 and 4 will be repeated until 25 teams have been seeded.

There is one more fact to point out in this new era of a College Football Playoff – all votes are cast by secret ballot.

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