College Football Playoff

The first College Football Playoff selection committee was announced on October 16, 2013. The group consists of 13 members who generally serve three-year terms, although some initial selections served terms both shorter and longer than three years "to achieve a rotation" of members.[12][13]

As of March 2020, the members of the selection committee are:[12][14]

The committee members include one current athletic director from each of the five "major" conferences—ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC—also known as the Power Five conferences.[16][17] Other members are former coaches, players, athletic directors, and administrators, plus a retired member of the media. The goal was for the panel to consist proportionally of current "Power Five" athletic directors, former coaches, and a third group of other voters,[16] excluding current conference commissioners, coaches, and media members.[18] During the selection process, organizers said they wanted the committee to be geographically balanced.[19] Conference commissioners submitted lists totaling more than 100 names from which to select the final committee members.[20][21]

The selection of Condoleezza Rice, a former U.S. Secretary of State and Stanford University provost, was met with some backlash within the sport and the media. Critics questioned her qualifications, citing gender and lack of football experience.[27][28]

The committee releases its top 25 rankings weekly on Tuesdays in the second half of the regular season. The top four teams are seeded in that order for the playoff.[29] During the season, the committee meets and releases rankings six or seven times, depending on the length of the season (the number of games is consistent, but the number of weeks those games are played over can vary from year to year).[25] The group, which meets at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine, Texas,[30] reportedly meets in person up to 10 total times a year.[21]

A team's strength of schedule is one of the most pertinent considerations for the committee in making its selections.[31] Other factors that the committee weighs are conference championships, team records, and head-to-head results,[8] plus other points such as injuries and weather.[32] Unlike the BCS system, the AP Poll, Coaches' Poll, and the Harris Poll, computer rankings are not used to make the selections.[3][16] Advanced statistics and metrics are expected to be submitted to the committee, though like other analytics, they have no formal role in the decision.[33] Committee members are not required to attend games.[30]

Long said the panel considered less frequent rankings, but ultimately decided on a weekly release. "That's what the fans have become accustomed to, and we felt it would leave a void in college football without a ranking for several weeks," he said. Long also noted: "Early on there was some talk that we would go into a room at the end of the season and come out with a top four, but that didn't last long."[34] In analyzing this change in thinking, Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated commented: "The whole point of the selection committee was to replace the simplistic horse-race nature of Top 25 polls – where teams only move up if someone above them loses – with a more deliberative evaluation method. Now the playoff folks are going to try to do both."[35] Addressing the "pecking order" nature of traditional polls, George Schrodeder of USA Today wrote that "if it actually works as intended, we could see volatile swings" from week to week, with lower-ranked teams moving ahead of higher-ranked teams without either team losing (a rarity in traditional polls). Both Long and Bill Hancock, the CFP executive director, say they expect that to happen.[36]

The committee's voting method uses multiple ballots, similar to the NCAA basketball tournament selection process and the entire process is facilitated through custom software developed by Code Authority in Frisco, Texas.[37] From a large initial pool of teams, the group takes numerous votes on successive tiers of teams, considering six at a time and coming to a consensus on how they should be ranked, then repeating the process with the next tier of teams. Discussion and debate happens at each voting step. All votes are by secret ballot, and committee members do not make their ballots public.[34] Each week's ranking process begins anew, with no weight given to the previous week's selections.[36] In this fashion, the committee selects the four teams to compete for the national championship.

Committee members who are currently employed or financially compensated by a school, or have family members who have a current financial relationship (which includes football players), are not allowed to vote for that school. During deliberations about a team's selection, members with such a conflict of interest cannot be present, but can answer factual questions about the institution.[34] All committee members have past ties to certain NCAA institutions,[30] but the committee decided to ignore those ties in the recusal requirements. "We just boiled it down to where we felt this group was fit to its high integrity and would differentiate from those past relationships," Long said.[34] Some football writers, like Dennis Dodd and Mark Schlabach, have said the recusal arrangement isn't transparent or objective, suggesting that members' alma maters and former coaching jobs should be considered disqualifying conflicts of interest.[38][39]

The inaugural College Football Playoff games in January 2015 generated larger ratings than previous BCS games. The 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship had an 18.9 Nielsen rating[61] and was watched by approximately 33.4 million people, the largest broadcast audience of all time on American cable television (non-broadcast), according to AdWeek. That was a 31 percent audience increase over the previous year's championship game and a 22 percent increase over the BCS title game's best rating on cable (a 16.1 rating in 2011).[62] The semifinal games, the 2015 Rose Bowl and 2015 Sugar Bowl, saw 28.16 million and 28.27 million viewers, respectively.[63] According to ESPN, these games also set (and briefly held) all-time records for cable TV viewership.[64][65]

In 2015, the ratings for the two semifinal games were down from the prior season's equivalents, with the Orange Bowl reaching a 9.7 rating (in comparison to 15.5 for the 2015 Rose Bowl) and the Cotton Bowl reaching a 9.9 rating (in comparison to a 15.3 rating for the 2015 Sugar Bowl). On the online WatchESPN streaming service, excluding 2014 FIFA World Cup games, the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl drew the second and third-largest streaming audiences in the service's history, behind the 2015 national championship. The ratings drops were attributed to the New Year's Eve time slot, as fewer people were at home to watch the game.[66] The decline in ratings was a factor in changes for the scheduling of future CFP semi-final games.[7]

According to the CFP website, the system's operations are controlled by the Board of Managers, which consists of presidents and chancellors of the playoff group's member universities. The eleven members have sole authority to develop, review and approve annual budgets, policies and operating guidelines. The group also selects the company's officers.[80]

• Rodney Bennett – President, Southern Mississippi (C-USA)
• Anthony Frank – President, Colorado State (Mountain West)
• Burns Hargis – President, Oklahoma State (Big 12)
• Jack Hawkins – Chancellor, Troy (Sun Belt)
• Rev. John I. Jenkins – President, Notre Dame (Independent)
• Mark Keenum – President, Mississippi State (SEC)
• Roderick McDavis – President, Ohio (MAC)
• Max Nikias – President, USC (Pac-12)
• Harvey Perlman (chair) – Chancellor, Nebraska (Big Ten)
• Donna Shalala – President, Miami (Fla.) (ACC)
• Steadman Upham – President, Tulsa (The American)

According to the CFP website, the Athletics Directors Advisory Group is appointed by the management committee to "offer counsel" on the operations of the system. As an advisory board, it has no authority in the management of the CFP.[80]

• Gary Barta, Iowa (Big Ten)
• Tom Bowen, Memphis (The American)
• Tom Burman, Wyoming (Mountain West)
• Joe Castiglione, Oklahoma (Big 12)
• Jeremy Foley, Florida (SEC)
• Dan Guerrero, UCLA (Pac-12)
• Chris Massaro, Middle Tennessee State (C-USA)
• Terry Mohajir, Arkansas State (Sun Belt)
• Mike O'Brien, Toledo (MAC)
• Stan Wilcox, Florida State (ACC)

Because the tournament has four teams, at least one Power Five champion misses the playoffs every season. However, not all teams selected have been conference winners. In the 2016–17 season, one of the teams selected was Ohio State, who did not qualify to the Big Ten Championship Game. As a result, both the Big Ten and Big 12 champions were not selected for the playoffs (although both teams had two losses, while Ohio State only had one). In the 2017–18 season, two of the four selected teams were from the SEC: conference champions Georgia, and Alabama, who lost to SEC runner-up Auburn. Analysts have discussed whether the committee should select conference champions only.[82][83]

Another critique centered around a perceived bias against smaller conferences such as the Big 12 which used to not stage a conference championship game, but was reintroduced for the 2017 season. The American Athletic Conference addressed this issue by adding Navy to its ranks for 2015, bringing its membership to 12 teams, which allowed it to stage a conference championship game under then-current NCAA rules.[84] Since the 2016 season, FBS conferences have been allowed to stage football championship games even if they do not have 12 members.[85]

There are opinions labeling the CFP system "just as" or "even more polarizing" than the BCS or the old wire-service poll system.[86][87][88][89] However, most in sports media believe the College Football Playoff Committee got the right foursome for the 2017-18 playoff inasmuch as it included Alabama, a one-loss team excluded from its conference championship on a tiebreaker, instead of Ohio State, a two-loss conference champion.[90][91][92] None of the commentators who agreed with the selection made any reference to the exclusion of undefeated UCF, a Group of Five team with a perfect season and a record that was thus better than all four CFP teams, which each had lost once.

In 2019 Urban Meyer, head coach of the national champion 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, said that he intentionally ran up the score against Wisconsin in the Big Ten conference championship to help his team be chosen for the playoff. Criticizing the subjectivity of the selection process, Meyer said that he left the starting lineup in the game despite Ohio State being ahead 45–0 in the third quarter—not resting the starters and risking their health, and poor sportsmanship—because "I don't think the 'eye test' and 'people think' is going to get enough to bump TCU and Baylor". He continued, "I had a job to do, and that was to get Ohio State in the playoff. Do I think that's right? That's wrong", proposing a selection system based on defined criteria.[93]

Late in the 2020 season, which was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde was strongly critical of the CFP committee for what he considered unfair treatment of teams outside the Power Five. Forde noted that the CFP rankings released on December 8 saw Iowa State, then 8–2 (though having clinched a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game), ranked No. 7, one spot ahead of the top Group of Five team, then-unbeaten Cincinnati. Forde was especially rankled by Iowa State being ranked 12 spots ahead of Louisiana—a team whose only loss to that point had been to Coastal Carolina, also unbeaten as of December 8, on a last-second field goal, and had also beaten Iowa State by more than two touchdowns. Louisiana's win was one of three by Sun Belt Conference teams against Big 12 teams in as many games in 2020, with Coastal Carolina also having such a win.[94] Forde was even more critical of the committee the following week, saying "They doubled down on the favoritism [toward Power Five teams] this week." Iowa State moved up one place to #6 despite not playing the previous weekend, and Florida dropped only one place despite losing at home to an LSU team that entered the game at 3–5. Meanwhile, Cincinnati, which like Iowa State did not play, dropped one spot, placing it behind three two-loss teams. Coastal Carolina, still unbeaten, was also ranked well behind Iowa State (at No. 12). CFP committee chair Gary Barta, in a media teleconference, cited a last-second Coastal Carolina win over Troy that weekend as one reason for their arguably low ranking; Forde pointed out that a month earlier, Iowa State had a similarly close win against a Baylor team that finished the season at 2–7.[95] Michael Aresco, commissioner of Cincinnati's American Athletic Conference, had equally pointed criticism, accusing the committee of "undermining its credibility with rankings that defy logic and common sense and fairness," and added, "I never thought I'd say it, but if this continues, bring back the BCS and the computers because it would be a fairer system than what I'm seeing now. This is the seventh year [of the CFP], and it does appear the deck is stacked against us and against other [Group of 5 teams]."[96]

The qualifications of selection committee members has also been scrutinized. As an outsider to the sports world, Condoleezza Rice was the focus of some criticism. Former Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden opined that the committee's members should be "people who played the game and preferably coached the game".[97] Former Auburn head coach Pat Dye said that "All she knows about football is what somebody told her ... or what she read in a book, or what she saw on television. To understand football, you've got to play with your hand in the dirt". Former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese also gained membership on the selection committee despite having never played football in college.[98] Former sportswriter Steve Weiberg and retired U.S. Air Force General Michael Gould are other committee members without significant football playing, coaching, or administrative experience.

The semifinal games for the 2015 season were scheduled for December 31; they were expected to have lower television viewership because the date is not a federal holiday, and because the second game faced heavy competition for television viewers in primetime from New Year's Eve specials (such as New Year's Rockin' Eve, which is aired by ESPN's sister broadcast network ABC). Under television contracts with ESPN that predate the College Football Playoff, both the Rose and Sugar Bowl games are guaranteed exclusive TV time slots on January 1 (or January 2 if New Year's Day falls on a Sunday), regardless of whether they are hosting a semifinal game.[99] In an interview with CBS Sports, CFP commissioner Bill Hancock suggested this scheduling issue would "change the paradigm of what New Year's Eve is all about," opining that "if you're hosting a New Year's Eve party, you better have a bunch of televisions around".[100] Although ESPN proposed moving the Thursday, December 31, 2015 semifinal games to Saturday, January 2, 2016, the idea was rejected.[101] The semifinal games' ratings were ultimately down significantly from those of the previous season.[66]

In an effort to reduce the impact of their New Year's Eve scheduling, the 2016 semifinal games, which fell on a Saturday, had earlier kickoff times, at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. ET respectively. The 2016 Orange Bowl was played in primetime on December 30, 2016, rather than in an early afternoon window on New Year's Eve. Hancock considered the earlier start times to be a compromise to reduce the games' intrusion into New Year's Eve festivities, but reiterated that there were no plans to move the semi-final games from New Year's Eve outside of years where they are hosted by the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl.[102][103]

On July 28, 2016, however, Hancock reversed this stance and announced revisions to the scheduling for future College Football Playoff semi-final games. The games were rescheduled so that they will not necessarily be played on New Year's Eve yearly: outside of years when they are hosted by the Rose and Sugar Bowls (where they retain their traditional New Year's Day scheduling), they will now be scheduled primarily on the last Saturday or federally observed holiday of the year. In some years, this date will land on New Year's Eve. In 2021, the games will be played on Friday, December 31, because the day will be observed as a holiday.[7][104] Viewership of the 2018 semi-finals were down by 25% over the previous semi-finals, which were played on New Year's Day.[105]

A common suggestion is for the playoff to expand to an eight-team format, guaranteeing all five major conference champions a spot along with the highest ranked "Group of Five" champion. The remaining two spots would be at-large selections awarded to the next two highest ranking teams. The seed pairings would be ordered to fit the playoff format, with 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc.

NCAA coaches were polled in 2014 and asked if they were in favor of a larger playoff system. More than half of the coaches (53 percent) from the Power 5 conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12) who voted chose an eight-team playoff, compared with 33 percent for the four-team model.[106] CFP executive director Bill Hancock said at the time, that his group is committed to only four teams for the length of the 12-year contract through 2026, and "there has been no discussion of expanding".