CFP Committee Members: How They Shape College Football’s Playoffs
- Michigan Director of Athletics Warde Manuel is the current College Football Playoff selection committee chairman.
- Former head coaches and players join current administrators on the CFP committee.
- CFP committee members can’t be in the room when a school they are affiliated with gets discussed for a spot in the College Football Playoffs.
The decision to change from having the top two teams play for the national title to having a playoff system raised questions about how to select the teams. When the College Football Playoff system debuted in the 2014 college football season, a committee was formed to choose the four teams to battle it out for the national title.
While the committee hasn’t always gotten it right, regular meetings to weigh the resumes of the top teams are part of the CFP era. The CFP committee members will use the previous CFP results to make the best picks.
Let’s examine how the College Football Playoff committee was formed and who was entrusted with picking the most worthy teams.
Looking At The College Football Playoff Committee
Three-Year Terms Limit The Power Of An Individual
When the idea of the CFP committee picking the most deserving teams to participate in the College Football Playoff was first proposed, there was a desire to ensure that the same group of people would not remain in power for the foreseeable future.
A three-year term was placed on committee members. When it is time for those terms to expire, the same process is used to find their replacements. Whether it is a current or former athletic director, a former college coach, or a player, the committee wants to have members with different backgrounds in the hope of picking the most deserving teams.
Is picking the teams in a 12-team field more challenging than when the CFP was limited to just four? When it comes to all you need to know about the College Football Playoff, that is just one of the things to consider.
Who Votes As Members Of the Current CFP Committee?
Warde Manuel, head of the College Football Playoff committee, is just one of the 13 members who have a vote on selecting the playoff field.
The committee includes current athletic directors, including Hunter Yuracheck of Arkansas, Carla Williams of Virginia, David Sayler of Miami (Ohio), Mack Rhoades of Baylor, and Chet Gladchuck of Navy. Chris Ault, the former AD and football coach at Nevada, joins them.
Jim Grobe, Gary Pinkel, and Mike Riley, former head coaches, are on the committee, along with former star players Randall McDaniel and Will Shields and Kelly Whiteside, a former college football reporter. They were the decision-makers during the CFP playoff expansion.
Who Was Part Of the First CFP Committee?
When the first CFP selection committee was formed in 2014, some members weren’t involved for long.
Former Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr and star college and NFL quarterback Archie Manning withdrew from the committee in 2014, citing health issues, and never participated in a committee meeting. The USC athletic director Pat Haden took a similar path and was only involved throughout the 2014 season. Oliver Luck left the committee in 2015.
The first CFP committee included successful Wisconsin football coach Barry Alvarez, NCAA executive vice president Tom Jernstedt, Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long, former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese, and Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne.
What Are The Goals Of the Committee?
The committee seeks representation from all the power conferences and a breakdown of college administrators, coaches, and players to provide different perspectives.
There was also a desire for some geographic balance, so one part of the country doesn’t have an unfair advantage when it comes to the selection of the teams. They know that their decisions can impact NCAA championship history.
During the second half of the college football season, the current CFP rankings are announced weekly, which erases the feeling that the committee members are working behind the curtain.
How Does The Process Differ From the BCS Selection?
While the Bowl Championship Series utilized the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association poll results, that is not part of the data used to select the playoff field.
The strength of schedule, particularly the strength of victory, is used to compare the teams in contention for CFP spots.
There are times when committee members need to recuse themselves from the process if they have a connection to a team in the running for a spot in the CFP. That was the case in 2023 when Manuel couldn’t be involved in discussions about Michigan. The Wolverines not only made the CFP field in 2023 but also won the national title.
