Goal of the selection committee?

[jkjsooner]

Is there any sort of charter or goal specified for the selection committee? This may seem like a dumb question but I don't think it is.

Are they punishing losses like is the tradition in college football? (Given, lately this has changed slightly when an SEC team is involved thus LSU making it to the title game with two losses over other BCS conference teams with one loss.)

Are they looking at the strength of a team at the end of the season? What if a team had a tremendous year but lost their QB prior to their last game and struggled with the backup in the last game against an inferior opponent?

Are they trying to find the best teams or the most deserving?


Obviously each member may have differing views on how the teams stack up but I'm hoping at least they all go into the process with a common goal. At this point I don't think we know what that goal is.

I just hope they don't break with the tradition in college football that it really is about the most deserving teams and teams are punished for losses. If they start excluding undefeated power conference teams and including one loss teams that they feel are better then I think there will be a huge problem.

As of right now it appears that if we win out we're in. You never have more than four undefeated power conference teams. In my opinion that should be a valid assumption for any power conference team but do we really know that that is the case?

[BoulderSooner79]

The goal is to keep paranoid CFB fans overwhelmed with angst until they release the white smoke or gray smoke. They may need to add a few more smoke colors.

[rock on sooner]

Listening to "The Experts" I think the committee will look at polls a lot
more than they should. ESPN is talking and talking about get two from
the SEC into the four team playoff and, when all the big matchups are
played, it could well be Bama and aTm from the SEC...if so it'll be a
one loss SEC team over and undefeated someone else, at which point,
the drums will beat for an eight team playoff.....

[8timechamps]

This is the closest thing to a charter that they've announced:

College Football Playoff Selection Committee Protocol

1. Mission. The committee’s task will be to select the best teams, rank the teams for inclusion in the playoff and selected other bowl games and, then assign the teams to sites.
2. Principles. The committee will select the teams using a process that distinguishes among otherwise comparable teams by considering:
   
   • Conference championships won,
   • Strength of schedule,
   • Head-to-head competition,
   • Comparative outcomes of common opponents (without incenting margin of victory), and,
   • Other relevant factors such as key injuries that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.

1. Voting Process. The voting process will include a series of ballots through which the committee members first will select a pool of teams to be considered, then will rank those teams. Individual ballots will be compiled into a composite ranking. Each committee member will independently evaluate an immense amount of information during the process. This evaluation will lead to individual qualitative and quantitative opinions that will inform each member’s votes.
2. Number of Teams to Be Ranked. The committee will rank 25 teams. If no champion of a non-contract conference is among that group, then the committee will conduct an additional process to identify the top-ranked champion of those conference champions.

More here. The rest is mostly about meeting dates and how they will pair the teams.

One of the concerns I have is that each member is essentially left to determine the top four based on their own criteria. Barry Alvarez said statistics would be a big part of his factoring...but what does that mean exactly? Strength of schedule? Score differential? Rushing yards? Contrary to some opinions, I didn't 'feel better' after hearing what Alvarez had to say.

It's probably going to be a cluster****, so I'm just really hoping OU goes undefeated. That way we won't have to worry about getting selected (at least I hope not).

[BigTip]

It's probably going to be a cluster****,

As it has been for all these years. But the theory, and I think I agree, is that even when it is all screwed up, just by having four teams into the mix, insures the most deserving team will have a shot at the title.

Of course you could put eight teams in, play it three times, and maybe end up having three different champs. It is always going to be a less than perfect way to chose a college champ. That damn education crap seems to get in the way of a REAL playoff!

[BoulderSooner79]

I think the fans' hysterical reactions to the process and outcome will almost be as entertaining as the games. (And yes, I do enjoy the meltdown threads).

[8timechamps]

As it has been for all these years. But the theory, and I think I agree, is that even when it is all screwed up, just by having four teams into the mix, insures the most deserving team will have a shot at the title.

Of course you could put eight teams in, play it three times, and maybe end up having three different champs. It is always going to be a less than perfect way to chose a college champ. That damn education crap seems to get in the way of a REAL playoff!

Yeah, it's always been somewhat of a mess, but now it falls to 16 individuals. But, it's not like it has ever been clear cut.

[8timechamps]

I think the fans' hysterical reactions to the process and outcome will almost be as entertaining as the games. (And yes, I do enjoy the meltdown threads).

Assuming I am not part of one, I will thoroughly enjoy the meltdowns.

[BoulderSooner79]

Assuming I am not part of one, I will thoroughly enjoy the meltdowns.

Well yeah, goes without saying...

[soonergirlNeugene]

That bit about injuries is interesting. Kinda makes you wonder if there is a scenario where a team like say an undefeated FSU this year doesn't make it in if Winston suffers a season-ending injury before the playoff committee votes.

[BoulderSooner79]

That bit about injuries is interesting. Kinda makes you wonder if there is a scenario where a team like say an undefeated FSU this year doesn't make it in if Winston suffers a season-ending injury before the playoff committee votes.

I got the impression from reading in context they might discount a loss if a critical player was out for that game. But I could see it being used this way as well. Another interesting question is what if a high profile player, like say Winston, is suspended because the title IX process caught up to him faster than expected?

[jkjsooner]

This is the closest thing to a charter that they've announced:



More here. The rest is mostly about meeting dates and how they will pair the teams.

One of the concerns I have is that each member is essentially left to determine the top four based on their own criteria. Barry Alvarez said statistics would be a big part of his factoring...but what does that mean exactly? Strength of schedule? Score differential? Rushing yards? Contrary to some opinions, I didn't 'feel better' after hearing what Alvarez had to say.

It's probably going to be a cluster****, so I'm just really hoping OU goes undefeated. That way we won't have to worry about getting selected (at least I hope not).

Thanks for providing that.

I have a big problem with the first sentence - "The committee's task is to select the best teams."

I just can't state how much I disagree with this. The best team may have two losses. Such a team doesn't belong in the playoffs because they didn't earn it. Earning your way to a national title is part of the tradition of college football.

Some of that concern is alleviated by what follows it but what follows can in fact contradict that first sentence. I'd be much happier if they changed the word "best" to "most deserving".

I also have a small problem with the part about injuries. I don't mind that being a really minor factor (something to break ties, for example) but it shouldn't be a very large factor. If a team lost its toughest game because the QB was injured, sure take that into consideration but also consider that you're potentially throwing out their only tough game.

That bit about injuries is interesting. Kinda makes you wonder if there is a scenario where a team like say an undefeated FSU this year doesn't make it in if Winston suffers a season-ending injury before the playoff committee votes.

Agreed and that's another concern. It goes back to my point about including the deserving teams. I don't care if FSU has no chance without Winston. They earned their way into the playoffs and should be included.

The NFL/MLB/NBA/NHL don't exclude a team from the playoffs just because their key player was injured nor do they give teams a pass just because they lost games while a player was injured. The selection committee in NCAA basketball may take injuries into consideration but we're talking about teams ranked around #40...

[jkjsooner]

I'm just glad that the regular season no longer means anything. Isn't that what we were told by the anti-playoff guys? The regular season would become meaningless...

In all seriousness, it's great to start the season knowing that if we win out we're in. That's true for any power conference team minus some really improbable scenario. We don't have to worry about whether all of those teams ranked above us lose or not.

In some ways, the regular season games have become more meaningful. We know we're in if we win out so that increases the pressure. If we lose a game, we're not necessarily out which is generally the case so the games still remain meaningful. (Yes, we did get in twice recently with a loss but that's not the norm for a non-SEC team.)

From my perspective, the regular season might just be more meaningful for more teams.