An inside look at how the College Football Playoff Selection Committee process has changed since 2014

The School Soccer Playoff held its newest mock choice assembly this week, and in attending for the second time — my first since 2014, the preliminary yr of the CFP — the method has actually modified.

That first assembly was held earlier than the precise CFP Choice Committee had ever met reside for its first set of rankings. It was attention-grabbing to see the method, however there was not a lot knowledge out there to investigate the groups. Notably absent was a power of schedule measurement. That was extremely subjective.

This time round, there’s loads of knowledge out there for committee members. Not solely is there power of schedule, however there are quite a few offensive and defensive statistics offered to assist measure group efficiency not solely in uncooked numbers however in relation to the power of their opponents.

Energy of schedule can be measured in combination with every group given a uncooked score and rating from 1-130. Additionally, every opponent on a group’s schedule is listed with a relative power rating that’s color-coded with inexperienced being stronger and purple weaker. It’s straightforward to identify instantly a schedule with loads of purple or inexperienced as weak or robust.

An opponent’s place in the latest CFP Rankings can be listed, if relevant. Every group’s report in opposition to the highest 25 relies on that CFP rating.

The duty set in entrance of us for this mock assembly was to compile the ultimate CFP Rankings for the 2019 season. That was the season that ended with Joe Burrow main LSU to the nationwide championship because the No. 1 seed within the playoff.

There was loads of debate again then whether or not the Tigers or Large Ten champion Ohio State deserved that high seed. The 13 members of our mock committee debated that at size as effectively. We weren’t given as a lot time as the actual committee, which will get two days to finish its activity, however it was simply essentially the most debated rating of the day for us.

LSU ended up successful out by a 7-6 vote and was our No. 1 seed, simply because the Tigers had been in 2019. Ohio State, Clemson and Oklahoma rounded out the highest 4. There was little debate in regards to the order of these groups as soon as we settled on LSU as the highest seed.

The voting course of is comparatively easy. Every committee member enters a listing of thirty groups that ought to be thought-about. These groups that obtain sufficient votes turn into the pool from which the highest 25 is chosen.

Groups are then damaged up into smaller teams to vote into the rankings.

First, a pool of six groups that committee members assume are greatest get debated. The highest three are voted into the rankings. Three extra are added from the bigger pool. These six are then mentioned with three extra voted in.

After the highest 9 groups are set within the rankings, the pool dimension switches to eight, and 4 get voted into the rankings at a time. There is a whole of seven rounds of voting to create the highest 25.

There have been a number of moments of disagreement among the many group. We spent loads of time debating Georgia and Pac-12 champion Oregon for the fifth and sixth spots.

We had been additionally divided over what to do with 9-3 Auburn and 10-2 Alabama, which misplaced to the Tigers within the regular-season finale. Ultimately, we determined the standard of Auburn’s schedule and wins, in addition to the head-to-head end result, was cause sufficient to vote it forward of Alabama.

The mock committee had Notre Dame and Michigan, so as, proper behind Bama regardless of the Wolverines trouncing the Combating Irish throughout the season.

After the highest 25 was full, we went again and revisited a few of our selections, as the actual committee does. Rethinks included whether or not No. 5 Georgia ought to be rated forward of No. 6 Oregon. That call was reaffirmed.

We additionally revisited whether or not Notre Dame ought to be ranked forward of Auburn and Alabama. Ultimately, we moved the Irish up previous the Tide however not the Tigers. Then, we reexamined Michigan relative to Notre Dame and Alabama, transferring UM previous each of them however not Auburn.

Auburn’s spot was necessary as a result of, at No. 11, bought the final place within the New 12 months’s Six bowl video games. Memphis was the very best ranked of our Group of 5 champions and due to this fact an automated qualifier. Nonetheless, these Tigers  completed exterior the highest 12, so the No. 12 Wolverines had been neglected.

The one group that made the New 12 months’s Six again in 2019 however didn’t in our vote was Utah, which was eleventh in 2019 however voted seventeenth by the mock committee.

With the rankings full, the subsequent activity was inserting groups into bowl video games. We used the 2021 bowl recreation construction for this train, that means that the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl had been the semifinal video games.

There was an intensive debate over which was higher for LSU: taking part in Oklahoma within the Cotton Bowl — a stadium acquainted to the Sooners and gained they simply visited for the Large 12 Championship Recreation — or the Orange Bowl, regardless that it will be an extended journey for each groups. We determined by a 7-5 vote to place LSU-Oklahoma within the Orange Bowl and Ohio State-Clemson within the Cotton Bowl.

It was urged that the committee ask groups prematurely of the season which semifinal web site they would favor if chosen because the No. 1 seed, just like the basketball committee does. The CFP representatives in attendance appeared skeptical that might be effectively acquired.

As a result of we took half in a extremely abbreviated model of this course of, we weren’t in a position to discover a few of the particulars the committee is aware of about, resembling participant availability, climate circumstances, and so forth. Every convention has two committee members assigned to collect that form of circumstantial data for the committee. No quantity of circumstance wipes a loss off the board, although. A loss remains to be a loss.

The committee doesn’t spend time regarding themselves with whether or not a group is from the Energy 5 or Group of 5. It is not vital anyway because it exhibits up when reviewing the standard of that group’s schedule. The one time that distinction issues is for the automated qualifier spot for the highest-rated Group of 5 champion.

That chosen Group of 5 group additionally will get rotated among the many non-contract bowls. The Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl take turns internet hosting that group. This season, it is the Fiesta Bowl’s flip. The one factor that might preserve a Group of 5 group out of that recreation is it making the playoff.

We additionally heard once more that the AP High 25 and Coaches Ballot haven’t any bearing on this course of. They make it a selected level to disregard any ballot that begins with a preseason rating. The one ballot mentioned was the CFP Rankings from the week prior.

One thing we have heard the committee chairman point out on TV the previous few years is the idea of “recreation management” as a optimistic high quality for a group. That is a nebulous time period, and after I requested about that, I used to be greeted with clean stares.

After I talked about that it had been mentioned throughout the CFP choice present a couple of instances, I used to be assured that it’s one thing that they don’t measure or ever talk about. The usage of the time period on the present was deemed a “slip of the tongue.”

The construction of the method and lots of the knowledge ideas are just like what the NCAA basketball choice committee makes use of, however there are a few variations.

For instance, the CFP committee will generally contemplate how a group is taking part in on the finish of the season. That doesn’t imply that early video games are ignored, simply that latest play generally is a tiebreaker. The basketball committee particularly forbids such concerns.

As the method concluded, the mock committee ended up with the identical high seven and backside seven as the actual committee, and we bought fairly good training on how this course of works alongside the way in which.