The College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings are determined by a selection committee composed of 13 members. Here’s a breakdown of how the process works:
Initial List: Each committee member creates a list of the 30 teams they believe are the best in the country. Teams that are listed by three or more members are considered for the rankings.
Listing Step: Committee members list the six teams they feel are the best, without ranking them. The six teams with the most votes become the initial pool.
Ranking Step: Members then rank these six teams, with the top-ranked team receiving one point, the second-ranked team two points, and so on. The teams with the fewest points are placed in the top three seeds.
Next Six Teams: The process repeats, with members listing and then ranking the next six teams. This continues until there are 25 ranked teams.
Final Rankings: The final rankings are determined through seven rounds of voting, with teams being added and ranked in groups of three and four.
The top four teams in the final rankings are selected for the CFP semifinals, and the next highest-ranked teams are placed in the New Year’s Six bowl games.
Notice that there is nothing about SOS of the teams or the teams that played against these teams.
It is ALL 100% based on who the committee members “Think is the 30 best teams” in the country.
Committe members:
Warde Manuel (Chair) - Athletics Director at the University of Michigan
Chris Ault - Former head coach and athletic director at the University of Nevada
Chet Gladchuk - Athletics Director at the U.S. Naval Academy
Jim Grobe - Former head coach at Ohio University, Wake Forest, and Baylor
Randall McDaniel - College and Pro Football Hall of Fame member and former All-American offensive lineman, Arizona State University
Gary Pinkel - Former head coach at the University of Toledo and University of Missouri
Mack Rhoades - Athletics Director at Baylor University
Mike Riley - Former college head coach at Oregon State and Nebraska, as well as head coach in the NFL, CFL, WLAF, AAF, and USFL
David Sayler - Athletics Director at Miami University, OH
Will Shields - College and Pro Football Hall of Fame member and former All-American offensive lineman, University of Nebraska
Kelly Whiteside - Professor in Sports Media and Journalism at Montclair State University; longtime sportswriter for USA Today, Sports Illustrated, and Newsday
Carla Williams - Athletics Director at the University of Virginia
Hunter Yurachek - Athletics Director at the University of Arkansas
And they continue to wonder why they keep getting it wrong every year.
The question is do the members have specific things they are required to look at like SOS? Or, is it their own preference? I notice that there are few SEC members and more Big12 and Big10.
Everyone talks about the problems involved EVERY YEAR!
If someone can tell me what significant change that shows things are different than last year or the year before, etc. please do so.
It isn’t going to change this year just like it didn’t change last year, just like it won’t change next year.
This whole discussion is insane and we have all heard what the definition of insanity is… doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Nothing will change.
The logos, meaning the same teams and conferences that are part of the playoff every year and end up winning it every year will continue to be in it every year. Why do you think teams like Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA went to the Big 10? Why are there superconferences now? So those teams can compete against each other and have 2-3 of them in the college football playoff so they can collect all the money involved and win in more ways than one.
It’s all about money. That is the driving force behind all of this. It isn’t about giving other teams and conferences an opportunity, that is just eyewash for the real reasons and the driving force behind all of this. The almighty dollar runs the show.
AGREED 100%. I think it’s hilarious that so many are still arguing that BYU “deserves” to be in the playoff. BYU CHOKED. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. We had the league title IN THE BAG. We had a playoff bid IN THE BAG—ranked SIX with two games to go. We CHOKED against Kansas. We CHOKED against ASU. When the pressure got bad our OC and QB melted under that pressure. Turnovers in the red zone, late game turnovers, etc.
BYU doesn’t “deserve” ANY consideration for the playoff, and ISU proved today that it doesn’t either.
Oh yeah, and somebody needs to be jailed for getting Roberts only 52 catches. Even PUKA only had 42 and 48 in his two seasons. THIS CANNOT BE. This is 3 years in a row the OC is either completely unaware or unable to get the ball to his best weapons. It is not lost on me that the LA Rams, despite having another All Pro WR, have targeted Puka significantly more than ARod did (averaging 9 targets and 6 catches per game in his NFL career). At BYU he averaged only 4.5 catches/game.
