College Football Playoff – North Platte Post Archive

Playoff Approves Weekly Rankings, puts off Army-Navy Issue

Posted on April 29, 2015

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The College Football Playoff management committee approved having weekly rankings again this season, but put off making a decision on how to incorporate the Army-Navy game into the final rankings when the game is played a week after selection Sunday.

The selection committee’s first top 25 will be released No. 3 after the ninth week of the season. The final rankings will be released Dec. 6.

College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock said the FBS commissioners recalled the constant tweaks to the Bowl Championship Series that caused fans to lose confidence in that system and decided it was best not to tinker with the new format.

The College Football Playoff national title game will be held at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Jan. 11.

Status Quo: Playoff Committee Keeps Weekly Rankings

Posted on April 2, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The College Football Playoff selection committee plans to release its first weekly rankings of the 2015 season on Nov. 3.

Committee chairman Jeff Long said the committee will recommend to the conference commissioners that there should be no changes to the rankings routine. Following the ninth week of the regular season, the 13-member panel will meet in person in the Dallas area and the rankings will come out each Tuesday.

The college football season starts a week later this season so there will be six total rankings instead of seven. The final rankings used to determine the four teams participating in the College Football Playoff will be released Dec. 6.

Commissioners had previously talked about tweaking the schedule and paring back the frequency of the rankings.

Former Vandy Coach to Replace Manning on Playoff Committee

Posted on March 27, 2015

Archie Manning is leaving the College Football Playoff selection committee and will be replaced by former Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson.

In a statement Friday, Manning says other commitments and time demands made it too difficult for him to serve on the committee. Manning was one of the original 13 members of the committee picked by the FBS conference commissioners who run the playoff.

The former Mississippi quarterback took a leave of absence during last season to deal with undisclosed health issues. CFP executive director Bill Hancock had said earlier this year Manning was expected to return for the 2015 season.

Johnson played at Clemson and was a head coach at Furman (1994-2001) and Vanderbilt (2002-2010). He says he is happy to “serve the game” as a member of the committee.

AP Source: 49ers to Bid to Host College Football Title Game

Posted on February 25, 2015

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers will bid to host the college football playoff championship game at Levi’s Stadium.

A person with knowledge of the plans told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the team will seek to host either the 2018, ’19 or ’20 title game when they come up for bid later this year. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because there has been no announcement about the plans.

Cities interested in hosting one of those three title games have until May to bid. A decision on the winners is expected in the fall.

While the semifinal games in the four-team playoff have been awarded to existing bowl games, playoff officials have opened up the championship game to all cities.

AT&T Stadium in the Dallas area hosted the first college championship game last month between Ohio State and Oregon. The next two title games have been awarded to Glendale, Arizona, and Tampa, Florida.

Texas Tech AD Appointed to Playoff Selection Committee

Posted on February 9, 2015

Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt has been appointed to the College Football Playoff selection committee.

Hocutt will replace Oliver Luck, the former West Virginia athletic director who has moved to a position with the NCAA. Luck was the Big 12’s pick for the selection committee last season. Each of the five power conferences in FBS has one current athletic director on the 13-member committee.

Hocutt grew up in Sherman, Texas, and was a linebacker at Kansas State from 1991-94. He has previously been athletic director at Ohio University and Miami. He took over at Texas Tech in 2011.

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby nominated Hocutt, and he was approved by the other commissioners who make up the playoff management committee.

Arkansas AD Re-Elected as Playoff Selection Committee Chair

Posted on January 26, 2015

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long will serve another season as the chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee.

Bill Hancock, executive director of the College Football Playoff, announced Long has been re-elected by his fellow committee members to lead the 13-person panel.

Long was responsible for leading the committee’s weekly meetings and being the public face and voice of the committee. He appeared on ESPN to explain the committee’s weekly rankings starting in late October, and held a teleconference with reporters to take questions about the group’s choices.

Hancock said Long conducted the meetings “skillfully.”

Hancock says Long also gave fans insight about committee decisions by answering questions.

Long says he appreciates the committee’s confidence.

Playoff Not Interested in Moving Semis off New Year’s Eve

Posted on January 26, 2015

The College Football Playoff says there is no interest in ESPN’s suggestion to move next season’s semifinals from New Year’s Eve to Saturday, Jan. 2.

The Sports Business Journal first reported high-ranking ESPN executives had talked to College Football Playoff officials about switching the dates for the 2016 semifinals.

College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock and ESPN acknowledged having discussions about a one-time schedule shift in separate statements to The Associated Press on Monday.

Next season’s semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 31, at the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl. The following weekend is the last of the NFL regular season, when the league plays all its games on Sunday, leaving Saturday relatively free.

ESPN pays about $470 million a year over 12 years for TV rights to the playoff.

Ex-Committee Member: 4 is Right Number for College Playoff

Posted on January 16, 2015

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Former West Virginia athletic director and selection committee member Oliver Luck says the College Football Playoff should stick with the four-team model because “it should be hard to get into the playoff.”

Luck has started a new job with the NCAA. He had been AD at his alma mater for five years and served as a member of the 13-member committee that set the first College Football Playoff field.

The committee had five current athletic directors, representing each of the Big Five conferences. The Big 12 will need to replace Luck next season.

He says there were no hard feelings from his conference colleagues about TCU and Baylor being left out of the playoff in favor of Ohio State, which won the national title as the fourth and final seed.

New Playoff Draws Larger TV Audience for Title Game

Posted on January 13, 2015

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The new College Football Playoff succeeded in drawing a larger television audience to the championship game.

Ohio State’s 42-20 victory over Oregon on Monday averaged nearly 33.4 million viewers on ESPN. The network said Tuesday that’s up 31 percent from the almost 25.6 million for Florida State’s win over Auburn last year in the final title game of the BCS era.

The biggest audience for the four championships that had aired on ESPN was 27.3 million for the 2011 matchup between Auburn and Oregon.

The 18.2 rating Monday was the second-highest for a title game, behind the massive 21.7 for the 2006 classic between Texas and Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl.

The two semifinals had already drawn more viewers than any of the four championships on ESPN, making for the largest audiences in cable TV history before Monday’s game.

Ratings represent the percentage of homes with TVs tuned to a program.

ESPN Scores Big in College Championship Game

Posted on January 13, 2015

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ohio State’s victory in the first championship game of the College Football Playoff produced ESPN’s highest overnight rating ever.

The network said Tuesday that according to Nielsen the Buckeyes’ 42-20 win over Oregon generated an 18.5 overnight rating.

That’s a 21 percent increase over the 2014 BCS national championship on ESPN between Florida State and Auburn, which drew a 15.3 rating.

Monday night’s title game also topped the 16.1 overnight rating for the 2011 BCS championship between Auburn and Oregon that had been the previous best in cable history.

Columbus, Ohio, was the No. 1 overall market at 51.2 while Portland, Oregon, was fourth at 37.6.

Overnight ratings measure the country’s largest markets. The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs, whether or not they are in use. Final ratings are to come later Tuesday.