College Football Playoff – Page 4 – North Platte Post Archive

Playoff Committee Cautious when Talking Football

Posted on October 13, 2014

West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck takes what he calls a lawyerly approach when talking about his involvement with the College Football Playoff selection committee.

He’ll talk about how he and the rest of the committee responsible for picking the four teams that will play for the national title plan to make that decision. But when cocktail party conversations turn to which team is better — say, Alabama or Oklahoma, and West Virginia has played both — Luck politely eases out.

All 13 committee members are encouraged to steer clear of public opinions about the teams. The ADs are advised to be especially cautious for fear they may be perceived as biased.

On Oct. 28, the committee releases its first weekly Top 25 rankings. The four-team field for the playoff is set Dec. 7.

Unclear Future for Guarantee Games in Playoff Era

Posted on September 12, 2014

These first few weeks of the college football season feature dozens of smaller programs collecting big paychecks by hitting the road for games against major-conference teams.

There’s no guarantee these games — at least the ones involving Football Championship Subdivision programs — will be as common in the playoff era.

With an eye toward television audiences, the Big Ten is discouraging its teams from scheduling FCS foes. The Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference are requiring members to play at least one nonconference game against a team from the Power Five leagues.

FCS athletic directors are taking a wait-and-see approach about what could happen down the road. Chattanooga athletic director David Blackburn says he’s “preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.”

FBS Season Kicks Off Quietly with Georgia State

Posted on August 27, 2014

ATLANTA (AP) — The first season major college football’s champion will be decided by a playoff began Wednesday night in a mostly empty Georgia Dome, with one of the newest members of FBS taking on a team starting its second season in DIvision I.

The road to the College Football Playoff starts here and Georgia State is getting a head start on the rest of the competition opening up against Abilene Christian — which seems fair given the Panthers’ credentials.

On Thursday, the heavyweights start to join the race.

The Georgia Dome crowd will swell significantly when No. 18 Mississippi faces Boise State on Thursday night. On Saturday, No. 2 Alabama fans figure to pack the home of the NFL’s Falcons for its opener against West Virginia.

ESPN Sets Schedule for Playoff Selection Show

Posted on July 14, 2014

The semifinal matchups for the first College Football Playoff will be announced Dec. 7 on ESPN.

The network said Monday the four teams chosen by the selection committee to compete for the national championship will be disclosed at 12:45 EST at the top of the College Football Playoff Selection Show.

This season the semifinals will be played at the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. The pairings for the other four New Year’s games that are part of the playoff rotation will be announced by the selection committee by 3 p.m. EST on Dec. 7.

Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long, who is the chairman of the selection committee, will be interviewed on the show. Rece Davis will host, with analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Danny Kanell and David Pollock.

College Football Playoff’s Trophy is Golden

Posted on July 14, 2014

IRVING, Texas (AP) — A rising gold football-shaped trophy will be the prize for the national champion in the new College Football Playoff.

College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock unveiled the more than 2-foot-high trophy Monday. Made from 24-karat gold, bronze and stainless steel, the bottom of the trophy is shaped like a football and rises to form an actual-sized ball at the top.

Hancock says the more than 2-foot trophy, which weighs about 35 pounds, is designed to be hoisted from its foot-high base. Hancock took a selfie with the trophy, but says the first hoisting will be reserved for the winner of the first national championship game Jan. 12 in Arlington, Texas.

When addressing the cost of the trophy, Hancock called it a “priceless one-of-a-kind piece of art.”

Playoff Panel Weekly Top 25 Starting Oct. 28

Posted on April 30, 2014April 30, 2014

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The college football playoff selection committee will release a weekly top 25, starting Oct. 28, and panel members will be required to recuse themselves when a school they work for comes up for discussion.

The selection committee will use the same voting procedure and recusal policy as the committee that chooses the 68-team field for NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

The 13-member panel, which includes five current athletic directors, will meet in person and the rankings will be released on Tuesday nights on ESPN.

The committee will chose and seed the four teams that will play in the national semifinal and pick some of the other teams that will play in the four other marquee New Year’s bowls.

Committee Won’t Dictate Number of Conference Games

Posted on April 29, 2014

IRVING, Texas (AP) — College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock says the selection committee does not want to dictate how many conference games leagues play.

Hancock and the conference commissioners are meeting this week to work out the remaining details of the four-team playoff that will replace the Bowl Championship Series this season.

The Southeastern Conference recently announced it will stay with an eight-game league schedule instead of going to nine games. The Pac-12 and Big 12 play nine league games and the Big Ten is moving to nine. The Atlantic Coast Conference plays eight league games, plus five of its teams will now play Notre Dame each season.

Hancock says the “totality” of a team’s schedule will be evaluated by the selection committee for its difficulty. The number of conference games won’t matter.