The College Football Playoff Selection Committed was officially announced this afternoon by executive director Bill Hancock.
The Chairman of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee is Jeff Long, the current Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics at the University of Arkansas.
“We wanted people of the highest integrity for this committee, and we got them. Every one of them has vast football knowledge, excellent judgment, dedication and love for this game,” said Bill Hancock, executive director of the College Football Playoff. “They will no doubt have one of the hardest jobs in sports. But their skills and wide variety of experiencesfrom coaches and athletes to university leaders and journalistswill ensure that they will be successful. And they are committed to investing the time and effort necessary for this endeavor. We are grateful that they will be serving this terrific game of college football.”
Listed below are the 13 members of the selection committee:
- Jeff Long (Chairman) – Vice chancellor and director of athletics, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville
- Barry Alvarez – Director of athletics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Lieutenant General Mike Gould – Former superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy
- Pat Haden – Director of athletics, University of Southern California
- Tom Jernstedt – Former NCAA executive vice president
- Oliver Luck – Director of athletics, West Virginia University
- Archie Manning – Former University of Mississippi quarterback and all-pro NFL quarterback
- Tom Osborne – Former head coach and director of athletics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- Dan Radakovich – Director of athletics, Clemson University
- Condoleezza Rice – Stanford University professor, former Stanford provost and former United States Secretary of State
- Mike Tranghese – Former commissioner of the Big East Conference
- Steve Wieberg – Former college football reporter, USA Today
- Tyrone Willingham – Former head coach of three FBS institutions
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee will meet four times beginning around mid-season and will then release their rankings four times every other week. 25 teams will be included in the rankings.
The CFB Playoff also announced a general format for selection of teams:
Unlike the BCS, which uses a formula based on a combination of computer rankings and human polls to select teams, selection committee members for the new playoff will have flexibility to examine whatever data they believe is relevant to inform their decisions. Among the many factors the committee will consider are win-loss record, strength of schedule, head-to-head results, and conference championships won.
The College Football Playoff begins after the conclusion of the 2014 regular season. The first College Football Championship Game will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on January 12, 2015.