cfb-playoff-trophy.jpg
The first four-team College Football Playoff will conclude Jan. 12, 2015 in Arlington, Texas, where the winner of the national championship game will receive this trophy. (AP photo)
It's probably just a coincidence. Either that, or Bill Hancock has a wicked sense of humor.
Executive director Hancock and the rest of the good folks at the College Football Playoff released the selection committee's full protocol Thursday, missing the memo that the day was supposed to be all about the launch of the SEC Network.
Here's the section of the protocol most relevant to Alabama, Auburn and SEC fans. It might be worth clipping and saving to re-examine on Selection Sunday, Dec. 7.
Principles. The committee will select the teams using a process that distinguishes among otherwise comparable teams by considering:
- Conference championships won,
- Strength of schedule,
- Head-to-head competition,
- Comparative outcomes of common opponents (without incenting margin of victory), and,
- Other relevant factors such as key injuries that may have affected a team's performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.
Those items are bulleted, not numbered, but you have to wonder. Are those factors listed in order of importance?
What's at the top of that list? Conference championships won. How many champions does the SEC produce in football each year? One. How many champions emerge from the other Power 5 conferences? Four. How many spots are available in the playoff? Four.
Hmmm. Something doesn't add up.
Do the math and read between the lines, and it's quite possible that winning the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Pac-12 will be more important to the 13 committee members than finishing second in the SEC, no matter how good the SEC runner-up may be.
If that becomes the prevailing opinion in the committee room, the Iron Bowl will be nothing more than a round-of-16 game and the SEC Championship Game will be a quarterfinal.
Of course, any conjecture about what the committee will do is pure speculation at the moment. Will Tom Osborne put more stock in strength of schedule than Tyrone Willingham? Will Barry Alvarez add a little extra weight to performance against common opponents?
Speaking of which, note the full sentence on that factor. It says the committee will consider "comparative outcomes of common opponents (without incenting margin of victory.)"
Say Alabama and Oklahoma are one-loss teams competing for a playoff spot with fairly similar resumes as conference champions. Say they each go 2-0 against common opponents West Virginia and Tennessee. Say Alabama handles the Mountaineers and the Vols by 21 points each while Oklahoma struggles a bit to beat them by 14 points each.
Common sense says that's an edge to Alabama. The protocol seems to suggest that margin of victory isn't supposed to matter.
Say what?
Say this for the inevitable chaos to come. The SEC is no champion of conference champions only. Neither is anyone else who wants the playoff to determine a true national champion.