So much to take away from this ESPN report about the playoff selection committee’s ranking plans:
- Seven weekly rankings, beginning October 28th – why? I have no idea.
- The committee will release a top 25 – why? I have no idea.
- The committee will meet in person, in Grapevine, Texas – why? I have no idea. (Okay, it’s a short drive from the airport.)
- There will be some sort of formal recusal policy announced – why, if the members are all people beyond reproach? I have no idea.
And Bill Hancock gives his blessing to Mike Slive (not that Slive needed it):
Two days after the SEC announced it will remain with an eight-game league schedule, instead of going to nine, Hancock said the selection committee won’t dictate how many conference games leagues play. The Big 12 and Pac-12 play nine league games, the Big Ten is moving to nine, and the ACC is considering going from eight to nine league games a year.
An eight- or nine-game league schedule “is not a big deal [for the selection committee], but strength of schedule is,” Hancock said.
You think the ACC heard that dog whistle?
Get The Picture 
It’s ESPN’s world. We are just passing through it.
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If what you say was not so true, the way you say it would be funny.
Course TV is a valuable adjunct to the educational process.
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Come to Grapevine and stay for the Last Picture Show
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This is a bit disingenuous, no? You know why they’re doing this. They’re going to drum up as much hype as possible. And I think it’s actually a good thing they’re releasing rankings in general as it will be nice to see how the committee ebbs and flows as the season progresses. I agree beginning in OCT is a bit early, but hyping CFB isn’t the worst crime I can think of.
This has more to do with fans being idiots than anything else. While I suspect people can put their allegiances aside, fans always assume a fix is in, so mitigating the bitching is probably why this is taking place. Though the bitching will still happen.
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Why should this be a responsibility of the selection committee? For that matter, why does CFB need more hype drummed up about the playoffs in the first place?
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Because they want to make this as big as possible. Whether bringing out rankings will help that or not remains to be seen, but that’s what they want. Hype = ratings, which in turn = money.
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I think you are fighting the Senator’s battle while trying to fight against it. The only people who could possibly benefit from this scenario is ESPN. The NCAA won’t get any additional money due to hype and ratings, their deal is signed. The committee is blindly walking down a slippery slope. ESPN is in their ear, whispering of their new Pharaoh status and they are just grinning and humming along. For seven weeks ESPN will have 12 hours a day coverage dedicated to second guessing their every move, until they eventually control the process. They screwed UGA in a day a few years ago. Give them seven weeks and and we will see Bama, Ohio State, Stanford, and probably Michigan every year (or whoever their little darlings are), regardless of strength of schedule or even record for that matter.
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Because ESPN is paying these damn bills, and for that check they demand increased content.
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Weekly rankings and a top 25? The WWL’s fingerprints are all over this, so they can fill hours of time on ESPNU during football season with speculation and hyping the teams they want in the playoff. If they get their way, Ohio State, Alabama/Florida, USC and Texas would play in the playoff every year regardless of their records.
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One year of this stuff and everyone will miss the BCS formula. This committee is going to be a cluster F. Let me remind you they are to pick the bowl game match-ups along with the play-off games. I hope they have unlisted phone numbers and have changed residences recently because they are about to find out just how crazy CFB fans are.
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“One year of this stuff and everyone will miss the BCS formula.”
I already do. Does that make me bad?.
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SO MUCH THIS.
At least one of them still has a secret service detail, amiright?
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Will there be wiretapping?
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26987980
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I might have replied to the wrong post, I gave my opinion in the “frequent flyer” comments section but I am also opposed to a Top 25 list from the Committee and feel it takes away from their mission statement of getting the best four teams for the playoffs. Not starting well, imo.
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The Selection Committee prepares for baptism under fire but there will be water.
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