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Jim Phillips says it would be ‘alarming’ for conference title game losers to be bounced from CFP
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Jim Phillips believes it would be “alarming” if a conference championship game loser is knocked out of the CFP bracket as a direct result of that defeat.
Phillips, the ACC’s commissioner since 2021, made his comments in an appearance on SiriusXM on Monday.
“If, after tomorrow night, if you’re inside of that top 12 or so, and you’re projected to be in [the bracket], it would be very alarming for you to be moved out because you played an extra game while everyone else is sitting home,” Phillips said. “So, I take the [CFP selection committee] at face value.
“It’s not only for the ACC. It’s for the other conferences — you cannot and should not be penalized for having to play a 13th game after a very long season. So, we’ll see how that plays out, but I’m very confident that the committee is going to stand by what they’ve told us.”
Of course, the ACC is the only league this season where its conference championship game loser could conceivably be left out of the field. The SEC and Big Ten’s finalists are all expected to make the 12-team Playoff no matter what while only the Big 12’s champion has a realistic chance of being included.
SMU was ranked No. 9 in last week’s CFP rankings and will likely move up at least one spot this week as a result of Miami’s defeat to Syracuse over the weekend. However, the Mustangs could be at risk of falling out of the CFP bracket if they don’t beat Clemson in the ACC Championship Game on Monday.
College Football Playoff selection committee chair Warde Manuel has previously addressed how conference championship game losers will be treated on selection day in the 12-team era. He said earlier this season that conference championship games will be part of the committee’s evaluation, but said they will hold anyone who makes a conference title game in “high esteem.”
“We’re going to evaluate the games teams play and the performance on the field,” Manuel said in November. “That’s what the commissioners have asked us to do. They didn’t ask us to stop right before the championship game. They asked us to rank the teams through the championship games. And I think you can see over the years, how the committee has valued those championship games and who stays in and where they’re ranked.
“We’re not going to speculate. We’re going to let the season play out. But I think teams who make that championship game, the committee looks at them and puts them in high esteem.”
SMU and Clemson will kickoff at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night in Charlotte.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
