Paul Finebaum weighs potential for computer-based rankings to replace CFP Committee
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Paul Finebaum has heard from a number of fans and leaders in college football who want a reversal of the way teams are selected for the postseason.
From 1998-2013, college football relied on the BCS rankings system, which used a combination of human polls and computer-based selection methods to rank teams. That system would eventually produce the top 2 teams in the country, who would face off in the BCS National Championship Game at the end of the year.
In 2014, the College Football Playoff supplanted the BCS, complete with the CFP Committee. That committee consists of 13 individuals who carry the task of ranking the top teams in the country.
The process has come under more scrutiny in recent seasons, including when an undefeated Florida State squad was left out of the Playoff entirely following the 2023 season. Last year, multiple SEC teams were frustrated when ACC runner-up SMU snuck into the final field.
On Tuesday, Finebaum was asked about whether or not there is real danger in losing the human committee during his appearance with “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.” At this point, the SEC Network host doesn’t expect a change but admitted the major negative reaction in the past couple of seasons has spurred criticism of the process.
“I think so because there’s such a negative reaction to last year that there was a major attack vs. many around here against what the humans did,” said Finebaum about the threat of losing the committee to a computer-based model. “I remember I sat here with Hunter Yurachek a couple of weeks ago in Destin, and he was defending it while almost everyone around him in the building was being critical.
“I think it will stay this way. I think it’s easy to criticize the BCS, though, quite frankly, they were pretty accurate. What’s interesting is these people on the committee are using analytics. It’s not like they’re just only going off eye test, but more than likely it stays the same.”
Even for those who want to see the computers, Finebaum does not believe the frustration with the committee makes much sense:
“In principle, it doesn’t make any sense. I think there has been a 2-year overreaction, and more of a 1-year… ultimately, I would like someone to show me which of the 3 SEC schools that didn’t get in should have gotten in,” Finebaum admitted. “It really has much more to do with the ACC sneaking Clemson in, and I say sneaking, they did win the league… It was almost them getting in by winning, and the committee looking at SMU and saying you know what, they played a good game, let’s give them a participation trophy.”
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
