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CFP chair outlines variables which committee will consider: ‘Eye test is important’
By Keith Farner
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Oregon Athletics Director Rob Mullens has the job this year to explain the College Football Playoff rankings each week.
The chair of the CFP selection committee dipped his toe in the water with a preview of sorts about how the committee will evaluate teams and criteria this season. Mullens spoke with ESPN’s Rece Davis one week before the first CFP selection committee rankings of the 2019 season are released. The first release is set for 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Schedule strength is important, but it’s also important to simply win the games.
“We’re looking at all factors,” Mullens said. “The No. 1 priority is winning all these games, but it also does matter who you play. So it’s a mix of both. Obviously, you want to win every game, but you also have to take into account we’re trying to look at college football when there’s all different types of schedules of who you have played to achieve the record that you’ve earned.”
One interesting variable is the ankle injury that Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa is recovering from, and how that might alter how the Crimson Tide is viewed going forward. That is a factor, Mullens admitted.
“Well, that’s an important piece,” Mullens said. “The committee will certainly be aware … what key players were in the games and what key players were missing and the key impacts on those games,” Mullens said. “It is an important factor. Obviously, there’s these subjective pieces — what was happening before that player was injured, who they were playing without their key player and what they looked like without their key player.”
As teams like Clemson are dealing with criticism about its opponents and whether the schedule is as tough as other top four teams, Mullens answered that. The Tigers began to fall in the rankings after a narrow win against North Carolina.
“The eye test is important to what we’re seeing,” Mullen said. “Fortunately, our committee doesn’t start meeting until Week 10, so we have a good body of work to start. But it’s a combination of eye test and then we do mix in some data.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
