Coastal Carolina president pens letter to CFP selection committee criticizing ‘flawed logic’
By Jake Rill
Published:
Because of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s “flawed logic,” Coastal Carolina was left “absolutely flabbergasted.”
That’s what incoming Coastal Carolina president Michael T. Benson said in a letter to the committee, which was then obtained and reported on by Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports. Benson criticized the committee’s “lack of fairness” and “absence of character” while addressing its chair, Iowa athletic director Gary Barta.
The Chanticleers are 11-0 this season and are the co-Sun Belt champions, but they ended up at No. 12 in the final edition of the CFP rankings. Meanwhile, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Notre Dame were the four teams selected to participate in the Playoff.
“I can’t help but think what might have been this season had all FBS programs been given the same equality of opportunity,” Benson wrote in his letter, per Thamel. “Just think about that: Football is the only sport where the deck is stacked insurmountably against those who have the inevitable classification of ‘Group of Five’ before toe hits the leather each fall.”
Coastal Carolina isn’t the only Group of Five school that likely felt it should have received more CFP consideration. Cincinnati went 9-0 and won the AAC championship, yet finished at No. 8 in the final rankings.
There hasn’t been a Group of Five team to make the CFP since the format started in the 2014 season. If the Playoff included more teams, then perhaps that would change.
“If you expand the playoff to eight teams, they’re talking about a Group of Five representative or maybe two,” Benson said in a phone interview with Thamel. “Just give us a chance to have access like these other schools.”
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
