This is the year of the playoff. The BCS has died and gone away. Now instead of objective computers mixed with subjective polls, we have moved to a group of people who will subjectively select the four best teams in the country, based on their opinion. It will certainly not end all the debate and bellyaching at the end of the season as coaches and fans state their case for why their team should be included over a different team. Will it be better? We don’t know yet. Let’s take a look at who will be making the decisions.

COMMITTEE MEMEBERS:

Jeff Long – Chairman
Barry Alvarez – AD Wisconsin
Lieutenant General Mike Gould – Former Superintendent Air Force Academy
Pat Haden – AD University of Southern California
Tom Jernstedt- Former NCAA Executive Vice President
Oliver Luck – AD West Virginia
Archie Manning – Legend
Tom Osborne – Also Legend
Dan Radakovich – AD Clemson
Condoleezza Rice – Stanford Professor, Former Secretary of State
Mike Tranghese – Former Big East Commissioner
Steve Weiberg – Former USA Today CFB writer
Tyrone Willingham – Former Head Coach

We’re going to double up again this week as we get closer to the committee actually meeting. Let’s take a look at the paths of Tom Jernstedt and Oliver Luck.

Tom Jernstedt

Tom Jernstedt played football at the University of Oregon from 1963 to 1967. Jernstedt has spent the better part of his career furthering the advancement of a number of sports. He began his career at his alma mater, the University of Oregon, holding three different athletic administration positions in the late 60s and early 70s. In 1974, he became a part of the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors, a position he was involved with until 2002. In the late 1970s he was integral to facilitating a NCAA governance plan to incorporate women’s championships into NCAA structure. He was also on the USA Basketball Board of Directors from 1976 to 2010, presiding as president from 2000 to 2005. From 1987 to 2010 Jernstedt sat on the US Collegiate Sports Council, holding the VP position from 2004-2010. He also sat on the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Trustees from 1989 to 2010. From 2009 to 2012 he was a member of the Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee Board of Directors. He has directed all facets of NCAA, including playing a role in increasing the TV contract from $1.2 million in 1972 to $10.8 billion in 2010. Most recently he has served as a consultant to the Big 12 Conference in 2012 and the Mountain West Conference in 2012 and 2013. He as received numerous awards including the John Bunn Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001, the Edward S. Steitz Award from USA basketball in 2010, and the Legacy Award from the National Football Foundation in 2010. Also in 2010, he was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He currently is the senior counselor of The Jernstedt Company.

Oliver Luck

Oliver Luck was the quarterback at West Virginia from 1978 to 1981, winning the MVP award twice. Luck earned Academic All-American honors in 1980 and 1981. He played in the NFL for 4 years as a member of the Houston Oilers. After retiring from playing, Luck became the the Vice President of business development for the NFL. In 1991 he became the General Manager of the Frankfurt Galaxy, a member of the World League of American Football. He remained in that role in 1992 as well. He spent the 1995 season as the General Manager of the Rhein Fire. In 1996 he became the CEO of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe and continued in that capacity until the year 2000. In 2001 he was appointed CEO of Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, overseeing the development and management of the sports complex that included Minute Maid Park(Houston Astros), Reliant Stadium, (Houston Texans), and the Toyota Center(Houston Rockets). In 2005 Luck moved on from that position and became the President and GM or the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer. He remained there until 2010 when he returned to his alma mater as the Athletic Director, the position he holds today. He also currently sits on the NFL’s Player Safety Advisory Committee. He was inducted into the Academic All-American Hall of Fame in the year 2000.

Hot Seat Questions We Would Totally Ask If We Had A Sponsored Hot Seat Segment:
*answers are what we think they would probably say when given the chance

Thank you gentleman for joining us on the CFB Playoff Committee hot seat. First, Mr. Jernstedt, it seems as if your entire career has consisted of sitting on boards. What stood out on your résumé way back when that got you your first board seat? I imagine it just snowballed from there.
Yeah, exactly, once I was on one board, everyone figured I knew what to do, plus not a whole lot of people can sit for that long. I mean, I was on a lot of boards at the same time, that is a lot of sitting. But back to your question, I told everyone I was a born board member, and I think I was just super convincing as I continued to repeat that until someone gave me a shot. The rest is history.

I guess that makes sense, regardless, you certainly have made a nice career out of it, so congrats on that. Mr. Luck, how cool is it to be Andrew Luck’s dad?
It’s pretty cool I guess. I think most dads think their son is pretty cool, but I mean, mine is one of the top NFL QBs right now, so that is definitely a bonus. And before you ask me, yes, I will consider both Stanford and West Virginia for the playoff. I can’t choose between them right now.

Okay, well, I think you will need to add a few more teams into who you are selecting from. Neither one of those teams is on anyone else’s radar for the playoff, at all. Maybe you should consult with Tom there about not taking a stance too early, he has got you on the whole “committee” experience thing, I recommend taking notes from that dude.