(STATS) – The NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee is making a concerted effort this offseason to explain the playoff selection process to its members.
The process is fairly transparent, with the selection criteria available in the NCAA bylaws, but the committee has been plagued by an increased level of public criticism directed toward the annual 24-team field – at FCS schools and with fan bases and media.
Each of the 10 conferences with an automatic playoff bid for its champion has a representative on the committee, and they are charged with administering the selection principles, including regionalized matchups and a host bid process that mostly impacts first-round matchups.
The representatives are reinforcing the selection criteria during informational sessions at various conference meetings.
“The committee membership needs to understand the process, how we go about it, the lack of lobbying (toward a committee member’s respective conference), the impartiality,” said 2017 selection chair Richard Johnson, the Wofford College athletic director from the Southern Conference.
This year is particularly important for the committee because it will replace five of the 10 representatives whose terms will expire before the start of the 2018 season, including Johnson. To benefit the new representatives, the committee plans to host a mock bracket selection prior to the season.
A playoff field includes 14 at-large selections in addition to the 10 automatic qualifiers. Eight teams earn seeds and are given first-round byes.
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