How to Hold the CFP Committee Accountable For the Rankings

The public should be able to hear and see the deliberations of the College Football Playoff committee.

Jul 10, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; CFP executive director Rick Clark speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images | Candice Ward-Imagn Images

Selecting a 12-team field is no easy task

Even when the CFP field was only four teams, there were raging debates about which teams deserved to be included, who should be left out, and why.

Rarely was there a consensus agreement between the committee, the media, and the fans. Now that the field has grown to 12 teams, the debate will expand, as will the responsibility of the committee to stay consistent in their deliberations and methodology.

The biggest fan complaint over the years regarding the CFP deliberations and explanations is that the criteria being used to rationalize decisions seemed to change week by week, team by team, conference by conference.

Sometimes wins were used as barometers, sometimes losses were, and other times the "eye test" or strength of record was mentioned. This inconsistency in criteria led to a scenario where the committee could justify any decision made by simply leaning into the reason that matched what the committee wanted to do that week. This leads to distrust in the process.

Hear me out. I think the cfp committee deliberations should be recorded & made public as a tv show . No editing. We should be able to hear their positions, arguments ,reasoning & debates. That’s the only way there can be accountability ,transparency & trust in the process #CFP

— Always Irish ☘️ (@AlwaysIrishINC) November 13, 2024

How to solve this issue once and for all through transparency

The easiest way to solve the issue of transparency with the committee is for fans to be able to see and hear the arguments and deliberations being made. I feel that the CFP meetings should be recorded live as a reality TV show. This would land dynamite ratings and help alleviate concerns about transparency in the process.

If this happened, fans would be able to hear the arguments being made during deliberations and would be able to know who argued for what and why. This would ensure accountability as there would be major backlash to anyone who wasn't remaining consistent in their evaluation process or was clearly approaching this project with an agenda.

Why isn't this already a thing? ESPN loves TV ratings more than anything else. What's being discussed behind closed doors that isn't safe for public consumption and why? Being on the CFP committee is a huge honor and responsibility, and the public deserves to see the process unfold.

For more Irish news & notes follow John on Twitter @alwaysirishINC, Always Irish on Youtube and or your preferred audio podcast provider.

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