Lane Kiffin Believes a National Champion Should Be Crowned After the Fall
Lane Kiffin has never been shy. Well, he actually is sort of introverted, but he'll never back away from speaking his mind.
Speaking to media on Tuesday afternoon, Kiffin was asked his opinions on whether college football would be able to, or should, crown a national champion following the conclusion of the fall schedule. Of course, the Pac-12 and Big Ten have postponed their seasons due to COVID-19 concerns.
"I haven't thought about that, but yeah I'm sure they can," Kiffin said. "What's the joke? The two conferences that win a national championship are still playing. So I sure think they'll be able to."
Kiffin, who has coached in conferences spanning the entire nation, has seen football at just about every level in this nation, including the National Football League from his time with the Oakland Raiders.
In reality, his statements are not much more than a fun jab at the conferences outside of the SEC and ACC, but there is some truth to it.
Dating back to 2005, only one national champion has come from either the Big Ten or Pac-12, the two conferences that will not be playing their full football seasons in the fall. That one title came in 2014 with the Urban Meyer led Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Big 12, who are also playing this fall, has only one title in that span with the 2005 Texas Longhorns, who ironically beat the USC team in which Kiffin was the offensive coordinator. The Southern California team one year prior in 2004 was the last Pac-12 team to win a title.
In jest or in seriousness, the question posed is a valid one. With two of the major conferences not playing this fall, how should the college football playoff committee make selections?
"As fans are aware, six conferences have announced their intention to play, and so the selection committee has established its meeting schedule in order to be prepared," CFP executive director Bill Hancock has said. "We will continue to monitor the situation and if anything changes, the committee will be ready to adjust as needed."
“We don’t know right now what the season will bring, but as a committee, we are ready to use the protocol and the expertise of the 13 people who have been charged with selecting the teams,” Gary Barta, the Iowa athletic director who is beginning his first year as CFP committee chair, said in a recent statement. “The committee’s task is to rank the teams based on what happens on the field. This week gave us a great chance to catch up with the familiar faces and welcome our three new members to the process. If the board and management committee say we are having a CFP, we will be ready.”
The playoff committee seems to be full steam ahead. But these comments go in contradiction to statements by NCAA president Mark Emmert, who cancelled all NCAA fall championships citing a lack of the normal number of participating schools.
That said, the NCAA does not actually govern the College Football Playoff.
What will happen is still to be fully determined. But one thing's for sure, and that's that coaches in the SEC and other playing conferences sure want a champion crowned on a normal schedule.
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