Mike Elko Goes on Epic Rant About College Football Playoff Selection Process

Texas A&M is currently ranked No. 7, but coach Mike Elko seems to think the Aggies should be higher.

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko reacts against the Auburn Tigers during the fourth quarter at Kyle Field. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The College Football Playoff system is awesome. At the same time, it is incredibly flawed.

The concept of putting the 12 best teams in college football in the position to compete for the National Championship is absolutely electric. Opposed to the previous four, there are plenty of teams that can compete. However, the selection committee may have a harder time picking the 12 best teams, as it is difficult to differentiate the 12 best teams when there are 16 worthy of getting in.

With the difficulty in deciding the rankings, Texas A&M coach Mike Elko is calling for some insight on some of the criteria the committee looks at when determining tiebreakers.

Coach Mike Elko’s Qualms With the College Football Playoff

A view of the college football playoff national championship trophy on the sidelines of a game between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Pittsburgh Panthers in the fourth quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

“I’ve said this all the way through this season, of what exactly is the criteria that we’re utilizing to break ties. I don’t know that anybody has a real firm understanding of what that actually is. So, for us to have a higher strength of schedule and a higher strength of record than a lot of the teams that share the same record as us, I don’t understand. Now, at the end of the day, we’ll put a ball down and we’ll go play and it’ll be what it’ll be,” Elko said during his Early National Signing Day press conference. “But it would be nice if there was a little bit of clarity in into the process of what exactly happened.”

Earlier in the season, former College Football Playoff Committee chair Mack Rhoades tried to justify ranking Indiana over Texas A&M when the two teams had the same record, but seemed to fumble over his words and produce a word salad when answering.

Online, a photo has been circulating highlighting A&M’s opponents and the fact that they are all in the bottom half of the SEC. Elko has seen it and wanted to refute the message behind it.

”I know we can get on a mic and scream real loud that Texas A&M hasn’t played a strong schedule, but if you dive into our schedule in any capacity, every analytic says we have,” Elko said. ”So, rather than yelling real loud about what we’ve done, I think let’s look at the analytics and the numbers and use that to try to guide some more intelligent decision making.”

In the grand scheme of things, Elko said it does not really matter what seed the Aggies are, as long as they get a chance to compete.

“As a football coach, put a ball down,” Elko said. “Let’s go play. It doesn’t matter. We’ll play anyone, anywhere. It is what it is. We’re going to be in the Playoff and we’re gonna go compete for a national championship.”