The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
CFP mock playoff process is eye-opening
Mentor resident part of group that ranked teams from 2013 season
For part of the day, Jeremy Guy took on the role of former Virginia Tech coach and current College Football Playoff selection committee member Frank Beamer.
It was everything the Mentor resident was expecting and more. It was an eye-opener to the world of college football, and its most polarizing topic — which four teams deserve to make the playoffs.
Guy has worked for the Mid-American Conference for 15 years, and his current title is assistant commissioner for integrated digital strategy. He spearheaded the popular MAC hashtag #MACtion, which helped buoy and brand the conference, and it still resonates. It’s a popular stamp for the MAC during the latter portion of the college football season when it plays many of its games during the midweek.
Guy, a Chardon High graduate, took that love of college football to another level Oct. 4, when he was invited with 11 others to Dallas to participate in a College Football Playoff mock selection meeting.
In previous seasons, the CFP has invited members of the media and college administrators to take part in a mock selection process for a better understanding of it, and transparency for fans.
Guys’ final verdict: “Maybe casual fans think they’re just picking four teams. It is, but it isn’t. So much goes into it.”
The CFP invited six separate groups during recent weeks for the mock meetings. Each group went through the exact same process as the committee. Each mock team picked a four-team playoff field from the conclusion of the regular season in 2013, the last year before the start of the CFP.
CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock sat in on the mock selection process Guy participated. With Guy in Beamer’s sted, whenever Virginia Tech was discussed, Guy had to recluse himself. Such was the case for Oklahoma, where Beamer’s son-in-law is an assistant coach. That’s the protocol for all committee members when a conflict of interest arises.
The exercise began with each member arriving with their Top 30 rankings from the end of the 2013 regular season. Each was given a packet with information of teams to consider. Each member’s Top 30 rankings were fed into a computer, and a consensus was revealed. Criteria to consider included conference champions, strength of schedule and other factors, but ultimately each member had their own say.
“It was mostly our own beliefs,” Guy said.
When the top 30 was complete, seven rounds of voting for each member’s top six followed. From that, a top three consensus from 2013 was finalized:
1. Florida State (13-0, ACC champion)
2. Auburn (12-1, SEC champion)
3. Michigan State (12-1, Big Ten champion)
The fourth and final spot was the most heated, Guy said. The big discussion was Baylor vs. Alabama, and two factors — each team’s one loss, and the fact the Bears were a conference champ, and the Crimson Tide were not.
Baylor’s only loss that season was 49-17 to 10-2 Oklahoma State. Alabama’s was 34-28 to Auburn in what is famously known as the “Kick 6” game.
The next exercise for each member was ranking a top six, but excluding FSU, Auburn and MSU, which already clinched CFP spots based on previous voting. That round revealed another top three that consisted of Baylor, Alabama and Ohio State.
The Buckeyes were eliminated early when one committee member acting as OSU athletic director Gene Smith was recused. That left an uneven vote among 11. However, the vote between Baylor and Alabama was tied at 6-6 after three rounds before a decision was finalized. It revealed the final team in as:
4. Baylor (11-1, Big 12 champion)
“We didn’t put in Baylor just because they were conference champions,” Guy said. “They had a high-powered offense, they were scoring at will. They had one fluke game that got away from them, but it was against a 10-2 team (Oklahoma State). They put a nice body of work together. What put them over the edge was that conference championship.” Just out were: 5. Alabama (12-1, SEC runner-up)
6. Ohio State (12-1, Big Ten runner-up)
The playoff field, and the rest of the major bowl matchups:
Orange Bowl: 1 FSU vs. 4 Baylor
Cotton: 2 Auburn vs. 3 MSU
Rose: 6 Ohio State vs. 7 Stanford
Peach: 8 Missouri vs. 14 Central Florida
Sugar: 5 Alabama vs. 9 Oklahoma
Fiesta: 10 South Carolina vs. 11 Arizona State
Guy said the mock process was condensed — “We did in five hours what the committee does in about 15,” he said — but he relished every minute. It gave him a better perspective to understanding how indepth decisions are made, and the process.
“After going through it, I wouldn’t mind being on the committee because there’s so many opinions, and you’re getting them from so many perspectives,” he said. “So much gets talked about. It’s indepth . ... To see how it all played out, I thought that was neat.”