ESPN: OU’s Castiglione to join playoff board
Two of Joe Castiglione’s former OU lieutenants, Jeff Long and Kirby Hocutt, have served as chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee through its first four years. Both are rotating off the committee. But according to ESPN, Castiglione himself is joining the group that selects the four-team field.
ESPN reported Tuesday that OU’s athletic director would replace Hocutt, now the athletic director at Texas Tech, as the Big 12’s representative on the committee.
Six new members will join the 13-person committee. The members are expected to be formally announced in February.
The only downside for OU is that Castiglione would be recused from the room when the topic turns to the Sooners. Castiglione would be allowed to remain to discuss any other Big 12 team.
Leaving the committee will be Hocutt, Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich, Long (formerly Arkansas’ athletic director), former NCAA executive Tom Jernstedt, former USA Today writer Steve Wieberg and former Notre Dame, Stanford and Washington coach Tyrone Willingham. Each committee member serves one three-year term.
Castiglione, approaching his 20th anniversary of being hired at OU, is the second-longest serving athletic director in the Power 5 conferences, behind only Utah’s Chris Hill, who was hired in 1987.
Castiglione, former chairman of the NCAA
basketball tournament selection committee, would become just the third person to serve on both football and basketball selection committees, joining Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese.
Smith remains on the football committee.
Other current committee members are Robert Morris University President Chris Howard, Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens and former coaches Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech, Bobby Johnson of Vanderbilt, Jeff Bower of Southern Mississippi and Herb Deromedi of Central Michigan.