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On Tuesday night, the second set of College Football Playoff rankings of the 12-team era will be released, and while there’s plenty of season left for things to change, they’ll give a good insight into the mind of the selection committee. But the process for determining rankings isn’t as straightforward as you’d think.
Most fans know the basics. The playoff will feature 12 teams. The four highest-ranked conference champions receive a bye. While the next four highest-ranked teams will host playoff games in the opening round.
But what most fans don’t know is how exactly the CFP rankings are compiled. Chris Vannini of The Athletic took a deep dive into the process recently, and the answer was far more complicated than it needs to be.
The College Football Playoff Ranking Process Will Make Your Head Spin
“The committee doesn’t rank teams 1-25 all at once,” Vannini reports.
That much makes plenty of sense. There’s a huge difference between determining No. 2 vs. No. 3 relative to Nos. 24 and 25. So logic suggests that you’d handle the top part of the rankings separately and with much more care.
But that’s when things seem to go off track.
“They rank three teams at a time to set the top nine, then four at a time for Nos. 10-25,” Vannini continues. “Each person submits their top 30 teams, in any order, into a computer. Teams that get at least three votes end up in the big pool (usually a group of about 35-40).
“From that pool, members rank their top six teams on a secret personal ballot, the consensus top six is presented as a smaller pool, and they debate and secret-vote teams 1-3 from there, with the consensus becoming the final ranking.”
“The leftover three teams from the consensus top six go into the next pool, and the process repeats from there. (Committee members must recuse themselves from the discussion of certain schools, such as alma maters or current employers.) Only after the committee ranks all 25 teams do they go into the bracket.”
So, uh, you got all that? If you don’t, we completely understand. It appears the intent is to remove any and all personal bias or sampling bias. By holding individual votes on small pools of teams, it allows voters to asses teams in a more thorough and isolated process.
But why four at a time then from 10-25? Why not pools of three until you have a top 12? And even then, the rankings get thrown into a blender when you factor in auto-byes for conference champions.
Additionally, Vannini reports that “It is possible to re-debate teams after ranking the 25, should a member want to raise a particular disagreement.”
So the entire thing could go up in smoke if that particular disagreement changes who gets a bye. Ultimately, the process needs to be somewhat complex. You’re condensing over 100 teams down to 12, and several of those teams will not meet head-to-head.
Because of this, you need to get creative. But it’s never a good sign when fans come away more confused after you explain the process.