Urban Meyer calls for College Football Playoff committee to 'go away'

There has been an increasing amount of criticism in recent years of the College Football Playoff selection committee. This has coincided with the expansion of the Playoff and pushes for other changes to the postseason format. Now, former head coach and current analyst Urban Meyer is the latest to share his frustrations with the current system.

While making an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Meyer expressed his frustration with how strength of schedule has been handled by the committee. That’s enough frustration that he wants to find a less subjective way of selecting Playoff teams, which would mean getting rid of the selection committee.

“I hope that happens,” Meyer said. “That’s supposed to have been the rule since I remember from the BCS era to the four-team College Football Playoff to the 12 teams. So, I’ve got to re-read this thing. Because that’s confusing to me. Strength of schedule has always been a big part of the equation that the committee is supposed to look at. Maybe there’s some type of analytics they’re gonna use for that, but I guess I’m confused. That’s always been, supposedly, what the committee looks at.”

There have been numerous proposals for expanding the College Football Playoff. Many of those do retain the selection committee. Others, however, have suggested turning championship weekend into a weekend of play-in games for the Playoff, using the standings to decide who plays in what game.

“I’m gonna give you something. I think the committee needs to go away. I love these new proposals that are out there about teams playing to win. The Big Ten had one out there,” Meyer said. “I’m not sure if it’s still out there anymore, but a 4, 4, 2, 2, 1, which means you take the top teams in the Big Ten and they earn it on the field. There’s no committee. So, one would play two in the Big Ten Championship Game. Three would play five. Four would play six, and there’s your four teams that go to the Playoff.”

The challenge that the Playoff selection committee faces is that there are 136 FBS teams, and all are supposed to be in consideration for the Playoff. The reality is that the sample sizes end up being too small to easily judge teams. So, there’s always room for debating if the best teams are actually the best, or even the most deserving.

“And this is not against the committee,” Meyer said. “Because when I try to figure out who the best teams are — that’s my job, to watch the film. I’m wrong a lot of the times because there’s so many variables involved. So, to put that in a hotel room, a bunch of people making decisions, who’s in and who’s out. I’d much rather come in with a system that this is a play-in tournament that you get in, and the most important people make that decision, the players. If you win, you’re in. If you lose, you’re out.”

For the time being, the College Football Playoff is set at 12 teams, and the selection committee is still vital to the decision-making process. That could change in the future, though, and discussions will likely continue moving forward.