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Takeaways from College Football Playoff Webinar · The Craig Way Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I mentioned there was a webinar this morning.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: That was conducted by the College Football Playoff Committee, and
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: on the webinar, the chief keynote speaker was the new
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: executive director of the CFP. That's Richard Clark or rich
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Clark as he went by and folks call him, and
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: was also kind of administered by Brett Daniels, who had
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: been I've known him a long time. He was in
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: media relations at SMU and then was on the Cowboys
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: media relations staff for years during the Jerry and Jimmy
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Super Bowl thing and years after that as well. But
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: he works now with the CFP, and so they did
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: this webinar to basically introduce what this twelve team playoff
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: is all about from the perspective of the executive director
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: and to let me to hear and ask questions. I
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: did not ask any questions of rich Clark because and
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: I wanted to give other It's for the same reason
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: that I don't ask questions at Sark's weekly news conference,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: because I know I'll get my opportunity on Wednesday nights
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: along warn weekly where I get to ask all of
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: the questions other than the ones that are submitted on
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: a card. But all the other questions are ones that
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: I ask, So it's only fair to let other people
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: to have their opportunity to ask Sark questions. And they do,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: and we'll hear some more by the way, on the
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: SEC teleconference coming up the next segment. But it was
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: the same thing with this because Rich Clark is coming
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: on our show to arm so he'll be on with
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: us to talk in large measure kind of recapping what
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: this was all about today. But I did find some
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: interesting elements out of this. First of all, as everybody knows,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: if you followed the college football playoff situation at all,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: you know with the twelve team playoff in the bracket,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: what it's going to be is the five highest ranked
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: conference champions draw automatic bids into the playoff. The five
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: highest ranked of the five, the four highest rank will
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: receive first round byes. It's a pretty safe bet that
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: the Power four leagues, the Big Ten, the SEC, the ACC,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: the Big twelve, that they're going to get those four
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: buys the group of five highest ranked conference champion right now,
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: if you were to do it, it would be Boise State,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: but Army still has a shot, and this is an
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: outside shot. They could also accrue a spot, but probably
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: will not break into the top four where they would
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: get a buy. They would just they would automatically slot in.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: And Rich Clark made a point to point out that.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: If you were to.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: Look at it, let's say, uh and they used last
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: year as a model, which made it kind of weird
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: CAAM because you had Michigan Texas was number two off
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: of that deal, So it was it was kind of
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: weird the way they used the model from last year.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Well last year they.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Had you know, there were other teams that were getting
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: in that were being slotted into the top five or
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: top four because they were a conference champion, like Arizona,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: even though Arizona was not ranked in the top four,
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: but they got in there because it was the highest
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: ranked conference champion.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: And it is mathematically possible.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: That you could have, like say, an ACC champion if
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Miami were to stumble that the ACC champion or the
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Big twelve champion, say if BYU and or I always
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: say were to stumble a time or two were to
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: go ahead and win their conference championship but not actually
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: be ranked in the top four, but they automatically get
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: slotted in there, especially if they're still ahead of that
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: G five champion.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: Did they say, like what specific ranking or is it
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: just depending?
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  Speaker 2: Well, they were using that specific example, but they said,
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: did you just depend they know that they would they
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: would land in the top four. I would imagine they'd
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: be slotted into the four spot at that point among
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: the others. Sorry, that was one thing he talked about.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: He pointed out rich Clark did some other things, and
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: he did mention there was one guy that asked for
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: I was really kind of surprised that he asked the question,
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: but he did. He'd tried to frame it in a
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: very respectful way, but I thought it was a little
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: bit goofy. He asked rich Clark if the committee would
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: consider manipulating the rankings, like, say, especially two that are
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: real close together, like four and five or five and six,
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  Speaker 2: because top four is going to get a bye anyway,
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: but five and six just to avoid rematches like in
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: Ohio State Michigan rematch. And the guy goes which I'm
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: sure nobody wants to see. I'm like, who are you
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  Speaker 2: to speak for everybody? This reporter said this, and rich
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Clark said, now, the Committee's not going to do that. Okay,
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: So if Texas gets it's been seating here. So they're
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: saying that they won't take into account that Texas and
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: Georgia I've already played this season when they make their theirs.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: In fact, Rich Clark said they could play two teams,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: could play as many as three times, could play in
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  Speaker 2: the regular season, could play in a conference championship, and then, then,
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  Speaker 2: to use his words, could meet somewhere in the playoff.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: So no, they said, once the bracket is set, the
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: bracket is set.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: You can't reset the bracket or go back.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: And this led into another wrinkle, And this was something
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: I didn't know, And I was looking at that Stewart
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: Mandel's tweet about it because he has questions on this.
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  Speaker 2: He said, Clark confirms that the committee will not manipulate
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: rankings in any way to avoid rematches. Schools could theoretically
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: play each other three times. That I kind of figured.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: But here's something I didn't know. I had not even
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: heard this brought up. Ridge Clark brought this up. He
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: was talking about the first round matchups five verses twelve,
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: six verses eleven, seven verses ten, and eight verses nine.
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  Speaker 2: As we know, those games will be on campus sites
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: at the higher seeds. The five seed, the six seed,
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  Speaker 2: the seven seed, and the eight seed will host those games.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: What I did not know what Ridge Clark said was
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: and he said it almost kind of as a matter
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: of he said it very matter of factly, almost in passing.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: He said, well, in the schools that will host these
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: playoff games, they will host in their stadiums, unless they
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: want to host, like say, in an alternate site like
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: an NFL stadium or something, if they want to do that,
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: And everybody was I think it was like really so
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: then there were follow up questions about that.
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: So Texas could technically host at eight and T Stadium.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: If they want it.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and everybody was like what, so, hey, give bad
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: your Texas A and M hosting a playoff game at NRG.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: I think A and M fans will lose their mind yeah, right,
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: like any fan base would lose their minds. So folks ask,
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: we're asking because then you allow, sorry, then you allow
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: the opposing team to possibly have more of their fans
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: show up, right.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: Which gets into another thing.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: But he said, he said, there are many factors that
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: we're not thinking about that might.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Prevent a team from being able to host on the campus. Site.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: I'm thinking, like what, And then he said, hotel space.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: If there's not enough hotel space. Listen, if you have
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: a home football game in Athens, Georgia, or Austin, Texas
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: or Columbus, Ohio, and you've got one hundred thousand fans.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: There, they're on their own hotels, you know.
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: So that's the whole point about home field advantage exactly.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: He said he expected it. Everybody that the feat because
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: then guys were asking have you gotten feedback from up
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  Speaker 2: from some school saying hey, if we wanted to host
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: somewhere else, and he was like no, but there will
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: be more conversations down the road.
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: What was the college baseball team that couldn't host the
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: regional because there's Indiana State.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: Indiana State couldn't host the super regal. TC, you got
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: to host him because Indiana Special Olympics and they said
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: they didn't have enough staff to do it or whatever
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: with everything, and so he went to fourth and probably
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: lost two games, and TC, you got a College World Series.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: So it would have to be a group of five
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: team that lives that's in a much smaller but a.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: G five, But a G five wouldn't be seated high
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  Speaker 1: enough to host.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: Unless they were just they're going to be twelve, eleven,
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  Speaker 2: ten or nine probably just exactly yeah, yeahs anything.
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  Speaker 1: Boys, He's not going to host in their stadium on
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: that blue terms.
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  Speaker 2: They got a shot to do it, of course not
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: of course they're going to do it well anyway. So
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: there was that and then one other point that he
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: that that he pointed out that was it was it
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: somebody said, uh, you know what will happen if you
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: get teams that Uh, I'm want to think this through.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you what we're up against a break, let
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: me let me take it, and I'm gonna and I'm
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: going to stretch it out exactly the way it was
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: posed to him. So I give a better example. And
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: we're going to hear more from Long Orn's head coach
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: Steve Sarkisian as well when we continue on sports Radio
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: Ave and thirteen under the Zonne. I now have it
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: phrased out in my mind the way I want to
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: present this. There was one other question that I wanted
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  Speaker 2: to present and let folks know that was asked of
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  Speaker 2: Rich Clark, the executive director of the College Football Playoff.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: And again Rich is going to be on with us
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  Speaker 2: tomorrow afternoon at the four o'clock hour, and I will
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: ask a couple of these questions because as it pertains
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: to the possibility of including Texas, Uh, it's important for
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: LongRun fans to no one was the thing about the rematches, Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: it's conceivable that Texas and A and M could play.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Both could wind up getting the playoffs and playing each
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  Speaker 2: other again. Yeah, they could even wind up playing each
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  Speaker 2: other in back to back weeks into the regular season
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: in the SEC Championship game. Mathematically, yeah, possible could have
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: a rematch between Texas and Georgia.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: You could.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: There are possible rematches that could happen out of that.
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  Speaker 1: The other thing that came up.
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  Speaker 2: Was where these games are going to be played after
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: the first round. Now, I just went into some length
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: and talked about the first round sites. Of course, we'll
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: be at the home of the higher seeded teams. The
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: five seed will host the twelve, the sixth seed will
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: host the eleven, the seventh seed will host a ten seed,
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  Speaker 2: and the eight seed will host the nine. It is
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: expected that these four higher seeded teams, the five to
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: six to seven eight wall all play on campus sites.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Although Riz Clark did bring it up as a possibility
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: that if a team for whatever reason, maybe there is
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: a construction issue, maybe there's a weather is whatever, did
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: not want to play that game on their home site,
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: that they could play it, move it to like say
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: an NFL stadium since they get to host the game
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: as the higher seeded team.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Part that was one thing.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Here's the other thing, and this surprised me, and it
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: cleared up. It may clear up a misnomer for long
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: worn fans who may be projecting down the road where
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Texas might be playing, say if they either get a
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: buy into the quarterfinals, or even if they play in
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: the first round and win and advance to the quarterfinals
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: and then to the semifinals where they might be going.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: It has been a kit a given among a lot
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: of long worn fans that they could play because of
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: projections that we saw early on, that they could play
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: to maybe even three games in Atlanta. If they got
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: to the SEC championship game, they could play in Atlanta
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: and then in the Peach Bowl in the quarterfinal. Then
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: if they events all the way in to the National
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: Championship game, which is definitely at Mercedes Benz Stadium, it
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: could be there a third time. Here's the way it
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: was explained by rich Clark. The way they have I
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: think they said this year and next year they have
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: two years of agreements still in place with certain bowls
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: as they are tied into conferences.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: So in their.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: Sample bracket they used last year's teams, which meant that
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: Michigan was the one seed, in Texas was the two seed.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: What they do is those top four seeds get a buye.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: Then after that when they go to the quarterfinals, the
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: next thing they go to is where the schools if
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: they have a conference tie into a certain bowl, which
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: bowl would it be?
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Oh?
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: Okay, So in the case of Michigan, we know what
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: that would be. That'd be the Rose Bowl for the quarterfinal.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: The Big Ten, you know, tie in with the Rose
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: bul the two seed, and the example he used from
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: last year was Texas. It would not be Atlanta because
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: of the SEC tie in with the Sugar Bowl, so
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: it would be New Orleans. And I started to read
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: something about that last week. I'm like, okay, all right,
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: and then you have the three seed, you're the Peach Bowl,
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: and then you have the Fiesta Bowl. That's exactly right.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: So what they did was Florida State, believe it or not,
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: was the sample as the three seed last year would
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: have been then slotted to the Peach Bowl and then
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Arizona to the Fiesta. So then you get to the semifinals,
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: and when you get to the semi finals, and this
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: is the part I did not know, the highest remaining
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: seed then expresses its preference.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: No, no, no, excuse me.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: Then at that point, the highest remaining seed is slotted
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: to go where they are geographically closer. So when the
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: example he used Michigan because Dallas is closer than Miami,
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: the two semifinals of the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl,
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: Michigan would go to Dallas Arlington to Jerry World. If
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: Texas under that example were to advance the semifinal, they
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: would not play in the Cotton Bowl. Texas would be
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: in the Orange Bowl as the two seeds because of
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: the two seed. Interesting, yeah, that was and so it
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: threw some people off them were like, well wait a minute.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: They were asking rich Clark, what is any pre made
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: in play made in place? Is being put in place
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: to prevent a lower seeded team from having a home
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: field advantage, And he said no, Once the bracket is set.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: It's set.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: So you know what, I'm thinking, that's got Miami written
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: all over it. If Miami, let's just say Miami is
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: a three seed, the three seed or even the four seed,
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: not the one, and they get to play in the
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Orange Bowl.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: That's a home game. That's where they play their home.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: Games in what is it, hard Rock Stadium might go
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: So that's what went into my mind. But they said,
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: once the bracket is set, they can't go back in
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: and say, okay, well this team. If Michigan gets knocked
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: out by so and so, then the number two seed
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: instead of going to Orange Bowl because they're closer, Texas
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: would get to play in the Copon Bowl.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: That's not how it works.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: Once the bracket is set, the bracket is set not
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: only for the seeding but also the sights.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: So that's just something to keep in mind.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: For folks who are thinking, oh, yeah, well it would
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: be New Orleans and Dallas or Atlanta in Dallas. Not necessarily,
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: not necessarily, especially if you don't get a buy in
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: the first round.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: So that's just something to keep in mind about that.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: Again, We're gonna have Rich Clark on tomorrow and I'll
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: get him to reiterate that piece of it, but there's
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: some other things to talk about with him when he
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: joins us tomorrow to talk about the college football play
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: or now, I know what.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: Many of you are thinking. Ooo, they're not even there yet.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: We know all that. We know that.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: These are just some of the things that are in
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: place to give you a better idea of what's going
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: into this. Here's another big thing that came out of
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: this camp was two or three reporters asked the exact
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: same question in a slightly different way.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: What are the metrics involved here? How transparent are these metrics?
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: What are they using?
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: You know, when we always talk about basketball kimpom, which
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: the NCAA is tossed out by the way, Now no
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: more kim pom really yep, thought about a week ago.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: Kim pom will not be used because of mistakes made
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: in it that actually favored some teams over others. They
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: were legitimate mistakes, they were unintentional, but they were errors.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Kim pom will no longer be used by NCAA as
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: a metric. So there were several guys asking on this
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: webinar what is the metric? And they used I think
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: it's called sports Services data or something. I'll pull it up,
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: but anyway, it's the one they used last year. It's
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: the one that the College Football Playoff Committee uses anyway,
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: and what they've been using. And that was part of
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: Richard Clark's point. The way and the duty and the
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: responsibility of the CFP committee. The College Football Playoff Committee
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: is unchanged from last year.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: It's just they're picking more.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: Teams, and not only that, all the way until December,
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: it's identical. In other words, you rank twenty five teams.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: Next Tuesday, when the first ranking comes out, there's twenty
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: five teams, and there's going to be twenty five teams
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: all the way to the end. Now, at the end
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: following the conference championship Saturday, there'll be a twelve team
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: bracket instead of a four team bracket, and that's obviously
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: the big seismic difference. But until then, it's identical to
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: last year. It's twenty five teams, and we all know that.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: We'll be back to wrap up Power number two on
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: Sportsradio AM thirteen under the Zone