Georgia Tech AD Mike Bobinski on Monday said that the new College Football Playoff "should avoid putting too many voices on its selection committee," according to Dan Wolken of USA TODAY. Bobinski, who previously served as Selection Committee Chair for the NCAA men's basketball tournament, said, "I've heard numbers in the 20s. I think 20-something is way too many people. I'd say 12-15 is plenty. I think you get any bigger than that and it becomes really unwieldy to manage the room, to keep people focused and to have things start to diverge and splinter." Wolken noted more details on the "size and makeup of the football committee are expected to be finalized next week." The CFP selection committee "will probably be the most scrutinized and controversial in all of sports." Opinions "vary wildly about whether the committee should be bigger or smaller, whether each conference should be represented and whether elements such as former coaches or even former media members should be part of the mix." Though the final structure "could be similar to the 10-person men's basketball committee," this will be "a much more precarious task." Whereas the men's basketball committee is "made up entirely of university administrators and conference officials, it seems almost certain the CFP committee will include football dignitaries with coaching or playing roots in the sport." Bobinski said having that kind of expertise "absolutely needs to be in the room." But he added that the basketball committee "has been able to do it within the parameters of its traditional construct" (USA TODAY, 6/11).
WHAT ABOUT THE LITTLE GUY? ESPN.com's Brett McMurphy cited sources as saying that some of the smaller college athletic conferences are "exploring opportunities to create additional bowl games next season." Sources said that "as many as nine locations are under consideration to begin bowl games" in '14. Sources said that those sites include Dubai, Ireland, and "either Toronto or Nassau, Bahamas." Any new bowls created in '14 "would be for the smaller conferences," including the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt. An NCAA "moratorium to add new bowls expires after the 2013 season." Although the '14 bowl lineup "has not been officially announced, there will be more games between the Power Five leagues after this season." Sources said that there will be "a minimum of 19 bowls matching Power Five conferences and that number could go even higher" (ESPN.com, 6/11). ESPN’s Matt Millen said that college football “does not need more bowl games” and for the smaller conferences it ultimately “comes down to dollars and cents, so they want to try to get their fair share.” ESPN’s Mark May noted, “What’s next, Moscow, Cape Town? It’s ridiculous with this situation. We have too many bowls. ... Why don’t they put a bowl in Rio or Nice?” ESPN’s Joe Tessitore added, “I’m sure those MAC and Sun Belt team fans will travel well to the Middle East” (“College Football Live,” ESPN, 6/11).
