Jackson’s view

For every team competing, their fate rests in the hands of a selected few, that being the college football playoff committee.

Who makes this up committee?

It is mostly college athletic directors, former college football coaches and even esteemed journalists.

In the past, it has even been composed of former members of the executive branch of the United States.

I want to know who put these committees together and what kind of judgement these members have to make these decisions.

We cannot expect them to watch every single snap of every single game, so what are they really making their decisions from?

Are they expecting one team to pull in higher viewership numbers than another?

Is one team selected based off which conference it plays in?

The committee has a set of criteria that they claim they follow during their selection process.

Yet, the problem is it changes every year so there is no precedent.

Some teams get punished for winning against teams with bad records.

Other programs get rewarded for losing against other teams.

How is this the case?

Eight or nine games on a college schedule are already pre-determined by the conference they are in, so the committee is punishing teams for things they are not in control of.

It is not just a college football issue though.

Similar issues are happening in the state of Florida.

Baker finished with a 7-3 record on the gridiron this season.

That record is good enough for a high seed in the playoff field, right?

Wrong.

Due to a lower strength of schedule, the Gators earned the 17th spot in the Rural classification.

That one spot was the difference between being in the “A” or “B” bracket.

Baker was dominant in its victories, with six of the seven wins being by double-digits.

There is no committee at the high school level. The FHSAA relies on a computer to make playoff decisions. Some games are worth more than others.

So if that’s the case, losing to a great team is worth more than winning against a bad team, every team should schedule the toughest teams possible.

But at the same time, it shouldn’t have to be that way for a team make the playoffs.

If this is the case, however, the committee is sending the wrong message.

Isn’t the point of sports to win the game?

Now, it seems the object is to find a lot of good teams to play against to boost your strength of schedule and lose by one possession to prove that you can hang around.

This would be great for a lot of high school teams around the state, but they do not have the budget to drive all over the state just to play stronger teams.

They are only able to play in teams within a short bus ride in their region.

We must find a way to make these rankings and criteria simpler.

They should look at one data point only.

Did you win the games that were on your schedule?

If so, you should be in your playoffs.