IRVING, Texas – The College Football Playoff selection committee said Wednesday it will announce interim rankings throughout the second half of the 2014 season, with the first rankings slated for release Oct. 28.
The selection committee will meet in person on Mondays and Tuesdays for seven consecutive weeks to formulate the rankings. The other dates for interim rankings will be Nov. 4, 11, 18 and 25 and Dec. 2. The final rankings, and playoff matchups will be set on Sunday, Dec. 7.
Playoff executive director Bill Hancock said, “The concept will be ‘if the season ended today,’ these would be the rankings.”
Selection committee chair Jeff Long will explain the reasoning for Top 25 rankings each week on an ESPN broadcast. Hancock said each set of interim rankings will be the product of “dozens of votes” by selection committee members.
Commissioners — not the selection committee — conducted three mock selections Wednesday, seeding teams and placing them in semifinals.
The committee spent much of Wednesday discussing the recusal policy for selectors. Selection committee members will be recused from discussing a school “if they or an immediate family member receives compensation … or has a professional relationship” with said school. According to the playoff announcement, the committee will have the option to add other recusals if special circumstances arise,
Long said it considered deeper recusal policies but came back to a “narrower” policy leaning on the “integrity” of members.
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