MEDIA GUIDE 2019-20 EDITION TABLE OF CONTENTS College Football Playoff 3 Overview 4 By the Numbers 6 Governance 8 Trophy 9 Chronology 10 Future Schedule 19 Staff 20 Selection Committee 22 Chair 23 Members 23 Protocol 24 FAQs 30 Rankings 33 2019 Rankings Schedule 34 Selection Day 34 2018 Rankings 35 2017 Rankings 38 2016 Rankings 41 2015 Rankings 44 2014 Rankings 47 New Year’s Six Bowls 51 Goodyear Cotton Bowl 52 Capital One Orange Bowl 53 Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual 54 Allstate Sugar Bowl 55 PlayStation Fiesta Bowl 56 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl 57 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship 59 2019 CFP National Championship - Bay Area 61 2018 CFP National Championship - Atlanta 65 2017 CFP National Championship - Tampa 69 2016 CFP National Championship - Arizona 73 2015 CFP National Championship - North Texas 77 College Football Playoff Records 81 Additional Resources 127 Logo/Photo Requests 128 Interview Request Protocol 128 Ticket Distribution 128 Revenue Distribution Policies 129 Family Reimbursement 129 Lexicon 130 Internship Program 131 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF 201920 CFP MEDIA GUIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF EVERY GAME COUNTS CHAMPIONSHIP MONDAY The College Football Playoff (CFP) The two winning teams from the Playoff determines the national champion of Semifinals compete for the College Football the top division of college football. The Playoff National Championship. The national format fits within the academic calendar championship game is in a different city and preserves the sport’s unique and each year, always on a Monday night. compelling regular season. UNIVERSAL ACCESS SELECTION COMMITTEE No team qualifies automatically, so every The selection committee ranks the teams Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team has based on the members’ evaluation of the equal access to the CFP based on its teams’ performance on the field, using performance during the season. conference championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head results, and REVENUE comparison of results against common opponents to decide among teams that The format produces revenue for all FBS are comparable. schools and for Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conferences that meet a TRADITION predetermined threshold of grants-in-aid. The New Year’s holiday period belongs to GOVERNANCE college football, with two semifinal games rotating annually among the Cotton Bowl, University presidents and chancellors from Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Peach Bowl, all 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame Rose Bowl Game and Sugar Bowl. serve as the Board of Managers and govern the administrative operations, with commissioners (the Management Committee) managing the event. A small staff in the CFP office in Irving, Texas, carries out the day-to- day responsibilities. collegefootballplayoff.com cbplayo #CFBPlayo 4 201920 CFP MEDIA GUIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SELECTION COMMITTEE PARTICIPANTS IN THE A dedicated group of high integrity football NEW YEAR’S SIX BOWLS experts, with experience as coaches, Both participants in the Orange, Rose and student-athletes, college administrators Sugar Bowls are contracted outside the and journalists, along with sitting athletics playoff arrangement (Big Ten and Pac-12 directors, comprise the selection to Rose Bowl; SEC and Big 12 to Sugar Bowl; committee. Members of the selection ACC to Orange Bowl against the highest committee are Rob Mullens (chair), ranked available team from the SEC, Big Gary Barta, Frank Beamer, Paola Boivin, Ten and Notre Dame). If a conference Joe Castiglione, Ken Hatfield, Chris champion qualifies for the College Football Howard, Ronnie Lott, Terry Mohajir, Ray Playoff, then the bowl will choose a Odierno, R.C. Slocum, Todd Stansbury replacement from that conference. When and Scott Stricklin. those bowls host the Playoff Semifinals and their contracted conference champions do SELECTION COMMITTEE not qualify, then the displaced champion(s) RESPONSIBILITIES will play in one of the other New Year’s Six bowls. • Rank the top 25 teams and assign the top four to semifinal sites. When not hosting Playoff Semifinals, the • Assign teams to New Year’s Six bowls. Cotton, Fiesta and Peach Bowls will • Create competitive matchups. welcome displaced conference champions • Attempt to avoid rematches of and the top-ranked champion from a regular-season games and repeat non-contract conference. The highest- appearances in specific bowls. ranked available teams will fill any other • Consider geography. berths. The selection committee will make the pairings. collegefootballplayoff.com cbplayo #CFBPlayo 5 201920 CFP MEDIA GUIDE 2018–19 BY THE NUMBERS collegefootballplayoff.com cbplayo #CFBPlayo 6 201920 CFP MEDIA GUIDE 2018–19 BY THE NUMBERS collegefootballplayoff.com cbplayo #CFBPlayo 7 201920 CFP MEDIA GUIDE GOVERNANCE THE COMPANY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE CFP Administration, LLC, manages the (10 conference commissioners and administration operations of the College Notre Dame athletics director) Football Playoff. Members of the company The Management Committee manages the are the 10 FBS conferences (American day-to-day operations of the company. It Athletic, Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, has authority over those aspects of the Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain company’s operations that are not reserved West, Pac-12, Southeastern and Sun Belt) exclusively for the board, but all of its and the University of Notre Dame. decisions are subject to review by the board. THE BOARD OF MANAGERS • Mike Aresco – Commissioner (11 university presidents and chancellors) (American Athletic) • Bob Bowlsby – Commissioner (Big 12) The company’s business, property and • Jim Delany – Commissioner (Big Ten) affairs are governed by the Board of • Keith Gill – Commissioner (Sun Belt) Managers. The board develops, reviews • Judy MacLeod – Commissioner (C-USA) and approves annual budgets, policies and • Greg Sankey – Commissioner (SEC) operating guidelines. It also appoints and • Larry Scott – Commissioner (Pac-12) removes officers of the company. It has • Jon Steinbrecher – Commissioner (MAC) authority over all aspects of the company’s • Jack Swarbrick – Athletics Director operations. (Notre Dame) • Eric Barron – President, Penn State • John Swofford – Commissioner (ACC) University (Big Ten) • Craig Thompson – Commissioner • Rodney Bennett – President, University of (Mountain West) Southern Mississippi (C-USA) • Joe Castro – President, Fresno State (Mountain West) • Greg Fenves – President, University of Texas-Austin (Big 12) • Jack Hawkins – Chancellor, Troy University (Sun Belt) • Rev. John Jenkins – President, University of Notre Dame (Independent) • Mark Keenum (chair) – President, Mississippi State University (SEC) • Kirk Schulz – President, Washington State University (Pac-12) • John Thrasher – President, Florida State University (ACC) • Satish Tripathi – President, University at Buffalo (MAC) • R. Gerald Turner – President, Southern Methodist University (American Athletic) collegefootballplayoff.com cbplayo #CFBPlayo 8 201920 CFP MEDIA GUIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY The College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy is the ultimate goal of college football teams across the United States. An ascending virtual football, the trophy’s handcrafted gold brackets surround a hardened steel core. The trophy was created to be raised in celebration of the highest level of team achievement in college football. Designed by Pentagram, the trophy was commissioned by the CFP for the new playoff era. The design features a focused football at the center of the base that rises to form an actual-size ball. Standing at a total height of three feet, the trophy and base are two integral but separate pieces, so the trophy may be lifted up independently when it is awarded each year at the championship game. The trophy is handcrafted by the master fine art foundry Polich Tallix. Expert craftsmen worked for three months, combining cutting edge technologies with timeless metal casting and finishing techniques to create the trophy. Handmade from 24k gold, bronze, and stainless steel, the trophy is 26.5 inches tall. The base is formed from bronze with a hand-rubbed black patina finish and is 12 inches high. collegefootballplayoff.com cbplayo #CFBPlayo 9 201920 CFP MEDIA GUIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF CHRONOLOGY 2011 With the fourth Bowl Championship Series (BCS) four-year term set to conclude after the 2013-2014 season, the commissioners began creating a process for considering possible formats for the future. These discussions occurred during teleconferences October 4 and 12. The Presidential Oversight Committee members addressed the matter further in their in-person meeting in Denver on November 14. 2012 During the winter and spring, the commissioners and presidents spent countless hours evaluating the many pros and cons of numerous possible formats. These formats ranged from returning to the old bowl system with no attempt to match the top two teams, to continuing the BCS, to creating a multi-team tournament. The commissioners met in person on January 10 in New Orleans, February 21-22 and March 26 in Dallas and several times by teleconference. They affirmed a commitment to protect college football’s regular season, the best in sports, and to preserve the bowl tradition and the bowl experience for student-athletes. Further, they focused on the realities of the academic calendar and options related to where the games should be played. They self-imposed