Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin offers controversial solution for College Football Playoff ahead of Rebels battle with Oklahoma Sooners
Lane Kiffin sticks with his old faithful take on the College Football Playoff since the committee clearly doesn’t care to pick best 12 teams
Lane Kiffin always has some interesting ideas when it comes to the very fabric of college football. Whether it’s specific in-game rules, roster construction, the transfer portal, or like this week with his comments on the College Football Playoff, fans always get the real deal answer from Kiffin.
The Ole Miss Rebels head coach tried to make it clear the playoff wasn’t necessarily on his mind at the moment, and he was only answering because multiple SEC media members insisted on asking him questions on the playoff, but that’s not what people will remember. They’ll likely only remember that he is once again suggesting that Vegas (the sports books) would do a better job selecting the 12 playoff teams than any committee.
Lane Kiffin believes Vegas would do better job than committee selecting playoff teams
The playoff selection committee has long been the center of controversy. From leaving TCU and Baylor out way back in 2014, to excluding an undefeated Florida State team just two short years ago, there’s almost always something to complain about when it comes to the College Football Playoff field.
What’s the solution? Is there a good one? We’ve already “let the computers decide” with the BCS format earlier this century.
Lane Kiffin is clearly just tired of it (and questions on it in general) based on his tone with SEC media on Wednesday. Regardless of whether he wanted to answer the questions, his answer on preferring that Vegas make the selections, sparked controversy immediately. Josh Pate, the self-proclaimed future commissioner of college football and host of the most influential show in the sport right now, called Kiffin’s idea “horrific”, while others called it the “perfect response”.
For those who were on the SEC weekly media call, or received the transcript, it’s a bit more clear that Kiffin just doesn’t like any system that’s been set in place (or again, getting asked these questions in October). More than anything though, it’s clear he disagreed that the best 12 teams were in the playoff last year:
“The best 12 teams are not–you cannot at all start thinking it’s ‘this many from this conference, this many from this conference’ like that. If you want to get the best 12, you can’t think that way at all. You’ve got to take the resume, take everything, look at how they played, where they played, all the things, and then pick the best 12…I’ve mentioned this before. What would Vegas do? They’re the best at what they do, by far. They’re way better than any committee. Way better than any anybody could do when you look at teams…If it was a neutral game, what would Vegas make the spread? And that should tell you who the better team is. What would Vegas make the spread? And then, if you had to bet your own money, your kids, college funds, committee, who would you bet on for a money line? So without the points to me that tells you a lot. Who would Vegas make as a favorite when you’re looking at the teams and on a neutral site, that would be the best way to determine who the best teams are, and Vegas does it well.”
Kiffin went on to acknowledge that the committee did say they were going to take more analytics into consideration when it comes to selecting teams this year, but by his tone it was clear his confidence in that actually happening is very low.
There may not be a great solution to the playoff committee right now, but one thing is for certain. The committee’s incompetence surely makes for some excellent controversy every single year.
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