Former coaches on committee offer key -- but not decisive -- voices
— -- The College Football Playoff selection committee has yet to truly sweat it out in the fourth quarter.
There was little dispute last season, and Clemson and Alabama proved to be the top two teams in the country. In 2014, Ohio State made the committee's decision easier with a 59-0 rout of Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game, then proved the committee right -- at least outside the state of Texas -- by going on to win the national title after sneaking into the top four for the very first time when it mattered most, in the final ranking.
This year could be significantly more difficult.
With Houston off to a 3-0 start and favored by ESPN's Football Power Index to win every remaining game (except against Louisville), it's possible the committee will have to seriously consider a Group of 5 conference champion in its top four -- especially if there is a Power 5 conference champion with two losses.
How the Cougars would fare against a Power 5 schedule is a debate that has carried over from the BCS system, which no Group of 5 program was ever able to crack.
"Where would a Houston, [which] on any given day could beat anybody in the country, if they played in the SEC West, how would they do after playing Texas A&M, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State on consecutive weeks?" Mississippi State's Dan Mullen said before the season.
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