Kansas State AD replaces Texas AD on CFP Selection Committee

Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor will replace Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte as the Big 12 representative on the College Football Playoff (CFP) Selection Committee, according to the Kansas City Star’s Kellis Robinett. The news comes following reports that Texas and Oklahoma plan to leave the Big 12 for the SEC in 2025.

Del Conte was named to the committee in January but stepped down because of the conflicting interests of his school leaving the conference. Each selection committee member is given a three-year term. This means De Conte’s assignment would have been completed before his school’s departure from the Big 12.

Responsibilities

The committee features 13 members and is currently chaired by Iowa athletic director Gary Barta. The panel includes 10 conferences commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick.

As a member of the CFP Selection committee, the Big 12 representative joins a work group tasked with choosing the top four teams to compete for a national championship. In addition, they rank the top 25 teams in the nation and assigns schools to the New Year’s Six Bowls. The remaining spots on the committee are filled by athletic directors, professors and former players across the country.

The Big 12 has appeared in four of the seven CFP fields but only Oklahoma has represented the conference in the Playoff. Baylor and TCU came the closest in 2014-15 but a tie on top of the Big 12 left both schools on the outside.

Track record

Taylor has been the athletic director at Kansas State since 2017. His first major hiring came in 2019 when he chose Chris Klieman, who he worked with at North Dakota State, as the replacement for legendary coach Bill Snyder. He was the FCS Central Region AD of the Year in 2008 and 2012 while at North Dakota State. Taylor also spent time as the deputy athletic at Iowa from 2014-17.

Kansas State has never won a CFP or other national championship, despite winning the Big 12 six times. The Wildcats most recent Big 12 title came in 2012 when they finished 11-2 under Snyder. They finished that season with wins over Texas and Oklahoma but lost in the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon.

After Mississippi State’s national championship in baseball this year, Kansas State is one of the two remaining Power Five schools without a national championship in any team sport. They join Virginia Tech as the only schools to not achieve that honor.

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