Bill Hancock confirms Warde Manuel will return to CFP selection committee after absence

On Monday, College Football Playoff Selection Committee executive director Bill Hancock confirmed Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel will return to the selection committee this week. Manuel was absent last week due to the ongoing situation between the Big Ten and Michigan football.

On Friday, the Big Ten handed Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh a three-game suspension for his alleged involvement in the program’s “sign-stealing” scandal. Harbaugh was unable to be on the sidelines for Michigan’s 24-15 win over Penn State.

Manuel has firmly stood behind Harbaugh during the scandal. His view did not change following the conference’s decision to suspend the 59-year-old head coach.

“I want to make it clear at the outset of this statement that no one at the University of Michigan is happy to hear of the allegations and preliminary evidence that has come forth about in-person scouting and sign stealing by a member of our football program. No one,” Manuel wrote in a statement.

“However, no one here, and no one at other universities around this country, wants to be convicted and penalized without due process of a complete investigation and with significant harm to our student-athletes. This is a fundamental principle of our justice, NCAA and, until yesterday, our conference systems. Sadly, that is not what happened yesterday.

“Yesterday, under the guise of the NCAA Rule regarding Head Coach Responsibility the Big Ten decided to penalize Coach Harbaugh without knowing all the facts, and I find that completely unethical, insulting to a well-established process within the NCAA, and an assault on the rights of everyone (especially in the Big Ten) to be judged by a fair and complete investigation.”

CFP selection committee not penalizing Michigan

Harbaugh will receive a hearing on Friday with hopes to receive an injunction to return to the sideline in spite of the Big Ten’s rulings. The CFP selection committee reportedly isn’t concerned with Harbaugh’s suspension status.

After the first two College Football Playoff rankings reveals, Hancock and committee chairman Boo Corrigan remained steadfast in their stance on Michigan. As the investigation into the Wolverines continues, both said they’ll be ranked as long as they’re eligible for the postseason.

“We are not a governance body,” Hancock said on a post-reveal show teleconference. “We’re certainly all aware of the Michigan situation, but it’s just not a CFP matter. We will take what we get from the NCAA or from anybody else, and whatever facts are available to those other groups, then we’ll consider it. But all we do is rank the teams that are eligible for our games.”