CFP Executive Director Richard Clark details how important strength of schedule will be to committee

College Football Playoff Executive Director Richard Clark is very high on the criteria of strength of schedule when it comes to the selection committee.

Lieutenant General Clark was put into the role last November and will begin his tenure this season. Speaking at Big Ten Media Days, the 12-team playoff is on everyone’s minds.

In the world of playoff and conference expansion, strength of schedule might be more important than ever.

“So, strength, the schedule is always a key criteria for the committee and it’s written into the protocol,” Clark said at Big Ten Media Days. “I mean strength, the schedule, obviously record, head to head competitions. There’s so many things that go into this. But what we’re trying not to do is tie the hands of the committee members and make it so prescriptive on how they use the different data that they have and incorporate that into their ranking. 

“But what we do is emphasize that things like strength of schedule are very important. That it is among the top things that they have to take into consideration. And for all the reasons that you just talked about, it’s going to be critical for them to take that into account.” 

There’s a lot of debate about the CFP’s selection process and strength of schedule is certainly near or at the top of the list. Playing the best schedules can generally boost your chances and give teams more leeway in terms of wins and losses, particularly with an expanded playoff.

“I sat in on three of the selection committee meetings last year,” Clark said. “And I will say that that team operates with great sophistication. There’s a lot of discussion there. And I think that they take into account the things that are most important, especially as we go into some of the changes now. They’re going to recognize that these changes are happening and that strength of schedule is gonna matter. So there’s science in this. There’s art to this. 

“We have the eye test, we have committee members that are very smart and very in depth in their knowledge of college football. So I think that that is going to always be a top criteria, but I think they’re taking it into the right, I’ll say level of importance, when they’re making their decision. But it is important and it’s going to be critical, always, in their selection.”