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UCLA Football: Behind the Curtain for the Playoff Selection Process

UCLA needs to win on the field, but UCLA also needs to win off the field, for a chance to claim this trophy. - Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

I went to the Paul McCartney show last night at the Stick, a concert which closed the Stick for good. I also went to the last Beatles concert ever in 1966, which was also at the Stick. So I was able to close the circle.

There is another circle which has not been closed- a January football game for the Bruins. The last one was 1/1/99, in other words before Doughnut came on the scene. Coincidence? Maybe not. There is an even longer circle to close- a national championship in football. That occurred in 1954. Even the Beatles weren't playing then. Geez.

But our time will hopefully come this year. This would be a wonderful circle to close. The road runs through Texas, Pasadena, Santa Clara, and a back room at some hotel.

Here are the details about the back room process. A couple of points stand out at first glance. First, as we have known since the playoff system was put together, the quantitative selection process utilized in the BCS era has been replaced by the subjective collective judgement of a panel. These are not disinterested parties, as we shall see.

The panel is supposed to weight the following factors in coming up with the four participants in the playoffs-

    • Conference championships won,
    • Strength of schedule,
    • Head-to-head competition,
    • Comparative outcomes of common opponents (without incenting margin of victory), and,
    • Other relevant factors such as key injuries that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.

    Interestingly, there is no requirement that the factors be weighted in the order shown. So strength of schedule counts. But how much? This is very important for UCLA and the other Pac-12 teams in the mix, as this post by ESPN's Ted Miller shows. And, as uclaluv noted, ESPN opines that UCLA has the toughest schedule in the country.

    So we will score points in the process if we win the conference championship game, even with a less than perfect record, and face a killer schedule. Will this enable us to be selected over some other school which runs the table by playing the Little Sisters of Mercy? Who knows?

    The other eye opener on this list is #5- key injuries. The fact that I saw the Beatles live proves that I am a little long in the tooth. But this also means that I can remember the travesty inflicted on the Bruins in 1966. The Bruins beat $C behind backup QB Norm Dow, as Gary Beban was sidelined with a broken ankle. This put UCLA at 9-1, with one loss in conference, and the #5 ranking in the country. $C was 7-2, with 2 conference losses. And the conference AD's, using their subjective collective "wisdom" gave the Rose Bowl slot to $C, because they decided that $C would have a better shot against the Big-10 than a Norm Dow-led UCLA, even though the Bruins had just defeated $C with Dow. Any system which could even allow a hint of this travesty to resurface is flawed in my opinion.

    Finally, note the panel members.

    Terms Expire February 2016
    Gould, Mike
    Haden, Pat
    Osborne, Tom
    Tranghese, Mike
    Terms Expire February 2017
    Alvarez, Barry
    Luck, Oliver
    Manning, Archie
    Rice, Condoleezza
    Terms Expire February 2018
    Jernstedt, Tom
    Long, Jeff
    Radakovich, Dan
    Wieberg, Steve
    Willingham, Tyrone

    Condi Rice has recused herself from any discussions involving Stanford. This seems fair. Pat Haden has recused himself from any discussions involving $C. That also seems fair. But he apparently has no qualms about deciding UCLA's fate in being named to the field of four.

    Who here believes that UCLA would benefit big time in recruiting if we are named to the playoff bracket? Who here believes that UCLA's recruiting benefit would harm $C's coach, Seven Win Steve? Who here does not know that Pat Haden hired Seven Win Steve?

    Every Pac-12 team will share in the loot if a Pac-12 team makes the playoffs, and will get a share of the resulting payout. But that incentive to help the Pac-12 from a money perspective is balanced against the obvious harm to Haden's hire if UCLA gets into the playoffs. This is strictly my opinion, but the ability to play favorites in a subjective process certainly seems to be present here.

    Time will tell how this plays out. First, the Bruins need to take care of business on the field. But, if we do, we then need the back room to reward our achievements appropriately. Let it be.

    This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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